Nazca

Nazca - Blades of Fate (Vol. 1)

At a kendo match, 17-year-old high school student Kyoji is stunned when Tate, his coach, momentarily transforms into an exotically armored warrior. Over the next few days, Tate behaves erratically, alarming his students and his fiancée, Yuka. Kyoji discovers he, Tate, and their friends are the reincarnated spirits of Inca warriors. But Kyoji is Bilka and Tate is Yawaru--enemies in a blood feud dating back to the Spanish conquest of Peru. Yuka and Kyoji travel to South America, hoping to find the missing Tate--and figure out what's going on. Their visit leads to more flashback episodes. The Matthew Broderick-esque Kyoji looks particularly incongruous in a trailing feather headdress; his friend Daimon is tricked out in a rig that looks more Arabian than Peruvian. The improbable plot gets a boost from some handsome computer-generated imagery, including an animated version of a Nazca Line figure and a golden fortress modeled after a ceremonial Inca knife. Using the different media to suggest separate worlds works more effectively than the combinations of drawn and computer animation in many Japanese films. But the idea of Japanese high school students as reincarnated Inca warriors seems farfetched, even by anime standards. Contains the first three episodes: 1. "Those Who Awaken," 2. "Reunion in the Andes," 3. Meeting of the Sleeping Souls." Rated 13 and up for violence, profanity, and brief nudity. --Charles Solomon

Can a past life affect the future? Kyoji, the only member of a small Kendo (traditional Japanese wooden swordplay) club has his world turned upside down! Sudden visions of past life events during the age of the Incas revive ancient rivalries and ambitions, clouding modern day relationships and turning friends into deadly enemies! Kyoji's former mentor, Tate fully accepts his past life as Yawaru, an Inca warrior, and has adopted his old ambition to cleanse the world of its weaker elements. However, he also remembers it was the betrayal of Biruka, Kyoji's past life, that thwarted his original attempt! Does the past really play an important role in the future? Nazca is a story of past lives and present conflicts. A story of friendships shattered and reformed by events that happened hundreds of years ago during the days of the Incas!

Nazca - Blood Rivals (Vol. 2)

This improbable fantasy continues, as a group of Japanese high school students explore their previous lives as Inca warriors. Kyoji, the 17-year-old hero, learns that his best friends, the mountain-climbing Dan and Seino, who talks to insects, also are reincarnated Incas. The three young men ally themselves with Yuka, the beautiful fiancée of Kyoji's kendo instructor, Tate. But Tate has assumed his former identity as the warrior Yawaru: he plans to let loose the god Iriyatesse to destroy most of humanity, allowing him to realize his vision of a "purified" civilization. To assist in this scheme, Tate has assembled the psychotic Shiogami; Shiogami's half-sister Tatsuko, who seems to nurture an incestuous passion for her brother; and the nerdy Daimon. In "Decisive Battle," Tate uses Iriyatesse's power to wreck a nearby town, killing thousands of people and revealing the extent of his megalomania.

"Nazca" features some handsome designs that evoke the Nazca line figures and Incan gold work. Tsuneyoshi Saito's elaborate score mixes Western classical music, Peruvian-inspired melodies, and pseudo-Philip Glass minimalism, although having Incas chant the "Scotch Snap" theme from the first movement of Dvorák's New World Symphony sounds more than a little incongruous.

Rated 13 and older for violence and profanity. --Charles Solomon

The awakening memories of past lives as Incas has turned Kyoji's mentor, Tate, into a cold and calculating enemy bent upon a 1,000 year old ambition to purify the human race. While Kyoji refuses to give up on his teacher, he must resume his past opposition to Tate's attempts to revive the powerful Inca magic, Illotese, or else Tate will kill millions of people! Tate and Kyoji both gather allies in the present who are linked to their past, but the ancient memories of past alliances conflict with relationships in the present. Which will be chosen - the past or the present?

Nazca: Betrayal of Humanity

This tale of Inca warriors reincarnated as Japanese high school students begins building to its climax as the modern characters attempt to resolve conflicts they experienced during the Spanish conquest of Peru. Episode 7, "Memory," helps to establish those relationships through flashbacks. In episode 8, kendo instructor Tate--as the warrior Yawaru--leads his followers to a Shinto shrine at Asuka, where they prepare an invocation that will loose the power of the god Iriyatesse, devastating Earth. In an effort to tie together the unlikely plot, director Hiroko Tokita and his crew have Tate's fianc&eactue;e, Yuka, hypothesize that the Ainu and the Incas were the same people, thus linking Asuka, Japan, and the Nazca plateau in Peru. Aided by a corrupt, sadistic faith healer, Tate and his minions prepare to execute their scheme to use the power of Iriyatesse to wreak havoc on the Earth, while Kyoji and his friends work to stop them.

The off-the-wall story line is weakened by a lack of sympathetic characters. Pitting the motor-mouth Kyoji against the megalomaniac Tate doesn't give the viewer anyone to root for, despite the threat to the Earth if Tate/Yawaru succeeds in unleashing Iriyatesse. Rated 13 and older for violence, brief nudity, and profanity. --Charles Solomon

Kyoji and Tate are the reincarnated souls of ancient Inca warriers. Once close friends, they are now bitter enemies in a war over the fate of humanity. In their last battle, Tate and his allies had released an ancient power called Iriyatesse, destroying an entire town and all of its inhabitants. Now Tate intends to do it again on a global scale. But Kyoji is determined to stop Tate, even if he must sacrifice his own life to do it. Standing between these two warriors is a mysterious and powerful Inca priest named Garos. Is he the ally that Kyoji needs to win this battle? Is he the key that Tate needs to release Iriyatesse? Or does Garos have a hidden agenda that neither Kyoji or Tate can possibly fathom?

Nazca - Eternal Power (Vol. 4)

Director Hiroko Tokita uses every computer-generated effect and every cinematographic trick at his disposal to bring this tale of Inca warriors reincarnated as Japanese high school students to its conclusion.

The flashbacks in episode 10 complete the backstory of kendo master Tate (who is also the Inca lord Yawaru) and his previous attempt to release the destructive power of the god Iriyatesse to "cleanse" Earth. The reincarnated Tate tries again in the present, while the supporting characters switch sides, sometimes inexplicably. Tormented by his conscience, Daimon allies himself with Kiyoji and Tate's fiancée, Yuka; faith healer Kariya suddenly abandons Tate for his own scheme, somehow transporting everyone back to 16th-century Peru.

Yuka, Kiyoji, and their friends strive to block the release of Iriyatesse; Yuka and Kiyoji are ready to sacrifice their own lives, but will not harm the others--on either side. The three-way relationship among Tate, Yuka, and Kiyoji has gotten so entangled it's impossible to resolve satisfactorily--especially when it's complicated by questions of how characters who have traveled to the past can affect their own futures. But these problems won't prevent anime fans who prefer snazzy special effects to coherent story lines from enjoying the Nazca series.

Rated 13 and older for violence, brief nudity, and profanity. --Charles Solomon

The souls of ancient Inca warriors have been reincarnated in the modern world to do battle with each other. On one side is Tate, whose twisted ideal of creating a perfect world means the destruction of all humanity. On the other side is Kyoji, who must fight to save humanity by stopping Tate from unleashing the ancient power known as Iryatesse, a power capable of destroying the entire planet. Now, with the tide of battle clearly turning towards Tate, Kyoji and his friends make one last desperate gamble to stop him from releasing Iryatesse. But to stop Tate, somebody must be willing to make an ultimate sacrifice. The saga to Nazca comes to a dramatic conclusion in this climactic final chapter.

Global Treasures NAZCA Peru