The Legend & Butterfly

There have been a lot of films made about the mighty and brutal warrior Oda Nobunaga, but certainly not one like this, which seems to take its cue from some early legends about his wife Nohime, that she herself was a trained assassin.

The first thing to say is not to come to this film for real life history - the film makers have very much put action and romance and drama above any kind of historical verisimilitude. But the result is very watchable, mostly thanks to some great acting, especially from the two leads, although sometimes Kimura struggles with the widely differing sides of Oda portrayed in the film, from idiotic young man to vicious killer to romantic warrior leader. Jaruka Ayase is terrific as Nohime, the real power behind Odas throne.

The action and drama is often a little over the top, but is always watchable so long as you don't think too much about the likelihood of the plot. The ending will very much be love it or hate it, but I enjoyed it. Like a lot of modern Japanese productions, they seem very good at making a low budget go a long way - some of the settings are quite spectacular.

So overall, while not quite up to the standard of the best recent Japanese historical dramas, this is still very much worth your time.

Wonderful soulful movie ,, The atmosphere of movie takes you to the ancient era of East and you feel you are in Ancient East era. It shows true love helps family last more more but husband/wife should put selfishness away. This movie reminds me Hollywood movie " Arthur" (2011- Russell Brand). The time of this movie is in Ancient East but movie says man and his wife should run family (Country ) together (Happy Wardroom happy Ship). Actresses/Actors show their feeling very good , Decoration of the Ancient East scene is wonderful. I love Oda Nobunaga and Nohime acting in movie , at the end of the movie I get sorry for them to not live together more more.

The life, death and many events around the life of warlord Oda Nobunaga have been the source and inspiration of many movies. In The Legend and Butterfly, we get to see an heavily fictionnalized version of Oda defining years through a different lens, his relationship with Kicho/Nohime, his legal wife, of which not that much is known historically. This allows for a lot of flitting through actual events peperred with a mature love story (which is more of a "relation" between two very different characters than some sort of romance novel), fortunately not shaved down the throat of the audience.

Kimura Takuya professionaly portrays an Oda slowly but surely drifting from a countryside minor warlord to a ruthless borderline cruel master of the country, while Haruka Ayase has a very solid presence on screen as Kicho. A minor grip, the story spans over three decades but the main characters don't seem to age more than three minutes (whereas second roles do seem age a bit... go figure....). Also, there is -a lot- of Nanban (foreign at the time) music instruments being played at various time in the movie, to a point this becomes distracting.

Even if if perfectly works with only a little histoy knowledge, the movie may be appreciated more if one has a basic knowlegde of the events at the time, from the Okehazama battle to the burning of Enryaku temple. Nothing that a quick read from wikipedia can not solve.

Obviously a lot of money has gone into this , from the reconstitution of Azuchi castle to Portuguese ships, the gorgeous settings, etc. It shows, but there arent't many battles on screen so viewers should not expect an action movie.

Overall a surprisingly good flick.

Historically this is probably not possible. An enduring love between Oda Nobunaga and Nohime. The costumes are 10/10. OST is 9/10. The prancing and laughing westerners could be eliminated they look stupid.

But Takuya Kimura's acting of multidimensional Nobunaga is praise worthy. His chemistry with Haruka Ayase is bittersweet. The scene when Nobunaga has to bite on his dagger scabbard to hold his tears when seeing Nohime leave tugged on my heart strings. This is an excellent movie. I just wished there would be more emotional depth between those two since they have so much chemistry.

Akechi Mitsuhide is well played. I am surprised at how young the actor was. Overall this is a movie I would recommend to people who enjoy Sengoku era inspired movies.

Although I've seen various actors portray Oda Nobunaga before, this is the first film where they've depicted Nohime as even more formidable than Nobunaga himself. Especially in their brief close combat scenes, shortly after getting married, Nohime confronts Nobunaga with a sword, and later, even in their prosperity, she powerfully reminds him of his misguided path. Aya Ueto's portrayal exudes unwavering strength, while Takuya Kimura's character evolves from hesitation to determined success and ultimately to a supremely confident ruler. Their expressions are truly on point. Although the story revisits familiar themes, the dialogue design leading up to the Battle of Okehazama really emphasizes the advantages of the enemy, making us ponder where we should apply our strengths now.