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This tale of Inca warriors reincarnated as Japanese high school students begins building to its climax as the modern characters attempt to resolve conflicts they experienced during the Spanish conquest of Peru. Episode 7, "Memory," helps to establish those relationships through flashbacks. In episode 8, kendo instructor Tate--as the warrior Yawaru--leads his followers to a Shinto shrine at Asuka, where they prepare an invocation that will loose the power of the god Iriyatesse, devastating Earth. In an effort to tie together the unlikely plot, director Hiroko Tokita and his crew have Tate's fianc&eactue;e, Yuka, hypothesize that the Ainu and the Incas were the same people, thus linking Asuka, Japan, and the Nazca plateau in Peru. Aided by a corrupt, sadistic faith healer, Tate and his minions prepare to execute their scheme to use the power of Iriyatesse to wreak havoc on the Earth, while Kyoji and his friends work to stop them.
The off-the-wall story line is weakened by a lack of sympathetic characters. Pitting the motor-mouth Kyoji against the megalomaniac Tate doesn't give the viewer anyone to root for, despite the threat to the Earth if Tate/Yawaru succeeds in unleashing Iriyatesse. Rated 13 and older for violence, brief nudity, and profanity. --Charles Solomon
