''Shinobi: Heart Under Blade'' is a 2005

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese romantic drama film directed by Ten Shimoyama and written by Kenya Hirata. It is an adaptation of

Futaro Yamada was the pen name of , a Japanese author. He was born in Yabu, Hyogo. In 1947, he wrote a mystery short story and was awarded a prize by the magazine . He was discovered by Edogawa Rampo and became a novelist. He wrote many ninja (忍法帖 ''Ni ...

's novel ''

The Kouga Ninja Scrolls is a historical fantasy novel about ninja written in 1958–1959 by the Japanese author Futaro Yamada. It is the first installment in Yamada's ''Ninja Scrolls'' series, which he wrote until his death in 2001. The book was translated into English ...

'', although the characters are highly altered. It depicts the clash between two

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

clans,

Iga Iga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film * Iga no Kagemaru, Japanese manga series * Iga, a set of characters from the Japanese novel '' The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'' Biology * ''Iga'' (beetle), a gen ...

and Kouga, and the fated love between Gennosuke (Kouga) and Oboro (Iga). The film's theme song was "

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

" by

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

. The film was released by

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

on September 15, 2005. On February 6, 2007,

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

released the film on home video in the North America. The contents of the DVD is a 2-Disc Set with the main movie available in Japanese and an English dub. The 2nd Disc contains Special Features and making-ofs. All of the films are subtitled in English.

Plot

Set immediately after the Japanese

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, Iga and Kouga, two mercenary clans have been waging a vendetta against each other over hundreds of years. Around 1614,

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

, the ruler of Japan and the founder of the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, perceives the threat posed by the two clans. Attempting to consolidate his reign, he deliberately stirs up their feud by inviting the clans to choose their five best warriors to fight to the death. Designated as the leaders of the two clans respectively, Kouga Gennosuke (

Joe Odagiri , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor and musician. Personal life Joe Odagiri was born in Tsuyama, Okayama prefecture. Though he was accepted by Kochi University, he turned it down for an opportunity to study in the United States ...

) and Oboro (

Yukie Nakama is a Japanese actress, singer and former idol. History Biography She was born in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan, into a fisherman's family, the youngest of five siblings. At the start of her career she was a gravure idol and singer (her debut single " ...

), who have secretly married, are unwillingly embroiled in the political plot. Hence, they have to make a difficult decision. Initially, being peaceful and knowing the preciousness of life, they try their utmost to prevent this meaningless and brutal fight by questioning the shogunate's motives. After the deaths of all their comrades, however, they gradually accept their fate. In the last fight, Kouga Gennosuke chooses not to defend himself and allows his lover Oboro to kill him, thus letting the clan of Iga "win". Meanwhile, Ieyasu sends his armies to exterminate the ninja villages. To accomplish Gennosuke's hope of saving them, Oboro implores Tokugawa Ieyasu not to destroy the villages and, as a show of her sincerity, blinds herself, thereby destroying her most powerful weapons, her eyes (which possess a deadly technique called . Moved profoundly by Oboro, Ieyasu withdraws his armies and issues an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

to protect the ninja villages. For generations hence, the villages live peacefully.

Cast

The list of six top ninja of Iga and Kouga, along with other characters. ;Kouga *

as Kouga Gennosuke - the Kouga leader with the power to see, react, and move at very high speeds. *

Takeshi Masu is a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 80 films since 1981. Filmography Film Television References External links Official profile * 1955 births Living people People from Tokyo Japanese male film actors Japanese male te ...

as Muroga Hyouma - has abilities similar to a 6th sense (seeing enemies kilometers away). *

Mitsuki Koga , is a Japanese actor who is known to be featured in films that involve much martial arts. He trained in Muay Thai, Karate and Boxing before starting his acting career. Best known for his portrayals as Kyosuke Akiba in '' Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.'' ...

as Chikuma Koshirou - no supernatural powers, best weapons user. *

Tomoka Kurotani Kurotani Tomoka (黒谷友香; born 11 December 1975 in Sakai, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese actress. She starred as the femme fatale female ninja Kagero in ''Shinobi Heart Under Blade''. Partial filmography Films *''Boxer Joe'' (1995) *勝手� ...

as Kagero - poison specialist. Poison flows within her veins and she is able to breathe poison at enemies or poisoning them with a kiss. *Houka Kinoshita as Kisaragi Saemon - he is able to assume the physical appearance of others and imitate their voice. *Minoru Terada as Kouga Danjo ;Iga *

as Oboro - the Iga leader who has the "eyes of destruction", completely incapacitating an opponent with one glance. *

Kippei Shiina is a Japanese actor. Career Shiina portrayed John Rain and co-starred in Max Mannix's '' Rain Fall'' (2009) with Gary Oldman. He starred in Takeshi Kitano's '' Outrage'' (2010). Filmography Film *''Wangan Bad Boy Blue'' (1992) *''A Night in Nu ...

as Yakushiji Tenzen - he is the host to parasitic worms which prevent him from aging and heal any wounds he sustained, allowing him to quickly recover from nearly any injury. *

Tak Sakaguchi is a Japanese actor, director, fight choreographer, stuntman and martial artist. He is best known for his role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, '' Versus''. Since his debut, Sakaguchi has worked with Kitamura several times, often appearing al ...

as Yashamaru - he manipulates thin wires, using them like whips. The wires are also sharp enough to cut through various objects. *

Shun Ito is a Japanese football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the w ...

as Mino Nenki - beastman that has a keen sense of smell *

Erika Sawajiri is a Japanese former actress, singer, and model. After starting out as a junior model, Sawajiri transitioned to acting in 2002 and has starred in ''Break Through!'', ''Shinobi: Heart Under Blade'', and ''1 Litre no Namida (TV series), 1 Litre of ...

as Hotarubi - she uses some sort of dust that manipulates butterflies and moths. *

Lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

as Ogen ;Others *Takeshi Masu as Kuroga Hyouma *Masaki Nishina as

Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi was one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era. Life Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyū Jūbē Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichirō ...

*Toshiya Nagasawa as

Yagyū Munenori was a Japanese daimyo, swordsman, and martial arts writer, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishūsai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa ...

Yutaka Matsushige is a Japanese actor. Career Matsushige has appeared in the films such as ''EM Embalming'', ''Adrenaline Drive'', ''Last Life in the Universe'', and ''Outrage Beyond''. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festiv ...

Hattori Hanzō or ''Second Hanzō'', nicknamed , was a famous Ninja of the Sengoku era, who served the Tokugawa clan as a ninja, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. He is often a subjec ...

Renji Ishibashi , born is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 15th Hochi Film Award for '' Rōnin-gai''. Filmography Film Television Video game * '' Yakuza: Dead Souls'' - Oyassan References External links * Renji Ishib ...

as Nankōbō Tenkai *

Kazuo Kitamura was a Japanese actor. His son is actor Yukiya Kitamura. Kitamura met Shōhei Imamura when he was a student of Waseda University and became a close friend so often worked with Imamura. Kitamura joined Bungakuza theatre company and started his act ...

as Tokugawa Ieyasu

Reception

The film was successful financially in Japan earning roughly 11 million US dollars. ''Shinobi'' won both best actor and best new actress awards at both the Kinema Junpo Awards and

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

References

* "Shinobi: Heart Under Blade". (January 2007) ''Newtype USA''. Vol. 6 No. 1 p. 23.

External links

* * * {{Rotten-tomatoes, shinobi_heart_under_blade, Shinobi (Shinobi: Heart Under Blade) 2000s adventure films 2005 films Films directed by Ten Shimoyama Films scored by Taro Iwashiro Funimation 2000s Japanese-language films Ninja films 2005 romantic drama films Shochiku films Japanese martial arts films Cultural depictions of Hattori Hanzō 2005 martial arts films 2000s Japanese films ja:甲賀忍法帖#映画