Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume

Anime is a bit of a strange beast at times. Every fan knows how powerful and evocative a storytelling medium it can be, but there's more than one face to the animal that we know and love. Anime is not simply a tool to tell stories, no, it can also be a tool to educate, and shows like Yakitate Japan! and Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture are examples of the attempts to combine entertainment and education (the former containing lessons on baking and making bread, while the latter is an introduction to microbiology).

But what happens when you take it one step further? Well, in the case ... of Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume (The Dream of the Last Samurai - not to be confused with a subpar Tom Cruise movie), what we end up with is a historical documentary.

Originally penned by the renowned Oshii Mamoru and directed by his long term stalwart Nishikubo Mizuho, this anime is not your normal quasi-educational malarky but is an altogether different facet of the medium that hasn't really been seen since Gainax's Otaku no Video. Where The Dream of the Last Samurai differs though, is in its approach as, unlike practically any other anime out there, the movie is presented as a lecture.

Ostensibly, this movie is about the life of Miyamoto Musashi, one of Japan's greatest warriors, one of the finest swordsmen in history, and the author of the legendary treatise The Book of Five Rings. The material is presented straight forward manner, although there are some deviations of topic for clarification purposes or to raise points.

Now one of the problems that people may have with this anime is the inherent lack of a story as this is effectively a retelling of history instead. That said, the content of this "lecture" will be of interest to anyone who likes or studies Japanese history, war and militaria, bushido and samurai culture, or martial arts. The Dream of the Last Samurai may even be interesting to those who are simply fans of Oshii Mamoru as the movie is certainly reflective of his slightly incongruous analytical style.

Another issue that may put some people off this movie is the fact that Production I.G. have combined different styles of animation with some live action footage of historical places in Japan, and the overall effect can sometimes be disconcerting. The glimpses into Miyamoto Musashi's battles are sumptuously designed and animated (with suitably dark overtones), and this may cause some to be disappointed by the strangely cartoon-like 3D animation used for Professor Inukai Kiichi and his assistant (and comic relief), Miss Iori.

There's a certain strangeness to The Dream of the Last Samurai because of the visual approach that can be a little awkward at times, especially when the scene changes rapidly from live to animated. If you're is interested in the content though, then these small problems never really impact on one's enjoyment of the movie.

Unfortunately, the sound and music are nowhere near as good as they could be. Granted the acting is good and the effects are well chosen and choreographed, but the music is probably the strangest thing about the movie. Again, the mixture of styles is readily apparent, and the music alternates between classical music to old style Japanese music. The one thing that I did like is that at certain points the story of Miyamoto Musashi is told in a very traditional folk style which enhances the idea that one is looking at history rather than a story.

As far as characters are concerned there's little to say. Professor Inukai Kiichi is fairly intstructive but lacks anything that makes him stand out aside from his comedy value (which is pretty small). Likewise the professor's assistant Miss Iori is nothing more than a voiceless, well intentioned klutz who really isn't needed at all.

On the other hand, the opportunity to look at the life of one of Japan's most enigmatic historical figures and one of the greatest swordsmen in history is something doesn't come along too often. Miyamoto Musashi is portrayed very well through a combination of traditional storytelling, comparative fact, and modern animation. Granted he may not fall into the "traditional" character mould but given the nature of The Dream of the Last Samurai, this is to be expected.

So, will you enjoy it? In all honesty, unless you're a history buff or a fan of the topics I mentioned earlier, then there's a good chance you may not like this. The strange combination of animation, 3D and live action, together with the mixing of two very different musical styles can have a very odd effect on the viewer. In addition to this, the content of the show, and the manner in which it delivers its evidence, may not sit too well with those who simply want to be entertained.

On the other hand, I did enjoy The Dream of the Last Samurai because it talks about topics in which I have an interest.

Yes, Miyamoto Musashi - Souken ni Haseru Yume is a strange beast, but one can only wish that more such movies will make their presence felt in the industry through the coming years. It may be that anime is finally coming of age.

Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume is a 2009 Production I.G film based on the historical figure. For those of you who don't know who Miyamoto Musashi was, he was an expert swordsman and a Ronin from the late 1500s to the mid 1600s. He was highly regarded and even founded his own swordsmanship style. He also wrote The Book of Five Rings, which is still studied as an important tactical/philosophical piece. The bottom line is that this dude led an interesting life so there should be plenty for Production I.G to work with. Let's see how they did.

Story:

This is less a film ... with a traditional story and more a historical documentary. It opens by talking about the fiction that's grown around the figure of Miyamoto Musashi and segues into the facts that are known about his life with some theories and conjecture about what he was likely thinking and when covering other topics that are more uncertain.

So, how is it as a documentary? Well, it is quite informative and I do like that it addresses the myths and how they came to be. I also appreciate that the documentary uses some slapstick humour between the narrator and his assistant as well as some animated action sequences portraying some of Miyamoto's most famous battles, in an effort to keep things entertaining. Admittedly, they are mostly pretty effective at it too. The biggest problem is that the film doesn't always stay on topic very well. There's a semi-long discussion about western knightly customs which eventually moves into talking about the Olympics and first world war and the only important point to it is to bring up some similarities between the western knights and Japanese bushi, or mounted samurai. The segment itself goes on about four times longer than it needs to to bring that up.

Characters:

There aren't so much characters in this. You get quite a bit of conjecture about Miyamoto Musashi himself that tries to provide an explanation for why he acted as he did and what likely motivated and shaped him as a person. It's a lot of biographical stuff and a lot of it is pretty fascinating.

Art:

The artwork is a bit iffy, to be honest. There are drastically different styles employed throughout the documentary. Some of them are kind of lazy, some of them are weird and creative and may or may not be effective and the ones used for the action sequences use a more traditional action anime style with muted colours like you might see in a flashback for a more ordinary anime.

Sound:

There's only one vocal performance in this, the narrator who talks throughout giving information and providing conjecture. His narration is mostly effective although they occasionally do odd things with it. For example, there are several cases where he sounds like he's trying to sing something, and doing it pretty badly. The music is pretty mediocre too. It's serviceable but not anything interesting or good.

Ho-yay:

There isn't any. I don't know what Miyamoto's love life was like, but the film doesn't talk about it.

Final Thoughts:
Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume is a pretty solid documentary. It has a lot of good information and presents it in a pretty compelling way. It isn't anything great, though. It goes off topic for a bit and there are some questionable decisions in the artwork and the narration. If you want to learn more about Miyamoto Musashi as he actually was rather than the romanticised version you get in a lot of media, it's a good choice. My final rating is going to be a 7/10. With that we close this year's film festival week. Next Wednesday I'll look at Sunabouzu.

Purged from the fiery embers of hell by Lucifer himself, one man descends upon the earth with no contrition for his ill-deeds. Piercing his sword through the entrails of his foes, as if he were preparing a buffet of human tripe for the consumption of blood-thirsty Ronin, this barbarous legend carves his tales with the blood of victory. Originator of the seven sword technique, and known throughout the land for shish kebab-ing twelve men with a single sword, his mere presence is enough to petrify a whole army of gun-wielding soldiers. And now, in his cinematic debut, he will bring his murderous ... ferocity to the big screen, where no man, no woman, no living creature will be secure from his savage zeal.

In the summer of 2019, Miyamoto Musashi is…..Tom Cruise, in the Last Samurai 2: F—k the guns, taste my sword b—tch!

Rated PG-47, for extreme ultra-violence.


With an assortment of exaggerated stories to his name (enough to make even Bruce Lee blush), Miyamoto Musashi has become a folklore legend, not to mention a source of great intrigue and inspiration. Mamoru Oshii, creator of Ghost in the Shell, understood the level of controversy surrounding the enigmatic samurai; thus, encouraging him to shed a light on the exploits that have been talked about for numerous generations. It is refreshing to see a director more willingly to acknowledge the truth (at least, the truth that can be verified through historical records), rather than acquiesce to a plethora of falsehoods, simply for the appeasement of the masses.

That all being said, however, the presentation of said material is utterly bizarre. The juxtaposition between gritty, hand-drawn animation and shoddy, three dimensional block figures is quite off-putting. It’s akin to putting a three-year-old’s scribbles next to Van Gogh’s, The Starry Night, it just doesn’t look eye-pleasing. This problem is exacerbated further by the shenanigans of the narrator and his mute assistant; which is a damn shame, because the mystery surrounding Musashi is captivating enough on its own merit, making the superfluous antics of the narrator look comically asinine.

Documentaries themselves, are usually tedious affairs, or, to put it bluntly: it’s the lazy man’s “reading” material. So why utilize a prosaic method of chronicling Musashi’s life, when the medium itself demands an artistic flourish. Look. If I’m going to watch a documentary about Musashi, then I'll watch a documentary about Musashi — not an anime with classical music to feign sophistication.