japan be in serious trouble . demon have infest edo and take possession of earthly form and bend them to their unholy will . on top of that and the rebirth of ashura and queen of the demon and be nigh . the only thing that stand against this grave threat be the demon warden and a fearsome group of warrior and who might just be as bad a the demon themselves . izumo be a retired demon warden and who five year ago and take up theater instead of demon slaying after accidentally kill a innocent child ( in a battle that strangely reminiscent of the bar scene from dusk till dawn ) . one night by a chance encounter he meet a beautiful and mysterious woman name tsubaki . their fortune intertwine ( literally ) and they be bind by fate to be lover and enemy . if you think this sound like your typical japanese fantasy or swordplay epic and you would be wrong . in fact and there nothing typical about ashura . it be a hodge podge of many different genre of film . those just mention and as well a a comedy and drama and and romance . director yojiro takita ( onmyoji ) juggle the genre fairly respectfully ( although and the comedy seem force in some scene ) and the end result be a ridiculous and but really fun popcorn movie . to be sure and there be flaw in the film . some of the humor seem contrive and and out of place . and the act isn not the great . but seriously and do you watch fantasy or swordplay or comedy film for the great acting performance . no and we watch them for the action and the crazy cg visuals and all of which ashura have in spade . not to be misleading and the film be not all action and but it be space out generously enough with lot of swordplay and bucket of green blood to keep the average viewer happy . bottom line while the film have it faults and be not a martial art epic and but it doesn not try to be and it feature interesting visuals and good swordplay action . the reason the film work for me be that it never take itself too seriously and if the viewer do the same and their sure to be delight by this fun and silly swordplay fantasy action flick . my rating positive . fun popcorn movie .