Kamogawa HORUMO - Battle League in Kyoto new trailer brings hope.

We haven't been entirely convinced with the first couple teasers from the upcoming pic Kamogawa HORUMO - Battle League in Kyoto. After all, there wasn't much to praise and this is coming from Katsuhide Motoki who directed Kitaro, a film I declined to write a review for because it is so awful. But, I will admit that after watching this new trailer that my tone has changed and you can consider my interest piqued.

The story is about a group of university students who inevitably gets involved in playing a game of "Horumo" - a combat match where you each manipulate 100 spirits (referred to as "oni") to fight the opponent. Akira Abe, a freshman at Kyoto University student falls for his classmate Kyoko, and soon ends up at a mysterious club called "Kyoto University Azure Dragons", which turns out to be one of the Horumo teams playing the mysterious (and somewhat absurd) game which started over 1,200 years ago in the Heian period. The heat rises as you see the 2,000 CGI created spirits wage fierce battles against the backdrop of breathtaking beautiful city of Kyoto. Let the battle begin!

I cannot help but fall in love with this cast too. Chiaki Kuriyama is hardly recognizable as Ringo Starr's love child. Comedic staple Yoshiyoshi Arakawa is yelling stuff in that oh so lovable Japanese style. Takayuki Yamada looks be playing the straightest role in the film as Akira Abe. And then there are hundreds of Oni beating the crap out of each other. I'm not completely sold on this but this has me rethinking my earlier stance.