is a 2001 Japanese samurai film directed by

Hiroyuki Nakano is a Japanese film director. Filmography * ''Watching People'' (1989) * ''Spiritual Earth: Aloha Wave'' (1995) * ''Samurai Fiction'' (1998) * ''Pop Group Killers'' (2000) * ''Red Shadow (2001 film), Red Shadow'' (2001) * ''Stereo Future'' (2001 ...

. The film stars

Masanobu Andō is a Japanese actor. Ando has appeared in films such as Takeshi Kitano's '' Kids Return'' (1996), Kinji Fukasaku's '' Battle Royale'' (2000), Takashi Miike's '' Sukiyaki Western Django'' (2007), and Chen Kaige's '' Forever Enthralled'' (2008). ...

in the title role and features a guest star appearance of

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with artists fr ...

returning from the 1998 spin-off and virtual prequel ''

Samurai Fiction is a 1998 comedy-samurai film directed by Hiroyuki Nakano. It is almost entirely black-and-white, and follows a fairly standard plotline for a comedy and ''jidaigeki'' samurai film, but the presence of Tomoyasu Hotei's rock-and-roll soundtrack se ...

''. The film is loosely based on the 1960s manga ''

Kamen no Ninja Akakage is a Japanese manga series written and Illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1966 to 1967. The manga was adapted into a 52-episode tokusats ...

''.

Plot

in 1545, the world was in the Warring States period. The servants surpassed the lord and defeated them frequently, and the Sengoku daimyo repeated fierce battles and were devoted to trade-in. Among the ninjas who served them was a group of ninjas called the "Kage Clan". They serve the Sengoku daimyo Hidenobu Togo, and while faithfully performing all missions to unify the world, they make weapons and armor with metal that is stronger than any substance called "invincible steel" and meet mysterious ninjutsu. However, after a long time, the "invincible steel" dissipates and the number of people who can use the technique gradually decreases, and the legitimate successors of the Kage clan are the three people, Akakage, Aokage, and Asuka, who remain under the white shadow who is the leader. It was only leaving the young man. And I felt a big gap with the lesson passed down from generation to generation to the clan, "Working as a shadow for a peaceful world with light" to Togo, and the minds of Akakage and others began to get lost.

Cast

- Akakage *

Megumi Okina is a Japanese actress and singer. Born in Hiroshima and raised in Tokyo, she made her J-Pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular m ...

- Koto-Hime *

Kumiko Asō , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress. She is also a model and has participated in several commercials. Career In 1995, Asō made her film debut in ''Bad Guy Beach''. With her role in the 1998 film ''Dr. Akagi'', she received ...

- Asuka *

Jun Murakami is a Japanese actor. Career Murakami starred in Sho Miyake's ''Playback'' (2012). He co-starred in Sion Sono's '' The Land of Hope'' (2012) with Megumi Kagurazaka. He has also appeared in films such as Takahisa Zeze's '' Heaven's Story'' an ...

- Aokage *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

- Shirokage *

Fumiya Fujii is a Japanese musician, actor and former lead singer of The Checkers born in Kurume. His younger brother is Naoyuki Fujii, a musician and former sax player for The Checkers. His eldest son is Fuji TV announcer Kōki Fujii. He formerly belonge ...

- Ranmaru *Shuhei Mainoumi - Rikimaru *

Kei Tani (born Yasuo Watanabe (渡部泰雄, Watanabe Yasuo); 22 February 1932 – 11 September 2010) was a Japanese comedian, actor and musician. Born in Tokyo, he learned to play the trombone and, while a student at Chuo University, began playing in ...

- Roushi * Ryoko Shinohara - O-Rin *

Kitarō Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則, ''Takahashi Masanori''; born February 4, 1953), professionally known as , is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, and arranger noted for his electronic-instrumental music, and is often associated w ...

- Roushi, Mura no chourou *

Denden is a Japanese actor and former comedian.http://japancinema.net/2012/05/29/creative-spotlight-episode-126-denden He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1981. Selected filmography Film Television References External links * ...

- Bonnobei *

Masahiko Tsugawa , born Masahiko Katō (加藤雅彦 ''Katō Masahiko''; January 2, 1940 – August 4, 2018) was a Japanese actor and director. Career Tsugawa was born January 2, 1940, in Kyoto, Japan. After acting as a child, he made his major debut at 16 in t ...

- Tougou Hidenobu, Sengoku Daimyou *

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 Fest ...

- Kamijou Takatora *

Alina Kabaeva Alina Maratovna Kabaeva (or Kabayeva; born 12 May 1983) is a Russian politician, media manager, and retired individual rhythmic gymnast, who has been designated Honoured Master of Sports by the Russian government. Kabaeva is one of the most d ...

- Olga, Circus no shoujo

Reception

Mark Schilling Mark Schilling (born 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, translator, and author based in Tokyo, Japan. He has written for ''The Japan Times'', '' Variety'', and ''Screen International''. Biography Schilling began working for ''The Japa ...

of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' stated that "There is not a dull moment in the film." but also that there was "unfortunately, not much in the way of real thrills or laughs, which ''

The Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a village of d ...

'' and ''

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who also co-wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamat ...

'' manage to have, despite the lack of cool computer graphics", and that "One day, maybe, Nakano will get around to filming a movie".

References

External links

* 2000s Japanese films 2000s Japanese-language films 2001 films Japanese comedy films Ninja films 2000s samurai films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub