, also known as ''Fuse: A Gun Girl's Detective Story'' and ''Fusé: Memoirs of the Huntress'', is a 2012 Japanese
animated film
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
directed by Masayuki Miyaji based on
Kazuki Sakuraba's novel ''Fusé Gansaku: Satomi Hakkenden''.
Both novel and film are adaptations of
Kyokutei Bakin
(), a.k.a. (, 4 July 1767 – 1 December 1848), was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period. Born (), he wrote under the pen name (). Later in life he took the pen name (). Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is ...
's epic novel ''
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden
''Nansō Satomi Hakkenden'' ( ja, 南総里見八犬伝, label=shinjitai; ja, 南總里見八犬傳, label=kyūjitai) is a Japanese epic novel (''yomihon'') written and published over twenty-eight years (1814–42) in the Edo period, by Kyokute ...
'', focusing on a female hunter named Hamaji.
Plot
Hamaji is a girl who lives alone in the mountains, surviving as a hunter just like her grandfather. One day she receives a letter from her brother Dousetsu who lives in Edo. Reaching the big city, she gets lost and ends up meeting Shino, a fusé who helps her in finding her brother's house. Dousetsu wants to team up with her to win a bounty award to hunt down the fusé, which are people who are part wolf and part human that eat other people's essence. With her hunting skills she finds and kills a beautiful female fusé and she and her brother share in a huge reward. However, this distraughts Shino, which prompts him to execute his plan of hunting down Edo's shogun and kill him in order to avenge his fusé kin. Later, Hamaji and Shino form a connection that enables him to escape from Edo and accept his situation.
Characters
Main
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:
[ ]
:One of the last remaining fusé who is also a famous kabuki theater actor. Behind the curtains, he secretly attacks fusé hunters in order to avenge his dead kin. While Hamaji is aware of his identity of being a fusé, he constantly holds his urge to eat her human essence.
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:A young girl who lived in the mountains alone, following her grandfather's footsteps of being a hunter. She later receives a letter from her brother, prompting her to go to the city of Edo and cross paths with Shino.
Secondary
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:Hamaji's brother and a fusé hunter.
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:Hamaji's author friend whom she met after Meido published printings about her fusé hunt.
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:Dousetsu's wife.
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:
:Based on the historical figure
Tokugawa Iesada, he is a shogun with an unhealthy obsession of hunting down fusé.
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:Edo's top courtesan and Shino's acquaintance who is secretly a fusé. Hamaji and Dousetsu later hunt her down, with Dousetsu being the one to cut her head off.
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:A fuse hunter with a fake fusé eye and a bloodlust for hunting their heads for bounty.
Supporting
;
:
:Based on the historical author
Kyokutei Bakin
(), a.k.a. (, 4 July 1767 – 1 December 1848), was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period. Born (), he wrote under the pen name (). Later in life he took the pen name (). Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is ...
, who wrote the original epic novel ''
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden
''Nansō Satomi Hakkenden'' ( ja, 南総里見八犬伝, label=shinjitai; ja, 南總里見八犬傳, label=kyūjitai) is a Japanese epic novel (''yomihon'') written and published over twenty-eight years (1814–42) in the Edo period, by Kyokute ...
'' which the film was based on.
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Media
A special Blu-ray and DVD set was released featuring cover art by graphic designer Wakamatsu Kaori. It also included a booklet and postcard set by the same designer.
NIS America
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' characte ...
later licensed the film and received the English-subtitled film in a Premium Edition on May 6, 2014.
Anime Limited
Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...
has licensed the film for the British Isles and will release the movie on Blu-ray in 2022.
References
External links
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Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuse Teppo Musume no Torimonocho
2012 anime films
2012 directorial debut films
2012 films
Films based on Japanese novels
Japanese animated films
Films with screenplays by Ichirō Ōkouchi
TMS Entertainment
Films scored by Michiru Ōshima