 “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Sins” may not be the greatest martial arts film and far from being a great Japanese martial arts film, but for those who appreciate wild and crazy Japanese martial arts films with mindless action, awesome and creative fight choreography, will find the film to be entertaining and all-out fun! Otherwise, if you are looking for a deep storyline to go along with the martial arts action, then this film may not be for you.
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TITLE: Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles
FILM RELEASE: 2013
DURATION: 88 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:78:1, Japanese and English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Shout! Factory
RATED: Not Rated (Contains Adult Content)
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Directed by Takanori Tsujimoto
Produced by Yohei Haraguchi, Miku Kikuchi
Co-Producer: Mitsuki Koga, Kensuke Sonomura, Takanori Tsujimoto
Executive Producer: Itaru Fujimoto
Assistant Producer: Ema
Music by Hikaru Yoshida
Cinematography by Tetsuya Kudo
Edited by Kensuke Sonomura, Takanori Tsujimoto
Starring:
Mitsuki Koga as Toramaru
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi as Gensai
Masanori Mimoto as Eiji Mimoto “Yakuza”
Kentaro Shimazu as Billy Shimabukuro “Gun Master”
Kazuki Tsujimoto as Muso “Blind Samurai”
Ema as Denko
Kensuke Sonomura as Yuan Jian “Kung Fu Master”
Masaki Suzumura as Rinryu “Nunchaku Master”
Naohiro Kawamoto as Mokunen “Bojutsu Master”
Marc Walkow as Boss “Bounty Hunter”
Yasutaka Yuuki as Yu “Bounty Hunter”
Takashi Tanimoto as Tani “Bounty Hunter”
Taiju Nemoto as Nemo “Bounty Hunter”
Takanori Tsujimoto as Yakuza Brother
Eat and Fight.
Upon returning from a pilgrimage across Japan, the warrior Toramaru arrives with tales of seven epic battles against Japan’s most legendary fighters. As Toramaru’s philosophy dictates that he ’know the enemy by eating his food, ’ each masterfully-choreographed fight is preceded by a helping of his prey’s favorite dish.
Designated successor to Master Gensai and leading proponent of the all-round martial-arts discipline, The Cosmic Way, Toramaru tells the tales of The Seven Deadly Battles as Master Gensai eagerly listens to the lavish and violent details of Toramaru’s adventures.
When it comes to martial arts films, the majority of the films are from Asia, typically China/Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand.
For Japan, the years of Japanese martial arts cinema has not been apparent in live action films but primarily in animation.
But for Takanori Tsujimoto, director of “Kill”, “Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle” and “Monster Killer” comes his latest film “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles”, a frenetic and stylish martial arts film that behaves as it was like it was made primarily for a video game.
And now Takanori Tsujimoto’s wild and crazy martial arts film, “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” will be released on Blu-ray in June 2014. Courtesy of Shout! Factory!
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” revolves around a samurai warrior named Toramaru (portrayed by Mitsuki Koga) who has went through a pilgrimage across Japan, going up against many of Japan’s legendary fighters.
As Toromaru visits his Master Gensai, the leader of the martial arts known as “The Cosmic Way”, Toramaru explains how he conquered various martial arts rivals including a blind samurai; a yakuza member; an English speaking Japanese gun master; a Kung-Fu master, a Nunchaku master, a Bojutsu master and more.
But in order to prove himself to Master Gensai, he must provide his Master with a scroll which documents him defeating the martial arts rival.
But how will Master Gensai feel about Toromaru’s fighting adventures?
VIDEO:
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 aspect ratio). It appears that there was intentional high contrast shots, while close-ups feature amazing detail. If anything, the look and style of “Bushido Man” appears to change with each battle but for the most part, picture quality is fantastic.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” is presented in Japanese LPCM 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. Personally, it is a preference of mine to watch martial arts films in their original language. But with that being said, the English dub is good and because of its 5.1 lossless soundtrack, you get better dynamic range.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” comes with the following special features:
- The Making of Bushido Man: From the Fantasia Film Festival – (11:17) Director and a few talent visit the Fantasia Film Festival and take part in a Q&A.
If I had to describe “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles”, for those who are familiar with fighting video games, I would bring up the what if you choose a character and it was a character discussing each battle and what you are watching are the full on chaotic battles.
Somehow, that is how I feel about “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles”, it’s a film that will not be remembered for its storyline, because basically there is not much there…if anything, the film relies on its chaotic, fierce battles featuring actor Mitsuki Koga and watch the awesome fight choreography as the character of Bushido Man, takes on a slew of enemies with different fighting styles.
If anything, this is a film for those who are content with all-out fighting and less of a story. Similar to a fighting video game, there are those who could care less for the story and are more into the overall fighting.
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles” is that type of film where the story follows the adventures of Toramaru taking on various rivals in order to get their scroll and present it to his master.
And while this may seem boring, it never gets boring because the fighting is really intense, far-out, stylish and just a lot of fun.
For example, Toramaru takes on Eimi Mimoto of the yakuza and both engage in a dangerous duel of knives. Another features Toramaru trying to find Denko, a woman who specializes on weapons that activate on punches and kicks.
And while the film looks like a period film, when Toramaru arrives in a city, you realize that this is a melding of modern and traditional-style filming and leaving it to the cast and fight choreographers to come up with something amazingly fierce and all-out awesome.
“Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Sins” also looks wonderful in HD. Colors feature high contrast, close-ups feature amazing detail and both Japanese and English dub are well-done and feature crystal clear audio.
Overall, “Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Sins” may not be the greatest martial arts film and far from being a great Japanese martial arts film, but for those who appreciate wild and crazy Japanese martial arts films with mindless action, awesome and creative fight choreography, will find the film to be entertaining and all-out fun! Otherwise, if you are looking for a deep storyline to go along with the martial arts action, then this film may not be for you.
