Dark Myth mixes various Asian myths into a contemporary tale. © Manga Entertainment.

The Dark Myth
OAV series (two episodes), 1990. Director: Takashi Ano. 110 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $24.95. Distributor: Manga Entertainment.

Many anime dramas, not to mention live-action movies and TV series, have been based upon Japanese ancient history, religion and mythology. The Dark Myth, one of the most concentrated of these, combines Japanese, Chinese and Hindu lore from around the 3rd to 6th centuries A.D. with a modern end-of-the-world menace.

Takeshi Yamato is a teen whose scholar father was murdered 10 years ago. A man claiming to have been his father’s close friend proposes that they investigate the archaeological dig that he had been working on, based on a myth about the king (tribal chief?) of Tateshina in prehistoric Japan who had discovered an enormous underground treasure. Takeuchi, a mysterious old man who possesses historical knowledge unknown to anyone else, joins them.

They are soon being spied upon by the Kikuchi clan, the modern descendants of the Kumaso tribe (who lost their war with the Yamatai tribe some 1,800 years ago as to which would become the nucleus of the unified Japanese kingdom) who believe that the Tateshina treasure is not material wealth, but divine objects that will bestow godlike powers such as immortality and eternal youth. They have been searching for these for centuries so their clan leader can replace the Emperor (who traces his descent from the Yamatai’s victorious 3rd century Queen Himiko).

The objects are divine, but the god is Susano’o, the Japanese pantheon’s troublemaker who likes violence and bloodshed. Soon “hungry ghost” demons are slaughtering the seekers. Connections are made between parallel gods and myths in Shinto, Buddhist and Hindu mythology suggesting that they all have the same origins. The Dark Myth consists of two 50-minute parts (released as OAVs on January 26 and February 23, 1990). In Part 1, the emphasis is on the mysteries of which characters are “good” or “bad” guys, which of them will be most successful in double-crossing the others, whether the treasure is archaeological or supernatural (although the DVD cover art and blurb give that away), who the “winner” of the search will be and what he or she will gain.

It should surprise nobody that Takeshi, the teen protagonist, is the winner, but the details do have complex and probably unexpected (at least to Western audiences not ingrained with Eastern religious beliefs) consequences. In Part 2, the emphasis is on whether Takeshi, now the personification of “the soul of the depths of the human heart,” will be influenced by Susano’o to use his new divine powers to destroy humanity, or whether others can influence him to save humanity.

This interesting plot is sabotaged by serious flaws. Takeshi, the nominal protagonist, is the least interesting character. He does nothing but react to anyone else’s initiatives. The animation (by Asia-Do) is so limited that a few touches of imaginative direction do not save it. The story is overly dependent upon a barrage of historical and mythological names that will be unknown to most Americans; and while the DVD does include an admirably extensive glossary, the viewer cannot be expected to memorize it all before watching the story or to pause every few minutes to check back into the glossary.

The Dark Myth is disappointingly unexciting as a horror drama, but for viewers who want more details about aspects of Japanese prehistoric history and mythology that may have intrigued them in other productions (Blue Seed, Princess Mononoke, Takegami, the live-action Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon), it does an excellent job of putting them into context with each other.