Ashura (film)

Lore & Background

Jaku captures Tsubaki to gain Ashura's power, but Izumo rescues her. The passion between Izumo and Tsubaki awakens the spirit of Ashura within Tsubaki. Both recall a forgotten event from five years ago, explaining their sense of familiarity. Disgusted by her human life, Tsubaki leaves for the demon world to become its queen. Izumo follows her to Ashura's inverted sky castle, slays Jaku and Bizan, and eventually fights Ashura to the death.

Reader's Guide

Ashura is notable as a film adaptation of a stage play by Kazuki Nakashima, blending horror with kabuki and fantasy elements. Directed by Yōjirō Takita, it features a score by Yoko Kanno and an English-dubbed version with Sting's performance of "My Funny Valentine." The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom by Yume Pictures in 2006 and in the United States by AnimEigo in 2007. Its special features include behind-the-scenes documentaries and a photo gallery. While not widely known outside Japan, it represents a cross-media adaptation of a theatrical work and showcases the talents of its lead actors and composer.

Did You Know?

• The English-dubbed version's theme song is 'My Funny Valentine' performed by Sting with piano by Herbie Hancock.
• The music was composed and scored by Yoko Kanno.
• The DVD release in the United States was by AnimEigo in 2007.

Theatrical Roots and Cinematic Reimagining

Eye(s) of Asura Castle — the literal English rendering of the Japanese title Ashurajō no Hitomi — arrived in cinemas as a 2005 horror film that owed its DNA to the stage. Director Yōjirō Takita adapted a 1987 play written by Kazuki Nakashima, transplanting a story originally conceived for live performance into the language of the screen. The narrative is anchored in Japan's sixteenth century, a period of warring states and shifting power, which lends the supernatural elements a historical texture. Takita assembled a cast that bridged traditional and contemporary Japanese performance: Ichikawa Somegorō VII, a name steeped in kabuki lineage, shared the screen with Rie Miyazawa and Kanako Higuchi. The pairing of a kabuki-dynasty actor with film stars of a different generation underscores the film's ambition to honor its theatrical source while speaking to a modern audience. The result is a horror picture that feels less like a genre exercise and more like a stage production liberated from the proscenium, its demons and demon-slayers given the full sweep of widescreen and special effects.

A Demon-Lore Romance Set in Edo

Ashura braids demon mythology, state-organized warfare, and a romance haunted by lost memory. Bizan, a beautiful oni, arrives on Earth intent on resurrecting the demon queen Ashura so her kind can conquer the world, starting in Edo. Opposing her is the Oni Makado, a government army of demon slayers. Izumo, a former Makado member, resigned after believing he accidentally killed a young girl, reinventing himself as a kabuki actor. Five years later he meets Tsubaki, of an all-female acrobatic troupe that robs Edo's citizens at night. Their deepening love is complicated by a red scar on Tsubaki's shoulder — the mark of Ashura. Meanwhile, Izumo's old comrade Jaku falls for Bizan, dragging the Makado to the dark side. Desiring Ashura's power, Jaku captures Tsubaki, but Izumo rescues her. Their passion awakens Ashura's spirit within Tsubaki, and both finally recall the event they had been unable to remember — explaining why their chance meetings always felt familiar. Disdaining her human transgressions, Tsubaki leaves for the demon world to fulfill her destiny as queen. Izumo pursues her to Ashura's inverted sky castle, slays Jaku and then Bizan, and ultimately fights Ashura to the death.

A Score by Yoko Kanno and a Sting Theme

The musical landscape of Ashura is anchored by the compositions and scoring of Yoko Kanno, whose work provides the film's primary sonic identity. Kanno's score carries the weight of the demon mythology and the emotional undercurrents of the romance between Izumo and Tsubaki, grounding the fantastical elements in a musical language that feels both epic and intimate. The film's English-dubbed version, however, introduces a strikingly different tonal layer: its theme song is "My Funny Valentine," performed by Sting with piano playing by Herbie Hancock. The choice of a jazz-standard ballad for a Japanese horror film about demon queens and inverted sky castles is an unexpected pairing, one that likely serves the dub's audience by offering a familiar, melodic entry point. The contrast between Kanno's original score and the Sting-and-Hancock theme highlights the film's dual identity — a Japanese theatrical-horror adaptation at its core, yet packaged for international audiences through distribution and dubbing. The inclusion of such a recognizable song, performed by two globally known artists, signals the distributors' intent to make the film approachable to viewers who might not otherwise seek out a sixteenth-century demon-slaying narrative.

Crossing Borders: International Home Video Release

Ashura found its audience beyond Japan primarily through home-video distribution rather than theatrical exhibition abroad. In the United Kingdom, Yume Pictures released the film on DVD-Video in 2006, followed a year later by AnimEigo's 2007 release in the United States. The release arrived as a two-disc set, with the second disc dedicated entirely to supplementary material. The most substantial extra is "The Making of Ashura," a 25-minute production documentary that offers behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew members, giving viewers a window into how Takita translated Nakashima's stage play into a full cinematic production. A second featurette, "The Visual Effects of Ashura," runs 15 minutes and focuses specifically on the technical craft behind the film's demon imagery and the inverted sky castle. The disc also includes a photo gallery — notably designed to be browsed without a remote control — along with trailers for other titles from the same distributor and a set of production notes. These extras collectively position the DVD as a collector's item for fans of Japanese horror and theatrical adaptation, offering context that a straightforward theatrical screening could not provide.