Manga Entertainment certainly has its share of hits, but the number of misses seem to be gaining the upper hand with the release of DARK MYTH Part 1. If you're looking to confuse yourself with a badly dubbed, low production value anime title, than this is your one way ticket (unless your local store gives refunds).
The story centers around a young man named Takeshi, whose father died a mysterious and violent death while Takeshi was just a boy. A scar in the shape of a serpent and an ancient manuscript are all that is left to remind Takeshi of his father and that tragic day. Little did Takeshi know that his father's death, his scar, and the manuscript will soon prove to be a deadly legacy as strangers with ancient powers strive to wrestle away the secret Takeshi holds.
The plot was very hard to follow, due to the fact that this story warrants lengthy voice-overs and explanations of Japanese mythology. The combination of a bad dubbing job and the fact that Japanese mythology cannot be squeezed into a three minute introductory voice-over made the background material nearly impossible to absorb. Other areas of the story also required heavy use of voice-overs, which likened the viewing experience to a lecture by a monotonous professor. I doubt that viewers will be able to get any of the numerous Japanese names of places, gods and clans straight during their first viewing.
The characters' voices all fit pretty well, if they are somewhat flat and uninteresting. The most notable is the voice of Takahashi, an old mysterious man who tries to help Takeshi in his struggle with his past and adversaries of the present. The most annoying voice (aside from the narrator) goes to the main character Takeshi, who must have attended the Robotech School of Sighing. At one point, when Takeshi was asked by a stranger if he got his name right, he abruptly turned around and gave a sharp inhale (something you'd expect if he, say, saw a dead body), then promptly replied "Yes."
The color palette of this piece is pale and dull, with an overly generous use of browns and grays. The character designs range from ordinary to downright ugly, with Takeshi and Kikuchi-ko fighting for the top spot as the ugliest anime characters since Crayon Shin-chan. Direction is another department that leaves a lot to be desired. At certain points of the film it got so confusing I had to rewind and view that segment again just to be sure I had the sequence of events right.
A more enjoyable title in the mythological/occult genre would be VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU, which succeeds where DARK MYTH fails. A richer look and better direction would have made DARK MYTH quite a solid title, especially with Kawai Kenji lending his musical talent for the score (which was the only really good thing about this video). But as it is, I'm afraid this time Mr. Kawai's talents have gone to waste.

DARK MYTH Part 1 Copyright 1990 D. Moroboshi/Daiei Co., Ltd. Approx. 50mins Released by Manga Entertainment