The battle for good and against evil never ends in this long series of episodes about attempts to capture the phoenix, a mythic bird of immortality. Set in the second century A.D., this fantasy adventure yarn includes plenty of special effects and animation, yet that does not mean it is innocuous. Violence and mayhem rule the day as a brave little boy and his warrior-mentor are caught in tribal warfare over the phoenix. Mother nature is just as violent: volcanoes erupt to great destruction and earthquakes destroy what the volcanoes miss. After all this, the implication in the end is that a new Japan -- like the immortal phoenix -- will rise from the ashes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi