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When I started this movie I had little to no expectations since I haven't heard of it at all and the average rating made me expect a mediocre movie at best, but little did I know that what I actually found was a surprisingly good movie.  

Asura is a dark tale that takes place in medieval Japan during a severe famine and people is desperate for food. Enter Asura, a child who was almost eaten alive by his mother when he was a baby, and soon after abandoned. 8 years later he's shown as a child fiercer than any beast  who would try to eat anything to survive; birds, rats, and even other people. During his journey he'll meet different people who will teach him in one way or another how to communicate and became a human.

The movie is a journey through Asura's life in which the strongest part of it are the characters themselves. There's the titular character which Asura become less and less feral and more human during it's development with the help of Houshi, a monk who resorts to buddhism to help Asura to evolve, and Wakasa, a girl who adopts him in secret and teaches him how to speak. There are also some other important characters, but they aren't as relevant as the aforementioned ones.

Animation-wise the movie opts for a CG-like style (not the videogame-like kind of CG though), which might bother some people at the beginning but, as the movie progresses, one ends up adjusting to it. Though it doesn't mean it's perfect, since there are times where it looks a bit choppy, but for most of it's runtime it's fluid and the characters and backgrounds are depicted well.

The OST does it's job well but it's not really memorable.

In short, this is a movie which fans of dark, character-driven stories will definitely appreciate. Keep in mind it's fairly bloody, but if that's not a problem for you then go ahead and give it a try. You won't regret it.

This rewiew was done as part of Daily Anime Marathon Club.