American fans of maverick Japanese director Takashi Miike may lament the fact that they have never had the privilege of seeing one of his stage productions firsthand, though with this release of Miike's popular, Kabuki-inspired play Demon Pond they can experience the next best thing to being there. A minimalist adaptation of the traditional fairy tale by Kyoka Izumi, Demon Pond played to sold out audiences across Japan. The story interweaves the tale of a man who sets out in search his missing friend with a surreal journey into a world inhabited by bizarre creatures and a lovelorn princess. A pact has been made that cannot be broken, and as the man's search intensifies he ventures ever deeper into a place where the real and the surreal meet. Shinji Takaeda, Ryuhei Matsuda, Yasuko Matsuyaki, and Kenichi Endo star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi