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TWILIGHT OF THE DARK MASTER

Created by Saki Okuse (1997)

GeneWeiß’s thoughts:  

This 50mins long anime is considered one of the best gothic animes GeneWeiß has seen so far though it leaves some unsettling questions to ponder (E.g. the intriguing relationship between Tsunami & Takamiya). Just for your information, the Seiyuu (voice actor) for the hero, ‘Tsunami Shijyo’ is Seki Toshihiko, the same seiyuu for Saiyuki’s Genjo Sanzo… ^ __ ^

Story 

The Great Mother gave birth to many races on Earth throughout the depths of time. When She created Mankind, she alos created Demons to be its archenemy in order to teach them how to fight fear. At the same time of this conflict, a tribe was formed to protect Mankind from Demons. They are known as the 'Guardians'. Although both Guardians & Demons come from the Great Mother & are One Blood, the Flame of Hatred sleeps deeply in their hearts. It's the Flame that will never be extinguished till one of them ceased to exist forever...

The story begins in the year 2089, in the city of Neo-Shinjuku…

On a romantic night, Eiji Kurizawa proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Shizuka Tachibana, who happily accepted it. While the couple were merry making, Eiji transformed into a demon & savagely injured Shizuka. In a berserk state, Eiji jumped out of the apartment & fled into a park where Kudo (a lackey for Vurgen Pharmaceutical Company) captured him. After the capture, a pair elf-like twin (Huang Long & Chen Long) shown up & took Eiji to Vurgen’s laboratory for further experiments.  

Meanwhile, a depressed Shizuka was roaming around the streets in the rain with only one thought echoing in her mind – to kill Eiji. Deep in her thought, she was unaware of a gun shootout. Luckily for her, she was rescued.

Inside an apartment, the rescuer introduced himself as Tenku and chat a little of his neighbourhood. Thirty years ago, a mysterious asteroid crashed upon this area & destroyed everything in its path. Unable to provide any proper explanations for it, the government closed down the area from the public. Gradually, Life came back to it.

Shizuka told Tenku she’s looking for a demon, a real demon with horns. Tenku casually laughed & recommended her to Tsunami Shijyo, a Flame Caster Guardian who happened to live in the same district. With little words, Tsunami (a very sexy man with long white hair & macron lips, trench coat… think you’ve the picture) agreed to help Shizuka.

Driving along the streets, Tsunami commented sensing Shizuka’s pain as well as demon energy within her body. At this, Tenku mentioned the scars on her body. Suddenly, a wind blade came towards them, disrupting their discussion. Tsunami jumped out of the car & faced the elf-twins, Huang & Chen, who warned him to stay out of Shizuka’s affairs. Knowing that they were working for Takamiya, Tsunami refused & the battle continued (with lots of property damage). At the end of the fight, Huang & Chen were injured. As they licked each other’s wounds, they vowed to make Tsunami pay.

Later, Tenku informed Tsunami that recently, several of Crystal Box (a sex pub)’s girls disappeared overnight. The owner of the place was none other than Kudo. As suspected, the poor girls were ruthlessly tortured/eaten/blood-drained to death inside the hidden basements. (Disgusting creatures!) Kudo pretended to be innocent but Tsunami’s discreet hints troubled him immensely. He then ordered his henchmen to kill Tsunami to the expense of using a new bio-capsule that turned them into demons. Yet, like all professionals, Tsunami finished them off very easily.

At a restaurant, Tsunami showed his ally, Detective Kumazawa, the bio-capsules that the henchmen used. Kumazawa (believing there could be a connection between Takamiya & Vurgen Pharmaceutical Company) decided to send them to Junk’s Shop for an analysis. Back at Vurgen Company, the twins scold Kudo for his reckless actions. However, Takamiya dismissed it & ordered Kudo to be focus on his task for he would deal with Tsunami.

At Junk’s Shop, Junk was explaining to Taijima (one of Kumazawa’s men) the DNA samples between the demon & Eiji Kurizawa (who coincidentally happened to be one of Vurgen’s employees) are identical. In addition, consuming Vurgen’s bio-capsules excessively caused the cells to change drastically into a demon permanently. Before Junk could reveal more, the elf twins appeared & shot him.

Meanwhile, Shizuka was having nightmares. Terrified, she called Tsunami to come over. Once Tsunami arrived, Shizuka feebly tried to strike up a conversation but he coldly told her he would update her as soon as possible. At the parking lot, Tsunami told Tenku to keep an eye on her. Shizuka (knowing Tsunami was hiding the truth from her) spiked Tenku’s drink & tricked him into telling her where Eiji was kept. With the details, Shizuka headed off to Crystal Box.

Tsunami arrived at Junk’s Shop only to find Junk & Taijima were dead. Luckily for both him & Kumazawa, Junk left a copy of his analysis, the only evidence linked to Takamiya & Vurgen Company. Then, Tsunami received a phone call. It was Tenku who informed him about Shizuka’s whereabouts.

At Crystal Box, the security guards quickly reprehended Shizuka & brought her to the lab where the elf twins suggested letting her see Eiji for the last time. After draining demon blood from Eiji, Shizuka was thrown into the Eiji’s chamber. Instantly, Eiji bit her but stopped at the sight of her locket & the engagement ring. Shizuka sadly said she must freed Eiji. A sword slid out from her robotic right arm & she stabbed him on the neck. Instinctively, Eiji killed her. Shizuka died, with her last words, “Eiji, I love you.”  Somehow, puzzlingly, it brought Eiji to his senses. Seeing Shizuka lifeless in his arms, Eiji gave an anguish cry.

In the meantime, Takamiya sent the elf twins to deal with Tsunami while Kudo helped in the process of transferring demon blood into him. The moment the process was completed, Takamiya transformed into his original self (a gigantic demon with two forms – male & female). The very first thing he did was to eat Kudo up. (Viewers, be very wary of your employers!) 

After slaying the elf twins, Tsunami found Eiji mourning for Shizuka. Softly, he told Eiji if he could regain his human self, he could see her again. He clicked his fingers. A flame encircled the lovers, burning them to ashes. At that moment, Tsunami’s icy face softened.

Up in the sky, Takamiya waited for Tsunami. Mockingly, he challenged Tsunami to re-act the scene they did 30years ago. Though he was injured severely, he did not die but crashed down to Neo-Shinjuku where thousands of people were killed in the crossfire (much to Tsunami’s regret). During his recovery, Takamiya had found it so ironic that a creature of Darkness like himself had been staying in the light meant for mankind while Tsunami, a creation of Light, stayed in the dark. Even so, Takamiya acknowledged that no matter how great the Darkness is, Mankind would always have the Light to repel it away. Then, he persuaded Tsunami to join him in his quest to be supreme ruler of Earth.

Tsunami declined, saying his eternal destiny was to kill every single demon on the face of the Earth. Furious, Takamiya attacked & caught Tsunami in his tentacles, taunting him to whether he should devour him or force to use his maximum strength like he did 30yrs ago. Tsunami smirked. Then, Takamiya’s female form merged out & she began caressing & kissing Tsunami, reminding him of their feelings for each other, seducing him to avert his fate. However, he replied his fate had been fixed despite the boundaries between them. Takamiya had changed and so did he.

Using his powers, Tsunami (still attached to Takamiya) teleported into outer space. Slipping out Takamiya’s grasp, Tsunami clicked his fingers & Takamiya immediately burst into a ball of fire, disintegrating into ashes.    

The story ends with Tsunami falling back to Earth.