Zipang is a mythical place, a land of gold which can only be reached by a man who wields the golden sword told of in legends. Jigoku is the handsome outlaw who wanders the badlands of an alternative version of ancient Japan and with his band of renegade outlaws hunts for buried fortunes and fame. All the while persued by a range of extraordinary and flamboyant bounty hunters each wishing to claim the price on Jigoku’s head. Claiming that prize, however, will not be easy as Jigoku wields 9 mighty swords and is yet to meet his match in combat. Welcome to a fairytale like no other; a mad blend of Conan, Zu Warriors, Indiana Jones, The Princess Bride, and Lone Wolf and Cub with Santa Sangre-like visuals.

Normally I would wait to the end of the review to say this, but let me start by saying Zipang is simply awesome and by throwing in a bunch of other superlatives like sumptuous, beautiful, fantastic and delirious. Nothing else out there is quite like Zipang and its lack of cult hype astounds me. I have always had a soft spot for Martial Arts, Fantasy, Sword and Sandal movies and dark Fairytales and this movie fits into all those categories.

When Marco Polo travelled to Silk Route in the 13th century and visited China he heard many tales of a land known as Zipang; an Island filled with wonders and gold and this land of legend was really the country we know today as Japan. A land which to this day holds a great fascination to many in the west and is still a place of great wonders, many of them technological.

Zipang or Zipnagu (as it is likely known in Japan) starts out with a black and white sequence (which I won’t give away here) that screams “cult classic.” After this title sequence we see a large crowd or mean looking bounty hunters awaiting information on the villain of the hour. The villain is the handsome and deadly Jigoku, a hybrid of Yojimbo and Indiana Jones, and an almost peerless warrior. As the Bounty hunters argue over who will claim the bounty up steps the beautiful but deadly firearm wielding Yuri aka Yuri the Pistol who claims the bounty will be hers and so accompanied by her brother she sets off in search of the head of Jigoku. The next scene is a set-piece to match those recently seen in the hit girl samurai fantasy Azumi and in which we see Jigoku dispatch a myriad of wonderful and deadly looking opponents with relative ease. All the while changing between his 9 numbered “swords” (Bladed weapons is more accurate for some) which one of his compatriots carries golf caddie style for him. After this fantastic scene, Jigoku and his comrades travel to a tomb for some Indiana Jones style fun and find the Golden Sword and key to the mythical land that is Zipang and here really is where the story truly begins …

Zipang is a beautiful movie, with fantastic set pieces and battles, great warriors and crazy characters. Unlike some of the more recent martial arts fantasy’s, however, Zipang is first and foremost great fun, never taking itself too seriously and being the kind of thing both kids and adults will enjoy (although it’s got an 18 certificate in the UK, I guess the BBFC had some kind of problem with the weapons used, because unlike Lone Wolf and Cub etc. no actual blood sprays forth.) At the heart of this outlandish and fantastically rendered tale are themes of appreciation of that which you already have and the very common to fantasy movie “love conquers all" moral.

If you’re the kind of person for whom everything in a movie must make perfect sense and be completely sensible it may be best for you to avoid Zipang, but if you love (and I for one do) deadly ninja’s who use a blend of modern and ancient technology, Warrior girls who kick ass, deadly bounty hunters, golden gods who wear giant robot like armour, dwarves who fly around on kites and pantomime plastic elephants, then get hold of a copy of this ASAP!

Flamboyant fantastic martial arts fantasy fun, I love it ... just what the fuck is with that plastic pantomime elephant anyway????