Reviews

Mar 12, 2018
You never know what films are going to stick with you years later. I’ve seen many films I’d consider good, but I’ll rewatch very few of them anytime I run across them. This is one of those rarities.

This is, oddly enough, one of the more western-structured anime I’ve seen. Don’t get me wrong, the setting is very Japanese and the only characters that aren’t Japanese or Chinese are still products of those cultures rather than western imports. But the structure, themes, and even music remind me of Hollywood movies more than your typical Japanese film. In fact, I’d go so far as to state that the closest analogues I can think of are all Westerns, with the tortured warrior secretly craving redemption, the fugitives fleeing through the countryside, the soldier obsessed with nothing but combat, the climactic duel... The samurai and Western genres are closely tied to each other of course, with each copying from the other, and I suppose my reaction might be different if I’d seen more modern samurai films. Still, it doesn’t feel like a Hollywood film would have handled this material any differently.

I don’t mean any of this in a bad way. Many of my favorite anime draw heavily from western media, and vice versa. An outsider’s perspective not constrained by the immediate context can do wonders when inspired by great ideas. And I think that one of the best elements of this film is the incorporation of foreign elements. This is true on many levels. Both the lead figures are foreigners, Nanashi an orphan of unknown (even to him) background raised in Japan and Luo, the blond-haired, blue-eyed Chinese mercenary with no real ties to... well, anything. The difference between the two is obvious. Nanashi embraces his world and tries to find a place in it, even knowing he can never fit in fully. Luo accepts his isolation with equanimity and seeks only the thrill of combat. The racism they both encounter and the way they adapt to it is probably the strongest element of the film. There are numerous Chinese elements here as well since the main villains are from the Ming Empire on a mission from their emperor. Indeed, they speak in (awful) Chinese whenever there are Japanese present and in Japanese when on their own. An approach clearly lifted from western films like The Hunt for Red October and The Thirteenth Warrior. This internationalism adds a lot of needed scale to the film, which is generally basic and narrow in focus.

The characters are another real selling point. Nanashi is a typical tortured ronin. He’s got some real baggage in his past and seeks only to hide from the world that has been so cruel to him. Obviously, genre conventions can never allow that. Kotaro is his sidekick/employer and a charmingly pushy kid. He’s rude and abrasive at times, but always in a manner that shows he’s putting on a show rather than actually being heartless. He’s likeably feisty and they make a good team. Luo is the last of the leads, and his storyline obviously follows a different arc. He is mainly there to be an obstacle overcome and as such needs to be very scary. Which he definitely is. But the way in which he is always treated so snidely for his background, even by his allies, is fascinating. He brushes it off of course, not because he’s tough but because he cares so little for anyone around him that he can calmly take any form of abuse. As villains go he’s memorable.

The real hero of this film is the climax though. I have to wonder how well this film would have worked if it had had a restrained ending. I’d probably have listed it as a good film and then never seen it again. But the final fight is just extraordinary. A true thing of epic beauty. This is the sort of thing that can only be done in animation: a swordfight swinging off heights and over obstacles between two master swordsmen. The animation is first rate and the choreography superb. And while it may sound like I was dismissing the film’s earlier strengths there by questioning how much of the film is pulled up by the ending, it’s more than just a technical triumph. When Nanashi charges in to the rescue, tearing loose his sword for the first time since, um, things happened, and the (first rate) music starts to soar, you don’t just think ‘wow, this fight is going to be awesome’, you rejoice because he’s overcome his past sins. He’s found a cause worth shedding more blood for. And it’s going to be epic. It’s an emotional moment and one that only works because it’s built on a solid foundation of character work. Marvelous stuff.

It’s odd that I’m so fond of this movie given that nothing here is particularly original, barring perhaps the Chinese mysticism. I’ve seen innumerable stories where the hero is a fallen warrior who has to learn to care again and redeem himself, and most of them are paired up with spunky kids who care too much and have a lot to learn. There are certainly plenty of samurai anime and while I can’t think of any that have a comparably grand finale, there are undoubtedly good action scenes within. And yet somehow this film, so seemingly unoriginal, is better than the sum of its parts. By the end you do genuinely care about the leads and that final battle is unmatched for its power. This is cliche done right. It follows worn tropes but handles them so well that you’re okay with following the undemanding path and just enjoy the ride.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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