critiQs

overview : Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the …

overview : Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's …

overview : When an artist dies, the official cause of death is judged to be a stroke, but his daughter suspects foul …

overview : Raised suckling poison arrows among the sparring Iga ninja factions, Mumon is a carefree 16th-century mercenary. When the ninja council …

overview : A warrior-in-training and his bumbling friends go in pursuit of a stolen sword.

overview : Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging …

overview : During the Sengoku period, an army relentlessly lays siege to a castle, but they will need the head of the …

overview : When master swordsman Mikogami Genshiro of the Ono fencing school returns to find that his ailing sensei has been murdered …

overview : Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with …

overview : The ever versatile Kazuki Kitamura stars as masterless samurai Kyutaro Madarame, a feared swordsman who has fallen on hard times …

overview : This is the story of Kaori Kawabuchi, a samurai sword performer, singer and motion capture actor. An inspiring woman keeping …

overview : A group of men stalk a trans woman at night, unbeknownst to them that she's the master of a martial …

overview : Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece …

overview : Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his …

overview : A master swordsman is ordered to go undercover on a mission to find and destroy a cannon factory being used …

overview : The second of a two-part ninja action series depicting the elaborate espionage campaign occurring behind the scenes of the 'Toba-Fushimi …

overview : Takahagi Sutegoro is highly skilled at casing locations for thieves so that he can sell detailed floor plans to them. …

overview : The government in Edo era is suffering from a financial crisis. It hires "Kage" to provoke the collapse of small …