Karma Kula Ep. 3 “Harvesting the Ohas”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

5 Swirlies

“It is not the semen itself that they seek. Rather, it is the power within it, called the Ohas.”

EDIT: This video is suddenly marked private, and it was hard enough finding it in the first place. Strange. Welp… guess they don’t want people watching it!

Wow, for some reason Episode 3 of this series was really hard to find.

The first two episodes of this series were amazing. This is very much smack dab in the middle of eastern wandering hero type stories, and does a great job with mood and special effects. The fact that this series isn’t as well known as some other, less worthy series I could name, is heart breaking.

And this one is the spookiest so far.

It’s long, but don’t let that stop you from hitting play. Do yourself a favour and watch it in as high a quality as your computer can handle.

While short on story, and no fighting (which is a bit of a let down after 1 and 2) this episode is not only visually stunning, but will grip you in every frame. Now I’m disappointed that I waited so long before watching it.

Karma Kula – Episode 2 “THE FROG IN THE WELL”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

4 Swirlies

“Mind if I finish my drink first?”

Karma Kula continues to deliver… and confuse.

Okay, so it seems at least one of my questions has been answered – this episode suggests they’re in India, and talks about “the assassins from the islands of the Japans.” If our hero is actually Indian, and not white as I thought last time, I can be forgiven because everything is tinted so red.

In this installment, he helps a woman with a well, and fighting ensues. For the first half or so, the style takes over the story and lets it drag a little too much. And then the sword play starts. As our hero himself points out – we have no idea why, or who this new attacker is. I’m sure it won’t be the last time they meet!

If you haven’t already added this series to your must watch list (and you don’t hate fighting sequences) I advise you to consider doing so.

It seems to me that this series makes extensive use of green screen. Does it bother you when you notice green screen use in movies and web series?

Karma Kula – Episode 1 “THE NINJAS”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

4 Swirlies

“While the body can be cut into pieces by a weapon, the soul is never slain.”

In a word, ninja-tastic.

This series is all atmosphere and action, short on story and character. But that’s the point. While maybe not breaking new ground the “Ninja Group” made a kickass samurai fighting extravaganza that absolutely nailed the genre.

It looks amazing, and the attention to visual style reminds me of both Samurai Jack and (one of my favorite things ever) the ’70′s Japanese television version of Lone Wolf and Cub. I hope, like both of those examples, Karma Kula evolves to something more than just almost cartoonesque cutting and slashing, although for now that’s more than enough.

The only reasons I held back from giving it 5 full swirlies is the very long opening voice over that verges on pretentiousness, and the fact that I’m not sure whether certain things that took me out of the story were flaws or whether they were intentional. For one thing, the guy’s white. Are we just supposed to accept that, or ignore it? And at the end he quotes the bible. So, is he western or is that an unintended anachronism? Hmm… we’ll all have to keep watching to find out.

Which makes me wonder, should we give webseries more of a pass than we do a movie because we expect it to be a low budget labor of love and requires an extra level of our suspension of disbelief? Or do we hold them up to the same standards?