When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003)
"Mibu gishi den" (original title)

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his ... See full summary »

Director:

Yôjirô Takita

Writers:

Jiro Asada (story), Takehiro Nakajima

Stars:

Kiichi Nakai, Kôichi Satô, Yui Natsukawa

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kiichi Nakai	...	Kanichiro Yoshimura
Kôichi Satô	...	Hajime Saitô
Yui Natsukawa	...	Shizu / Mitsu
Takehiro Murata	...	Chiaki Ono
Miki Nakatani	...	Nui
Yûji Miyake	...	Jiroemon Ono
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yoshinori Hiruma	...	Shinpachi Nagakura
Keisuke Horibe	...	Yasunoshin Shinohara
Atsushi Itô	...	Young Chiaki Ono
Hideaki Itô	...	Yoshinobu Tokugawa
Ryo Kase	...	Shûhei Kondô
Momo Nakayama	...	Young Mitsu Yoshimura
Eugene Nomura	...	Toshizô Hijikata
Ayumu Saitô	...	Kashitaro Itô
Masato Sakai	...	Sôji Okita

Storyline

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them. In his search he joins a notorious clan, known as the Shinsengumi where he does as much as possible to get money. Looked at as a money grubber,Yoshimura proves his strength physically and mentally by being loyal to his honor. During the dramatic period, with the rise of the Emperor and the fall of the Shogun. Yoshimura shows us the struggle of life in a personal way, by changing the lives of the people he meets and the way life is looked at.

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Plot Keywords:

shinsengumi | honor | samurai | loss of father | japan | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

18 January 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

When the Last Sword is Drawn

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min 104 min (heavily cut)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, the Ono family uses the modern "biohazard" symbol as their 'mon' (family symbol).

User Reviews

moving, excellent movie

I've read others comment about this movie and I agree most of them. This movie is over 2hours but when you interact with this movie .. time really flies by. This main charater of this movie Yoshimura which is a unique person. He's a goofy clownish but most skilled samurai who's kindheart and thinks of others before himself.

WIthout revealing too much, at the end is very sad and I couldn't hold my tears in ;-) I recommend this movie highly those who likes action and drama. :)

Rate: 9/10