Momonosuke Ichikawa

A maiden is murdered by a mysterious ninja, unfortunately two young ladies witness this, good thing the bored Lord is walking by, he saved the girls but was too late to save the maiden, quickly he finds himself mixed up in a mystery of murdered maidens, an unknown ninja clan, attempted assassinations towards himself and a cursed vampire bat cave, can the bored Lord solve this puzzle before maidens lose their lives?

1716, Yoshimune becomes the 8th Shogun as high Shogunate officials are attacked. While the government tries to keep these incidents under wraps, they must take any means possible to get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who is behind them.

The success story of a group of ronin who fights against traffickers during the Edo Tenpo period.

Magistrate Ooka-Echizen faces a crime over a pillbox.

Period drama directed by Yasushi Sasaki.

This most celebrated all-star movie version of the popular series features Tsukigata Ryunosuke as Mito Komon, the sage who wanders the countryside rectifying government corruption along with his faithful attendants Suke and Kaku.

6.8/10

Period drama directed by Yasushi Sasaki.

The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film, rakugo, kodan and on stage many times, in part because Nakayama later joined the famous 47 Ronin (Chushingura) as Horibe Yasubei. But Makino and Inagaki’s version gives no hint of this more serious future, playing up the thrills and the comedy with Bando’s bravura performance. The multiple pans of Yasubei running to the duel are an exemplar of the experimental flourishes of 1930s Japanese cinema and the final duel, performed virtually like a dance number, is a marker of Makino’s love of rhythm and one of the best sword fights in Japanese film history. The film was originally released under the title Chikemuri Takadanoba (Bloody Takadanobaba) with a length of 57 minutes, but suffered some cuts and a title change when it was re-released in 1952.

7.2/10

The sequel to the 1935 film Great Bodhisattva Pass

6.8/10

Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi

Adaptation of the novel by Osaragi Jirō. Again scripted by the legendary Yamanaka Sadao

Adaptation of the novel by Osaragi Jirō.

Set in the Edo period, the film deals with two brothers falling in love with the same girl. Only 12 minutes of footage survive.

7.3/10