![]() Aragami represents a dramatic departure from the over the top heroics of Versus and Kitamura's light-hearted and bloodsoaked ninja epic, Azumi (2003).Īragami is a surprisingly mature film. Like most people, my first experience with Kitamura-san's work was the oft-maligned but ridiculously enjoyable, Versus (2000). It has to be earned in a duel to the death. But it is not a mantle that can be freely given. The swordsman's greatest desire is to give up his immortality and pass his mantle on to a successor. The samurai then discovers the reason that his life has been spared. However, the one thing that centuries of existence has taught the kami is that everlasting life isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The swordsman in actuality is a kami an immortal being whose sole purpose is to hone his martial prowess far beyond that of normal men and pit his skill against the skill of other fighters. The samurai responds with mild amusement that gradually evolves into outright jovial disbelief.īut this is no laughing matter. The swordsman even claims to have been the great Miyamoto Musashi in a former life. Over the course of the evening, the swordsman engages the samurai in a rather profound dialogue with topics ranging from battle tactics to reincarnation. The companion dies, but the remaining samurai is miraculously nursed back to health by a powerful swordsman (Masaya Kato) and his female companion (Kanae Uotani). The action picks up with a badly injured samurai (Takao Osawa) and his nearly dead companion (Hideo Sakaki) finding refuge from a brutal storm inside the walls of a mysterious temple. Aragami takes place arguably sometime during the latter part of the Bakumatsu the final years of the Edo Period that signaled the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. ![]()
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