"Musashi" (2003) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Mitsunobu Ozaki

Writers:

Toshio Kamata (teleplay)
Eiji Yoshikawa (writer)

Release Date:

5 February 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series

Cast

Hiroshi Abe	...	Gion Touji
Toru Emori	...	Akaneya Genzo
Takaaki Enoki	...	Seijuro
Makoto Fujita	...	Yagyu Sekishusai
Ebizo Ichikawa	...	Miyamoto Musashi / Shimen Takezo
Rino Katase	...	Okou
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Tokugawa Ieyasu
Takeshi Kitano	...	Shinmen Munisai
Masahiro Matsuoka	...	Sasaki Kojiro
Rie Miyazawa	...	Oshino
Kiichi Nakai	...	Yagyu Munenori
Yukie Nakama	...	Yae / Koto
Kanzaburo Nakamura	...	Terumasa Ikeda (as Kankuro Nakamura)
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Hosokawa Tadaoki
Baku Numata	...	Gaiki Ishimoda
Nayumi Takahashi	...	Hostess
Masanobu Takashima	...	Yagyu Hyougonosuke
Shinobu Terajima	...	Aya
Kaori Tsuji
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Honiden Matahachi
Rina Uchiyama	...	Akemi
Dai Watanabe
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Takuan
Ryoko Yonekura	...	Otsu

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Quotes:

Otsu: You have never killed anyone out of hate. And I hope you never do.

Like a "guilty pleasure" show but without the guilt

Many years ago, when I was a teen or perhaps a little younger, I recall getting "stuck on" a subtitled, serial version of Miyamoto Musashi which was being broadcast locally at about the time I got home from school. It was fascinating in a way that I don't remember anything before catching my attention. Without any studying, I was picking up hints and concepts of foreign cultures, history, ethics, philosophy ... and just enough swordplay to hold a teen's interest. I recall telling my friends about it, laughingly calling it a "Samurai Soap Opera" and getting a few of them hooked as well.

So far, I have seen only perhaps eight episodes, but it took me several of those to be sure it wasn't the same show. I'm no authority on feudal Japan, what scenes should look like, how people interacted, but this show, along with some of what little I've learned of the Musashi legend in the decades since watching the earlier show, leads me to feel that I'm learning things about human nature, motivation, and all those other things, while being entertained by believable characters, a time-tested story, and the occasional bout of almost-believable swordplay.

Some of my feelings for this new show are probably nostalgia for the time when I watched the other, but still I find it highly entertaining, and perhaps even a little enlightening. And that's a rare find in a television show.