Onmyoji (2001) (Japanese Dorama)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Cult

a mystical cult movie based on Shinto teachings emphasizing in the ways of Onmyoudo
adapted from manga series with the same title by Yumemakura Baku, who also took part as script writer, and directed by Takita Yojiro

cast:
Nomura Masai as Abe no Seimei
Ito Hideaki as Minamoto no Hiromasa
Sanada Hiroyuki as Doson
Koizumi Kyoko as Aone
Imai Eriko as Mitsumushi
Natsukawa Yui as Fujiwara no Sukehime

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

it was during the Heian Period (794 to 1185), an era where human lived side by side with demons and the golden era of Onmyoji priests

even though the palace had Doson as Head of Onmyoji, reputation of the feared Abe no Seimei (Nomura Mansai) exceeded him
by the hands of fate, Seimei then met Minamoto no Hiromasa, the court’s nobleman who was a master in archery and sword, also a highly acknowledged flutist

using a 150-year-old angry spirit from a betrayed prince, Doson (Sanada Hiroyuki) created chaos one by one in order to claim the throne as his own
but Seimei and his ‘sidekick’ Hiromasa, with help from a mysterious woman name Aone (Koizumi Kyoko), stood between him and his wretched dream

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Onmyoudou is a Chinese-influenced traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, mixing natural science and occultism based on two Chinese theories, Five Elements and Yin-Yang Theory
Onmyouji or Onmyoji are Onmyoudou’s professional practitioners

Abe no Seimei

brought up brilliantly by Nomura Masai, a famous kyogen (a branch of Noh, Japanese traditional play) actor, which explains the flexibility he showed during dancing. many claimed him as the most closest and memorable image of Abe no Seimei
rumored to be born from a fox-demon mother and had the abilities to summon demons since child, Seimei was well respected by his mysterious high-level skills, and feared. often portrayed as slender, sharp, elegant and beautiful, Seimei here
also had a mischievous smile and witty, he loves playing pranks to his buddy, the naive Hiromasa. nobody knew his exact age
in the end of the movie, we could see a beautiful dance performed by Nomura as a bonus. graceful and yet powerful. just love it ^__^

Minamoto no Hiromasa

performed by the stunning Ito Hideaki
tall, strong, cheerful, and beautiful, Hiromasa was pictured as a proud archery and sword master. other stories also mentioned him as a genius musician and poet, but here he played a flute. his naive nature was often used by Seimei for his pranks using little magic tricks which kept on amazing Hiromasa
though half of his dialogs consist of ‘oooh’, ‘ah’, and ‘are?’, he’s still cute. too bad his first love turned out to be the Mikado’s (Emperor) concubine……… ^^;

Seimei & Hiromasa

in this movie, both Seimei and Hiromasa was part of a prophecy which called them ‘the guardians of the city’. the two met by an incident inside the palace involving a butterfly which later became Seimei’s servant called Mitsumushi (Imai Eriko). in the beginning, Hiromasa felt very uncomfortable being around Onmyoji, especially Seimei, and both address each other respectively
as their friendship develop, they talked in a much more casual ways. these two gorgeous men also created a bond of trust, they didn’t hesitate relying lives to others. though Seimei always appeared to be cool, he couldn’t help crying when he found his dear friend dying
that event gave Hiromasa a hilarious counter-attack against Seimei’s pranks later on. but Seimei didn’t always played pranks, for he often used difficult words too which he knew exactly that his (probably) younger partner got no idea what the hell it means……………….. ^^;

psssstttt…..
by the way, since i kinda like shounen-ai and yaoi stories, watching this movie about two handsome gorgeous guys being close friends caused my imagination running wild………..
huehehehehehehehehehe *drools*

Nomura Masai

Ito Hideaki