Another comment on this movie stated that its over-the-top, cartoonish feel is understandable because it's based on a manga. While I understand what the writer means, I note that he/she hasn't read this particular manga, and therefore doesn't realize how badly Koyama Yu is let down by this awful, awful movie. Let me say: I'm not a purist who believes that if a movie deviates from its source book, it is bad QED. But when a movie loses the soul of its source book, especially if it does it as badly as this one does, then it is, incontrovertibly, bad, bad, bad.
"Azumi" the manga is the best comic, and one of the best pieces of written work period, that it's ever been my pleasure to read. The characters, and the storyline, stand out for their depth, complexity and believability. It's hard to explain, but "Azumi" manages to seem real to me in a way that nothing has since I was a kid - I mean that you forget, while reading it, that Koyama has devised it. It feels as if, instead, he's channeling people and events who really exist. It is by far the best historical fiction I've ever read - Koyama is able to portray historical characters on their own terms, without distorting them by seeing them through modern eyes. They seem distant, alien and violent to the modern reader, but Koyama's insight into their psychology enables us to reach them. When I first read the comic I was stunned - I still am - at just how good it is.
Now, this movie. Every stupid cliché imaginable - it'd be bad enough in any action film, let alone in one based on such a great story. Every character reduced to a stupid, boring nothing - how did Kitamura, who said he was blown away by the manga, think he was doing justice to those characters? Idiotic violence for the sake of violence - Koyama doesn't need violence to sell his story; he uses it rarely and only when it's needed for the story. When he does use it, it's real and shocking - far more shocking, and extreme, than anything that was in the movie. The comic introduces its characters into the course of real historical events - the contest between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi - and reading it will teach you a lot about Japanese history. You won't learn anything about history from the confused, uncaring mess that is the movie. I went in with reasonable expectations - obviously it wouldn't be as good as the manga. But I was literally (literally!) in shock at how far it missed the mark.
It seems to be quite popular outside Japan. How popular it is in Japan, I'm not sure. It must have done quite well, seeing that there's a sequel. But when I saw it in Japan the people around me were muttering in painful disbelief, waiting for it to end. We all filed out, silent and unsmiling. I'm happy for people who enjoyed this as a popcorn action picture, but don't forget - that's not the real Azumi.
"Azumi" the manga is the best comic, and one of the best pieces of written work period, that it's ever been my pleasure to read. The characters, and the storyline, stand out for their depth, complexity and believability. It's hard to explain, but "Azumi" manages to seem real to me in a way that nothing has since I was a kid - I mean that you forget, while reading it, that Koyama has devised it. It feels as if, instead, he's channeling people and events who really exist. It is by far the best historical fiction I've ever read - Koyama is able to portray historical characters on their own terms, without distorting them by seeing them through modern eyes. They seem distant, alien and violent to the modern reader, but Koyama's insight into their psychology enables us to reach them. When I first read the comic I was stunned - I still am - at just how good it is.
Now, this movie. Every stupid cliché imaginable - it'd be bad enough in any action film, let alone in one based on such a great story. Every character reduced to a stupid, boring nothing - how did Kitamura, who said he was blown away by the manga, think he was doing justice to those characters? Idiotic violence for the sake of violence - Koyama doesn't need violence to sell his story; he uses it rarely and only when it's needed for the story. When he does use it, it's real and shocking - far more shocking, and extreme, than anything that was in the movie. The comic introduces its characters into the course of real historical events - the contest between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi - and reading it will teach you a lot about Japanese history. You won't learn anything about history from the confused, uncaring mess that is the movie. I went in with reasonable expectations - obviously it wouldn't be as good as the manga. But I was literally (literally!) in shock at how far it missed the mark.
It seems to be quite popular outside Japan. How popular it is in Japan, I'm not sure. It must have done quite well, seeing that there's a sequel. But when I saw it in Japan the people around me were muttering in painful disbelief, waiting for it to end. We all filed out, silent and unsmiling. I'm happy for people who enjoyed this as a popcorn action picture, but don't forget - that's not the real Azumi.