Manga Bastard

Film Review: Azumi (2003)

Having become internationally known with the zombie-martial arts-sci-fi epic VERSES and infamous for his recent bastardization GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, director Ryuhei Kitamura adapted this Yu Koyama manga to the big screen (with the screenplay by Mataichiro Yamamoto and Isao Kiriyama). AZUMI is an epic fantasy martial arts film that surpasses all of Kitamura’s other films in both story and visual scope.

Azumi (Aya Ueto) is one of five assassins who have been charged with killing certain political individuals in order to stir her country to the right path. Having been raised as a child into the craft she has strength and agility that far surpasses any of her fellow team members coupled with the fact that when she was but a child she watched her mother slain before her eyes by bandits. These skills and long forgotten emotions come to a head when she is forced to look away and do nothing as an entire village is slaughtered before her eyes. This event is but one that leads Azumi on the path of self-discovery as she tries to discover her purpose in a world where only the violence of the blade can solve anything.

Ueto’s performance is mesmerizing as an assassin who discovers that there is still beauty in world filled with blood and that sometimes no matter how much a person tries they cannot run from their destiny.

Kitamura’s battle sequences are some of the best in any of his films. And Takumi Furuya’s cinematography is first class as he has improved upon his experiences from his other collaborations with Kitamura including VERSES, ALIVE, and ARAGAMI, and which would foreshadow the brilliant work he does on GODZILLA: FINAL WARS.

About the Author

An independent filmmaker who writes screenplays and articles mostly in the entertainment fields.

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