Back to trending
Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

Animation · Action · Horror · 1989

Legend has it that the human race is not the only dominant civilization living on Earth. Two other races exist in this world: the Makai (a demon race) and the Jujinkai (a half-man, half-beast race). Once every 3,000 years, a supreme being known as the Choujin (Overfiend) will emerge and bring balance to all three realms on Earth. In present-day Japan, after 300 years of endless searching, a Jujinkai named Amano Jyaku has discovered the presence of the Choujin inside high school slacker Tatsuo Nagumo. But now, Amano, along with his sister Megumi and their sidekick Kuroko, must protect Nagumo and his new girlfriend Akemi Ito from the Makai, who believe that Nagumo is not the Choujin, but an evil entity bent on destroying all living beings on Earth.

Movie details

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

1989 Animation · Action · Horror 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Legend has it that the human race is not the only dominant civilization living on Earth. Two other races exist in this world: the Makai (a demon race) and the Jujinkai (a half-man, half-beast race). Once every 3,000 years, a supreme being known as the Choujin (Overfiend) will emerge and bring balance to all three realms on Earth. In present-day Japan, after 300 years of endless searching, a Jujinkai named Amano Jyaku has discovered the presence of the Choujin inside high school slacker Tatsuo Nagumo. But now, Amano, along with his sister Megumi and their sidekick Kuroko, must protect Nagumo and his new girlfriend Akemi Ito from the Makai, who believe that Nagumo is not the Choujin, but an evil entity bent on destroying all living beings on Earth.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Samurai Reincarnation

Samurai Reincarnation

Action · 1981

After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.

Versus

Versus

Horror · 2000

A group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead.

The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine

The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine

Animation · 2008

June 1998: After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. She is visited by Touko Aozaki, a wizard and proprietor of a studio called Garan no Dou. Shiki has lost not only the memory of her accident, but also any real sense that she's even alive. Strangely, enigmatic beings begin to attack her...

Southbound

Southbound

Fantasy · 2015

The film contains five stories set on desolate stretches of a desert highway. Two men on the run from their past, a band on its way to a gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales.

The Company of Wolves

The Company of Wolves

Horror · 1984

An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too?

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

Horror · 2004

Brigitte has escaped the confines of Bailey Downs but she's not alone. Another werewolf is tailing her closely and her sister's specter haunts her. An overdose of Monkshood - the poison that is keeping her transformation at bay - leads to her being incarcerated in a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts where her only friend is an eccentric young girl by the name of Ghost.

Urotsukidōji III: Return of the Overfiend

Urotsukidōji III: Return of the Overfiend

Animation · 1993

As the Overfiend slumbers, the mad emperor Caesar rises to power, enslaving a new race of demon beasts. Into this cruel existence is born the Lord of Chaos, the Overfiend's nemesis. As the blood-thirsty beasts capture the tyrant's daughter in a brutal coup, the Overfiend must awaken to an apocalyptic battle of the Gods.

Daylight's End

Daylight's End

Action · 2016

Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.

Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps

Horror · 2000

The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger's first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger's wounds miraculously heal but something is not quite right. Now Brigitte must save her sister and save herself.

Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter

Grappler Baki: The Ultimate Fighter

Animation · 1994

His name is Baki Hanma. No one knows where he came from or where he learned his unique fighting style. When it comes to Karate, Baki Hanma is just plain GOOD. He can defeat an opponent with a single blow and he's taking the Karate Championship by storm. In a prestigious match, he defeats competitor after competitor even though he's totally unknown and barely even ranked. But now he's in for the fight of his life and he may have just met his match. Anything goes and his opponent can rip his nerves out -- literally. If he wins, he's the BEST. If he loses... he's DEAD.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Hideki Takayama

Written by

Sho Aikawa

Tomohiro Nishimura

Tomohiro Nishimura

Amano Jaku (voice)

Maya Okamoto

Maya Okamoto

Megumi Amano (voice)

Hirotaka Suzuoki

Hirotaka Suzuoki

Tatsuo Nagumo (voice)

Yoko Asagami

Yoko Asagami

Akemi Ito (voice)

Tsutomu Kashiwakura

Tsutomu Kashiwakura

Kuroko (voice)

Kenyu Horiuchi

Kenyu Horiuchi

Yoriichi Ozaki (voice)

Norio Wakamoto

Norio Wakamoto

Suikakuju (voice)

Court is in session

Put Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.