So we have Yakuza protecting a small town, when the gang is betrayed to a rival Vampire/monster gang. I was only slightly amused until I see ANIME CHARACTER(tm) who speaks English and carries a gun name Jesus Christ. His gang consists of a martial artist, a Stinky Kappa, and later a Man in a Frog Character Costume. Like you would see at Disney. The man in the frog suit has a super power akin to the carebear stare that paralyzes people.

Heres a side note Ichihara Hayato does not even list this on his official page among his works(http://official.stardust.co.jp/hayato/biography/). Which i think is pretty telling in and of itself.

I liked it but i like cheesy action movies that border on absurd. I love showing them to people and watching their reactions.

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I watched this for Yamapi, not going to lie. I am shallow when it comes to my Johnnys. This is a very typical Hollywood Hacker(tm) movie. While the story gives us all the back story, the movie feels rushed or clipped in spots. Yamapi as the bad guy comes off as cold and calculating and damned fine. His scenes are few and far between but he is not the main so it is expected.

The hacking does not even pretend to be real hacking, but some of the visuals reminded me of a shadow run game we had on the SNES. Specifically the Black Ice cracking.

The acting? Well its an action movie and I don't expect much acting from those.

The music was good.

I would rewatch it again just to watch yamapi scenes.

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Writing a review because there isn't one.

This movie has no surprises if you are already familiar with Japanese Historical dramas. Politics override everything and is the cause of 99% of everyone's problems. This story revolves around a country Samurai and his one true love. Both their lives take the to unexpected places.

The quality of the movie I watched was low, although it may have been because it was a 2005 Film, the acting was excellent, not over done or wooden. The movie itself just seemed to drag. One highlight was the sword fight, the initial reaction to the samurai's first kill was a good one and the entire fight itself was not too cinematic.

The music had no impact on me, there is a slow instrumental at the end and the beginning and a period Japanese song song at the bar .

Overall it gets a5.5 from me..the sword fight earned it a .5 but the story itself down right bored me, I saw everything coming. Predictable.

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This is a comedic look at First Tensh? Iga War (1579) and the life of the best Ninja in the clan. All he wants is for his woman to let him back into the house and to make just enough money to get by but she wants him to get a better job than just a Genin.

This role was almost taylor made for Ohno Satoshi with comedic confidence and talent. The choreography in this is excellent. Do not look for realism in this as it has lot of wire work in it, but sit back and enjoy the story and the fun. Mumon has the feel of an updated, comedic version of Sanjuro for those familiar with the Kurosawa film.

The music Tsunagu by Arashi and I fell in love with it before I watched the movie.

I would watch this again if I had people to share it with.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did and I hope Ohno-san takes more roles like this one in the future.

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This movie is based on Ooku: The Inner Chambers  an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fumi Yoshinaga. The plot follows an alternate history of medieval Japan in which an unknown disease kills most of the male population, leading to a matriarchal society in which the Ooku becomes a harem of men serving the now female shogun. Set in 1715 (Shotoku era in real world) and it is a peaceful time where Samurai do not know the fear of dying in battle.

The inner workings of the harem are shown to have politics and romances (800 men to 1 woman) between harem members.  The story follows the life of a man who holds the bushido code dear, but is from a poor samurai family.  His path takes him places he never dreamed possible.  Ninomiya, as always, excelled with the part, you felt all the emotions with the character he portrayed.  Every one did a good job and not once did I feel not immersed in the story. There is BL elements to this story and it is folded in nicely and not portrayed as comical or over the top, it just is.

I would definitely re-watch this again with the right person.  I might even buy it on dvd.  Overall I gave it a 9.5 because yes it was kind of rushed but on the other hand nothing was really lost in the story telling you knew the protagonists story arc, and it showed there was more story to be told about the Shogun.

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