Japanese action-fantasy pics have become big box office, thanks to CG effects sophisticated enough to lure not just the kiddies, but teens and adults. These films, beginning with Masahiro Shinoda's 1999 hit "Fukuro no Shiro (Owl's Castle)" and continuing to Akihito Shiota's recent smash "Dororo," use elements from Japanese folklore and history (including such historical figures as ninja). The later film also mixes in a monster or two that look to be straight from a special effects show for the kiddies and breathtaking wire-work stunts choreographed by Hong Kong veteran Siu-tung Ching.
These non-traditional bits do not seriously compromise its cultural and genre identity, however. "Dororo" is a distinctly Japanese film, whose roots go back to not only Osamu Tezuka -- the creator of the eponymous manga -- but the innumerable jidai geki (period dramas) about dynastic struggles or lone swordsmen on missions.
Yukihiko Tsutsumi's "Taitei no Ken (Sword of the Great Emperor)" is far more of a farrago, being a mix of period swashbuckler, alien-invasion comedy and kiddie fantasy, including a man-monster that looks like a (not so) Jolly Green Giant.