The Book of the Dead [DVD] [2005]

Master animator Kihachiro Kawamoto weaves this intoxicatingly visual adventure concerning an 8th Century Japanese noblewoman who leaves her family behind in order to follow the drifting spirit of an executed prince. It was a time when Buddhism was just making inroads into Japan from neighboring China. Young aristocrat Iratsume has become fascinated with this new religion. One evening, after falling into a deep trance, Iratsume sees a vision she believes to be the Buddha and begins making her way to a local temple. Waiting for her within the temple walls is handsome young prince Otsu, who had been executed fifty years prior. In a supernatural case of double mistaken identity, Iratsume believes Otsu to be the human incarnation of the Buddha, while Otsu mistakes Iratsume to be the last woman he saw before his death. When Iratsume vows to build an enormous shrine to the prince in hopes of healing his soul, Otsu begins haunting the girl and everyone around her. What ensues is an otherworld battle of wills between the spirit that longs for the material world, and the young woman who strives for a sense of spirituality.~Jason Buchanan