Yoma , paired with her other popular work Ogre Slayer , has made a mark in stating that serious action accented with touching drama is no longer just a boys' club. The mysterious Aya is a cold companion to the hot-blooded Hikage. Ms. Kusonoki is known in her native Japan as a manga artist with a flair for gritty realism as well as tales with violent undertones. Yoma is a very moody drama that takes its time. The evil that saturates the plot is subtle and hidden, but can reach very explosive levels when an emotional climax is reached.
Swords clash, blood flows, demons die.
It's a melodrama and a shocker in one seamless flow of film. To wrap it up, Curse of the Undead Yoma plays out more like a traditional Noh drama than your average chop-socky ninja combat flick. Sure, there's some great action, but it's not a load of gratuitous Hong Kong-esque violence. We have demons. We have ninjas.