Red Shadow: Akakage (2001)

Aka Kage, Aoi Kage and Asuka are trio of ninjas sent to perform dangerous secret missions for their master. Although Aka and Aoi are both in love with Asuka, the friendship built from their... See full summary »

Director:

Hiroyuki Nakano

Writer:

Mitsuteru Yokoyama (creator)

Stars:

Masanobu Andô, Megumi Okina, Kumiko Asô

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masanobu Andô	...	Akakage
Megumi Okina	...	Koto-Hime
Kumiko Asô	...	Asuka
Jun Murakami	...	Aokage
Naoto Takenaka	...	Shirokage
Fumiya Fujii	...	Ranmaru
Shûhei Mainoumi	...	Rikimaru
Kei Tani	...	Roushi
Ryôko Shinohara	...	O-Rin
Kitarô	...	Roushi, Mura no chourou
Denden	...	Bonnobei
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Kyougoku Kanemitsu, Sengoku-Daimyou
Seizô Fukumoto	...	Sasai
Yôji Tanaka
Kouji Yazawa

Storyline

Aka Kage, Aoi Kage and Asuka are trio of ninjas sent to perform dangerous secret missions for their master. Although Aka and Aoi are both in love with Asuka, the friendship built from their years of training together prevents any jealousies from forming. When Asuka is killed during a mission, however, the heartbroken Aka and Aoi both go their separate ways before returning to avenge their friend's death.

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Plot Keywords:

ninja | spy | japan | remake

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 August 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Der Schatten der Ninja

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dentsu, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Kamen no ninja Aka-Kage (1967)

User Reviews

Deeper than one might expect

My first impression of seeing Akakage (Red Shadow), was that the story was simply a satire of ninja movies. The Cinematography is quite good, and exemplifies many earlier examples of Japanese Cinema with their frequent use of nature interlude shots. The film seemed childish at first, in the manner in which the characters were portrayed.

But upon reviewing the film again, I noted that it was actually more child-like. There was a mature comedic sense of what a child loves in a film about ninjas and samurai sword fights. I could appreciate the nostalgic sense of the old samurai films that was ably caught. The villains seem comic in many ways, and yet there is more than 1 dimension to the group of them. The use of anachronism in the film was to me particularly funny. I won't provide any spoilers, because they are readily apparent when you encounter them in viewing the film.

Anyways, if you want a light movie for Saturday night viewing with the kids, or with friends gathered around a bowl of popcorn, and want a good offbeat romantic adventure film, this is certainly one to try.