Product Details

• Directors: Christine Rebet
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Adv Films
• DVD Release Date: May 18, 2004
• Run Time: 650 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001US5W4
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,520 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Animation > Characters & Series > Soul Hunter

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This outré comic adventure (based on a manga adaptation of a Chinese ghost story) takes some odd turns at its midpoint. While Lord of the West Ki Shou prepares to overthrow the corrupt Yin emperor, Taikoubou and his immortal minions appear on the scene--just in time to fend off a devastating tsunami created by four rival immortals sent by Yin commander Bunchu. The bulk of these episodes are devoted to the fantastic battle between Taikoubou, Nataku, Raishinshi, Tenka, and Youzen (who squabble among themselves over who gets to appear in the best scenes) and the four powerful spirits from Kuryuu Island who exert a magical control over the seas. After a typically offbeat struggle, the aloof demon Shinkohyo deftly sums up the series' appeal: "not bad for a bunch of lovable comic misfits." Rated 12 Up: Cartoon violence. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars won't see this too often..., May 13, 2002

By	Stresspuppy (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Hunter - Taikoubou's Mission (Vol. 1) (DVD)

Soul Hunter is based, abate loosely, upon one of the more interesting (and rarely translated) Chinese classic called Investiture of the Gods (or Creation of the Gods). This work is centered around one of the most tyrannical king in Chinese legends, king Zhou (roughly 1100 BC) and his offending the goddess, Nu Wa (Dakki, in this translation) that ultimately led to the downfall of the Shang dynasty (Yin, here... i think). interestingly (for me anyway), Investiture of the Gods was written in a very pro-Taoist manner, in contrast to Pilgrimage to the West (with the Monkey King) where the most powerful deities were Buddhists... just my $0.02.

BUT ENOUGH of that boring background stuff... on to the anime.

Soul Hunter is a series spanning 6 dvds and follows Taikoubou's (a taoist seer) journey to bind 365 demons (including Dakki herself) to prevent unbalancing the order of things in the mortal world.

animated in the style of Slayers and El Hazard (a funny anime in its own right) in both its model art and tongue in cheek humor, Soul Hunter is light hearted and very well translated (the English voice acting is very good) -- in fact, on the dvd, there are 'Translator's Notes' that explains little tidbits that might be missed during the first viewing of the series.

the first few episodes are a little slow until the different characters had some time to develop and then it picks up pretty quickly with all of the usual manic skirmishes between different mystical powers.

cleanly drawn and well acted, get past the slightly slow start and you'll be hooked.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly great anime, November 29, 2001

By	"macvsog718" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Hunter - Taikoubou's Mission (Vol. 1) (DVD)

Senkaiden Houshin Engi (title changed to Soul Hunter, um ok) is one of the best, if not the best anime I have ever seen. Not to mention this DVD has -5- episodes! So buy it! Now!
Taikoubou leads a cast of quirky characters brought together by strange circumstances. The problem is Taikoubou is not a normal hero by any means and has no intention of completing his quest to seal 365 demon sennins. He figures he'll just go after Dakki, the evil temptress that has taken over the empire and who he believes to be the head honcho. Armed with his weapon, the paopei of wind called Daishinben, his bumbling adventures begin.
While at first this show may come across as a light-hearted, comic adventure, it turns out to be much more as the plot deepens and allies become enemies. Pasts are brought out and secrets are revealed. Taikoubou may even turn out to be a strategic genius who truely believes the words of the heart are stronger than steel. Then again, he may just be as stupid as you think! ~_*

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Anime, February 18, 2005

By	Serenity (Ohio) - See all my reviews

While Soul Hunter (SH) may not have been the best anime i have ever seen, it certainly wasnt the worst. The basic plot line is that our hero Taikoubou, is charged with to carry out a myterious mission Soul Hunt, which in short, he is suppose to houshine all the evil immortals coausing trouble in the human world.

That is the basic plot, but as in all anime nothing is quite so simple and SH is no different. In fact, many times thru-out the anime it gets confusing because there are more than one plot line happening at once, flash backs to other time to confuse you, and you lose track of valuable information and story plot during such events.

One thing this anime has going for it tho is the fight scenes and the humor...it is non stop, and with great fight scenes comes huge suspenes, which definatly builds when you are lead to believ obne of your favorite characters at the end is dead. (i wont say who because i dont want to spoil it). But it is very exciting and there is much at the end about Taikoubou that explains why he does what he does and so on.

This is certainly an anime series yuo dont want to miss....its right up there with neon genesis evangelion and all the best...this is a treasure sure ti be loved for its own uniqueness and style.

DVD Features
-Historical Background Information
-Voice Actor Profiles
-Character Discription
-Relationship Tree
-Glossary of Terms (very useful)
-Translator Notes
-US Trailor/US Teaser
-Clean Open/Close