The Great Yokai War: Guardians

Another Takashi Miike film is always a reason to celebrate! And now he returns to his 2005 foray into family-friendly fantasy-extravaganza: The Great Yokai War. Yokai is the collective name for supernatural entities, and in this standalone sequel, Miike presents a cavalcade of creatures from Japanese folklore, for some endlessly entertaining mystical movie mayhem. Brothers Dai and Kei are summoned by peace-loving spirits to stop an angry demon from destroying Tokyo. When they become separated, Kei’s mission is to save his brother and restore harmony between human and spirit worlds.

‘Isn’t Daimajin [Giant demon god - a stone warrior kaijin created by Daiei Studios, Daimajin Trilogy (1966)] necessary for the movie? It must have been destined to be resurrected eventually. I once wrote a proposal to revive Daimajin, but that didn’t happen. All of Daiei’s top stars are returning somewhere: The Blind Beast (1969), Gamera is a turtle, isn’t it? It’s a little strange.The only thing I want to say is that I don’t feel like “the great genie has been resurrected” by this movie. It’s like magic. Have the Daimajin rampage as much as he can, and then go home for the time being. And I hope to see you again someday.’

Director Takeshi Miike, from an interview with Eiga.com.