Azumi (2003)

Raised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Yû Koyama (manga), Mataichirô Yamamoto (screenplay) (as Rikiya Mizushima)

Stars:

Aya Ueto, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroki Narimiya

5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aya Ueto	...	Azumi
Kenji Kohashi	...	Hyûga
Hiroki Narimiya	...	Ukiha
Takatoshi Kaneko	...	Amagi
Yûma Ishigaki	...	Nagara
Yasuomi Sano	...	Yura
Shinji Suzuki	...	Awa
Eita	...	Hiei
Shôgo Yamaguchi	...	Komoro
Shun Oguri	...	Nachi
Joe Odagiri	...	Bijomaru Mogami
Aya Okamoto	...	Yae
Minoru Matsumoto	...	Tobizaru
Hideo Sakaki	...	Nagato
Ken'ichi Endô	...	Isshin Sajiki

Storyline

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is AZUMI, the ultimate assassin.

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Plot Keywords:

swordswoman | teenage girl | love | samurai | female protagonist | 

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Taglines:

From the ravages of war rises the ultimate assassin.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

All of Azumi's dialog is written in masculine speech, that is, speech forms that normally would not be spoken by women. This reflects the fact that she was brought up with no other women around her. Yae's remark "Girls don't speak like that!" is in response to Azumi's speech pattern. "Girls don't speak like that!" refers to Azumi saying 'Bokuwa' (the predominantly male word for referring to yourself) instead of 'Watashiwa' (the female or unisex form) when pointing out that she could hide her swords in her cloak.

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Goofs

When Nagato visits the assassins in the abandoned shrine, the cameraman's shadow is visible as the camera moves.

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Quotes

Azumi: Where do the stars go during the day?

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Alternate Versions

Japanese Director's Cut Runs 143 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Ninjas (2014)

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Soundtracks

Negai
(Wish)
Lyrics by Mina Ganaha and Hideaki Yamano
Composed by Caoli Cano and Tarô Iwashiro
Arranged by Akira Inoue
Performed by Mina Ganaha

User Reviews

All I can say is "wow"!

I'm completely blown away, easily one of the coolest movies I've seen in a long time. This is the third Kitamura film I have viewed, and out of the three (the others were Heat After Dark and Versus), I can honestly say I believe this to be his best.

Don't get me wrong, I love Versus. It's a great film, but this one trumps it on nearly every level. From the first 10 minutes I was hooked, and it never let up.

This film boasts some of the best action sequences in recent memory, especially if you love samurai films. The movement of characters is unreal, some of the smoothest wirework I've ever seen. It feels very much like a living anime.

Anyway, seek this film out and buy it! Don't rent it, just buy it! You will thank me for it.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

10 May 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Azumi - A Assassina

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,848, 23 July 2006

Gross USA:

$41,803

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,710,522

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amuse Pictures, DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Nippon Herald Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1