''Samurai Commando: Mission 1549'', known in Japan as , is a 2005 Japanese feature-length film and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series focusing on the adventures of a modern-day

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

(

JGSDF The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

) element that accidentally travels through time to the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new invent ...

. Both the film and manga are based on '' Sengoku Jieitai'' (aka "''Time-Slip''", "''GI Samurai''", 1979), an action film which starred

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...

as the leader of a JGSDF

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

sent back to feudal Japan. The manga series was drawn by manga artist group Ark Performance. The scenario was written by Fukui Harutoshi, based on

Ryo Hanmura Ryo may refer to: * Ryō, a gold currency unit in pre-Meiji Japan Shakkanhō system * Ryō (actress) (born 1973), Japanese model, actress, and singer * Ryō (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Ryo, Georgia, an unincorporated community in ...

's novel.

Plot summary

On March 10, 2003, the Japanese Self Defense Force conducts an experiment which is meant to shield military equipment from the effects of

solar flare A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phe ...

s and EMPs with the use of electromagnetic shields. But something goes wrong, and all soldiers assigned to the test suddenly find themselves stranded on a battlefield in the

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 ...

(the year 1549) and under attack by a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

army. When the first men are killed, the unit retaliates with its formidable arsenal. 74 hours later, a reverse effect occurs, and a wounded samurai warrior suddenly appears in the 21st century. Two years later, former JSDF First Lieutenant and now world-weary restaurant owner Yusuke Kashima (

Yōsuke Eguchi is a Japanese actor and singer. Since 1986, he has appeared in a number of television series and movies. He is married to the singer-songwriter Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwrit ...

) is approached by Major Mori (

Katsuhisa Namase is a Japanese actor, known primary for his roles in Japanese television dramas. His roles are often positions of authority, such as managers, principals, or police officers, but many of these characters also share a certain kookiness and incomp ...

) and First Lieutenant Rei Kanzaki (

Kyōka Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Life and career Suzuki appeared in Shinji Aoyama's '' Mike Yokohama: A Forest with No Name'' and Yōichi Sai's ''Blood and Bones''. She won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Yokohama Film Festival for her role in ''Wel ...

), who inform him that his lost superior, Colonel Tsuyoshi Matoba (

Takeshi Kaga , real name , is a well-known stage and movie actor in Japan who is best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show ''Iron Chef'' produced by Fuji TV. Biography Kaga was born on October 12, 1950, i ...

), is actually stranded in the past and ask for his help. All over Japan, black holes have formed which threaten to devour the present; Mori and Kanzaki are sure that Matoba is altering history. Using the same conditions as before, a second team under Mori's and Kanzaki's leadership is to be sent into the past and recover Matoba's unit; Kashima is to act as an observer and liaison to Matoba. Kashima refuses to participate, but then Linuma Shichibei (

Kazuki Kitamura is a Japanese film and television actor who won the award for best supporting actor at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for '' Minazuki'', ''Kyohansha'' and ''Kanzen-naru shiiku'' as well as the CUT ABOVE Award for Excellence in Film at JAPAN CUTS ...

), the samurai who had appeared after Matoba's unit had been sent back in time, seeks him out and asks him what he is actually living for when he is not interested in saving the world. This challenge rekindles Kashima's interest, and he agrees to come along. As the recovery team arrives, they rescue a youth by the name of Tosuke (Akiyoshi Nakao), but also come under attack by both samurai and modern weapons, and, with some help from Shichibei (whose lord,

Saitō Dōsan , also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤利政), was a Japanese samurai during the Sengoku period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Saitō Dōsan"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 809. He was also known as the for his ruthless tactics. His hono ...

, had allied himself with the attackers) they are quickly captured. The survivors are brought to nearby Mount Anmo, where a castle has been erected which bears somewhat improvised, but clearly

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

features like an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

. Soon, they meet the leader of the army,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

– who is actually Matoba, who has grown resentful of his own time period and intends to write Japan's history anew. Matoba has established himself as a warlord and assumed Nobunaga's identity after having killed him during one of his first battles. Now, using a battery from the magnetic shield as a kit-bashed

nuclear device A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, he plans to make

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

erupt, thereby eradicating the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

region and establishing himself as supreme ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

''. He approaches Kashima with the offer to participate, but the latter firmly refuses. In the meantime, Shichibei learns that his lord has wed his daughter,

Nōhime , also known as Kichō (帰蝶), was the legal wife of Oda Nobunaga, a major ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. Her proper name was Kichō, but since she came from Mino Province, she is most commonly referred to as Nōhime ...

(for whom the young samurai seems to feel more than respectful reverence) to the warlord and that the new arrivals are to be executed. While Shichibei is wracked with self-doubt about the fate of his benefactors, his own experiences in the future and the duty to his lord, Tosuke manages to sneak inside the fortress, where he comes in contact with Nōhime. When she learns of his resolve, she encourages Shichibei to follow his own heart and secretly prepares to free the prisoners. The next morning, Kashima is to fight Shichibei for the freedom of himself and his men, but before a deadly blow can be struck, Shichibei tries to convince his lord to turn away from Matoba. Just as Saitō Dōsan orders Shichibei’s death, Tosuke uses a commandeered APC to provide the soldiers a route of escape and their weapons. They manage to snatch the majority of their equipment, but Major Mori is killed covering Kashima’s and Kanzaki’s escape, and Kanzaki herself is recaptured. With just about 21 hours left to return to their own time period, the surviving JSDF soldiers nevertheless decide to return to Anmo to stop Matoba. In the course of their planning, Kashima learns that Tosuke is actually

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

– a name which gives him hope for the future again. Soon, Shichibei returns to plead to his lord one final time and finally succeeds by appealing to a father’s love for his daughter, while Tosuke is sent to the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

for an official authorization to declare Nobunaga a traitor. The next morning, Saitō Dōsan returns to Anmo with fake news that Kashima and the remaining soldiers are headed for

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

to ask the emperor for assistance. Taking the bait, Matoba has the majority of his forces move out. As soon as this is done, Kashima and a group of his men, assisted by Dōsan’s samurai, conduct acts of sabotage and attack the castle guards. Kashima fights his way to Matoba, who is just about to launch the bomb, and finally manages to kill him, but the bomb is still set to explode. As the oil refinery is destroyed, the explosion triggers an earthquake which destroys the castle. Kashima and Kanzaki are – along with the bomb – evacuated by helicopter and quickly brought to the point of entry, where Kashima hopes that the electromagnetic effects created by the time shift will cause the timer to stop. With only seconds to spare, they manage to return to their point of entry and are transported back to their own time; the time bomb is stopped and the present restored.

External links

* {{Masaaki Tezuka Films directed by Masaaki Tezuka Comics about time travel Films about time travel Live-action films based on manga Remakes of Japanese films 2005 films Toho tokusatsu films Sengoku period in fiction Comics set in the 16th century Films set in the 1540s Films set in 2003 Japan Self-Defense Forces in fiction Japanese alternate history films Kadokawa Shoten manga Kadokawa Dwango franchises CMX (comics) titles Shōnen manga Cultural depictions of Oda Nobunaga 2000s Japanese films

Plot summary

See also

External links