Rating: **
Review Date: 10/31/24
Director: Shinichi Koga
Cast: Nozomi Maeda
The Kojuncha project had three famous horror manga creators write and direct adaptations of their own work, allowing Shinichi Koga to bring his own version of "Eko Eko Azarak" to the screen. Of course, being a good comic book creator doesn't make you a good film director, and while the film stays true to the spirit of his writing, the execution is severely lacking.
As you might guess from the title, this is yet another prequel film that goes back to one of Kuroi Misa's earlier adventures, battling a sorcerer named Ganger Gam that her father trained. He wants revenge against Misa because he feels like she was given preferential treatment, so he kidnaps seven of her classmates to sacrifice to Beelzebub. With help from her uncle, Misa battles Ganger Gam for the lives of her classmates and destroys the evil sorcerer for good, but she can never go back to school. So she drifts to the next town, singing "eko eko azarak" to herself.
It's a low budget production and only an hour long, but even so, the pacing is dreadfully slow and it feels like it could do just as much in half the time. It's a good-looking show for the most part, but the visual effects are disappointing. Nozomi Maeda is pretty as Misa, but her performance is weak. However, that seems to be a reflection of the character, as every actress who has portrayed her has done so in a completely stoic and lifeless manner. Misa is just a dark and gloomy emo girl who expresses no emotion or movement, so you can't really blame the actor. However, she does talk to herself an awful lot, which isn't surprising coming from a comic book writer. You can picture most of her dialog being in thought bubbles and narrative exposition boxes, which doesn't translate well to film. On the plus side, it's a straight forward tale of magic and rituals that isn't bogged down by mysteries, romance, or extraneous side characters. Misa's bizarre home life is explored, and we witness just how terrifying she can be when she transforms into a giant spider and feeds on a couple of strangers in the woods (although an unnecessary post-credits scene makes you question what really happened). Overall, if you're a diehard fan of the series, it might be worth checking out. Otherwise, you're better off sticking with the first two films.