And so we once again have Tomisaburô Wakayama slowly wheeling the baby carriage containing his son, Akihiro Tomikawa, through Japan. No one sets out to kill him... well, there are five people, but they're testing him for a job of assassination, and as each is dispatched with dispatch, they give him one fifth of his price, and a further bit of the story as to what and who and where and how and why.
This take up almost the first full hour of this ninety-minute entry to the series. It is, of course, a set-up to the two big battles in the last half hour, with plenty of spraying blood and rolling heads, and five-year-olds being lashed. That's what the audiences want to see, and that's what they get.
Of course, the series, and the manga it is based on are praised for their accuracy to the details of life in Japan in the period the series is set in, and the beautiful camerawork modeled on half panels and splash displays. Let us, however, not fool ourselves. The real appeal of this series, and this one in particular, is sadism and gore, always at a safe distance, so the bloodthirsty audience can glory in it and take no responsibility. People who scream in agony over a paper cut love to watch someone disembowel himself. It's a movie for putzes.
This take up almost the first full hour of this ninety-minute entry to the series. It is, of course, a set-up to the two big battles in the last half hour, with plenty of spraying blood and rolling heads, and five-year-olds being lashed. That's what the audiences want to see, and that's what they get.
Of course, the series, and the manga it is based on are praised for their accuracy to the details of life in Japan in the period the series is set in, and the beautiful camerawork modeled on half panels and splash displays. Let us, however, not fool ourselves. The real appeal of this series, and this one in particular, is sadism and gore, always at a safe distance, so the bloodthirsty audience can glory in it and take no responsibility. People who scream in agony over a paper cut love to watch someone disembowel himself. It's a movie for putzes.