Title: Zipangu aka Zipang aka The Legand of Zipang Year: 1990 Directed by: Kaizo Hayashi Genre: Action / Adventure / Fantasy Size: 753.6 MB Format: dvdrip.xvid.avi Language: Japanese Subtitles: English Resolution: 496x400 Duration: 1:36:03 Description: Zipangu exists in a parallel universe. Sitting atop its land is a palace of gold that in turn sits atop a hill. Heavily guarded, within its doors lies a sizeable chunk of good wealth as measured by its weight in gold, literally. Needless to say that such a significant quantity of the world's richest element would attract the attention of possession-hungry moguls. Cue a king who, after reading about Zipangu in Marco Polo's diary, wishes to find a way to access this legendary island and claim what he feels should be rightfully his (i.e. all the gold articles in the universe). He sends out his right-hand agent of retrieval Hanzo, a brooding ninja of sorts accompanied by his army of stealthy brethren, who set out to retrieve a golden sword that acts as a vehicle for transportation to Zipangu. Meanwhile, in a different part of this alternate medieval land is Jigoku (Takashima), an ever-grinning swordsman who could be mistaken for an ape in human's clothing. Before the first 15 minutes of the movie are up you too will be convinced that there is no end to this man's talent for dispatching his opponents from their mortal coil. Zipang contains instantly memorable scenes featuring just about every stereotypical swordsman, bounty hunter and samurai grunt you could hope for in a handful of Akira Kurosawa movies. Make the mistake of shifting your eyes off the screen for a minute and you might just miss the surreal references to Zatoichi or Cyrano de Bergerac, all of whom are out to get that hefty reward over Jigoku's head. Being the centrepiece for his loyal entourage of friends-cum-fans, which include a diminutive comic whipping boy and the most jovial baby elephant you'll ever see, Jigoku completes the team of amateur treasure-hunters who are questing for the same magical golden sword as the King. Hot on Jigoku's tail are brother-sister duo of Yuri (Yasuda), an elegant but hard-as-nails bounty hunter, and Kikamaru. With her brother being fairly useless Yuri has to heavily rely on her two-shooter pistol to get the job done, appropriately landing her the moniker 'Yuri the Pistol.' From the moment of their destined meeting it becomes apparent that Jigoku's seemingly insurmountable admiration for his number one sword is surpassed only by his admiration for Yuri. He approaches his personal battles with little desperation, but when her life is on the line his enthusiasm shifts up several gears to the same intensity as that of a drowning man kicking for the surface. Shifting from one extreme to the next, for the duration of the movie the man is either a world-class barbarian or a giddy schoolgirl. A shame really that Yuri wants to kill him. Through several instances of plundering, the sword is lost to the land of Zipangu, taking Hanzo and Yuri with it. Helped by a native of Zipangu called the Prophet (Ken), Jigoku traces the sword back to its homeland to make his rescue whereas the Prophet makes a long overdue return to free a Queen (Wanibuchi) incarcerated in a magical stone circle. She has been captured by the King of Zipangu (Hira) who in a strange materialistic turn of fate has so much gold but yearns to find out what love is.