The Dagger of Kamui

[areaseven]

Kamui no Ken ( カムイの剣 )

Madhouse Studios/Kadokawa Shoten/Toei, 1985

AnimEigo, 1993, 2003

Directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999, Metropolis)

Rated 13+ for violence and gore, nudity, mature situations and strong language.

A young boy named Jiro finds his mother and sister murdered in his home. Falsely accused of the crime, he flees from his village and meets a priest named Tenkai, who has him kill a rogue shinobi named Tarouza. After fulfilling that task, Jiro undergoes training to become a master assassin.

Many years later, Jiro finds out that he was an orphan and his real father was Tarouza, who had worked for Tenkai until he aborted his mission when he fell in love with an Ainu woman. The young ninja discovers that the Shogunate was to retrieve the lost treasure of Captain Kidd and use it to once again isolate Japan from the rest of the world. Using the clues that Tarouza had kept secret, Jiro - along with the female ninja Oyuki and a slave named Sam - travels to Russia and America to search for the treasure in hopes of using it to extract revenge from Tenkai.

Story: A-

If the late, great Akira Kurosawa were to do an animated film, it would look and feel much like this. The Dagger of Kamui has the feel of a good samurai epic and a spaghetti western with its unique storytelling and use of historical backgrounds.

Animation: A+

Before Yoshiaki Kawajiri directed his masterpiece Ninja Scroll, he worked as one of the main animators of this film. And it shows, as the fight scenes have excellent choreography and the artwork is nothing short of outstanding.

Soundtrack: A-

I don't know with you guys, but I'm diggin' the '80s rock soundtrack composed by Ryudo Uzaki (Kamen Rider BLACK) and Eitetsu Hayashi (Samurai 7). It mixes perfectly with all the film's action scenes.

Cast

The Dagger of Kamui features Hiroyuki Sanada as Jiro, Gentaro Ishida as Tenkai, Mami Koyama (adult Chiyoko in Millennium Actress, Karen in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team) as Oyuki, Yuriko Yamamoto (Fight! Iczer-One, La Meeme in Arcadia of My Youth) as Chico, Kazuyuki Sogabe (Kyoshiro in Tosho Daimos, Kunzite in Sailor Moon) as Sam, Mikio Terashima (Zanzibal in Voltes V, Berg Katse in Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman) as Genjuro, Takeshi Aono (Dakuan in Ninja Scroll, Professor Tarsan in Dangaio) as Sanpei, Takashi Ebata as Captain Drasnic, Takashi Sotoyama as Hanzo, Ichiro Nagai (Happosai in Ranma 1/2, Left Hand in Vampire Hunter D) as Shouzan, the late Kaneto Shiozawa (Vampire Hunter D OAV, Rei in Fist of the North Star) as Shingo, Michio Hasama as Tarouza, Masako Ikeda (Maetel in Galaxy Express 999, Lynn in Yukikaze) as Oyaruru, Mitsuko Horie (Bijinder in Android Kikaider: The Animation) as Chiomapp, and Iemasa Oyumi as Mark Twain.

DVD Extras: B-

There really isn't much in AnimEigo's DVD release other than the original theatrical trailer, character bios and maps of the places where Jiro traveled during his quest for Captain Kidd's lost treasure.

The Bottom Line

Even after two decades, The Dagger of Kamui still stands out as one of the best ninja anime titles ever produced.

Reference

Anime News Network

[maxjenius81]

INdeed. I saw this anime back in like 94 or 95 on VHS and I was awestruck by it. It blows away any other ninja anime esepcailly the perenial fan ffavorite ninja scroll.

Favorite part of the movie is when Jiro travels to america where everyone magically speaks japanese from the Nevada townsfolk to Mark Twain and of course, the native americans.

[Hoptimus]

Yup.

One of my all time favorites.

Many Ninjitsu myths and techniques are in this movie.

I picked this up at AX2003 and have enjoyed the DVD alot.

The video looks like it could really use a remaster though.

Now where is the Kamui Gaiden TV series on DVD?!?