Miyamoto Musashi: Hannyazaka no kettô

Bit of a let-down after the terrific first instalment. There is decidely less action in this one, and Kinnosuke's acting is not as compelling.

On the upside, many of the characters from the first one are still around. The feisty old couple who feel wronged and try for revenge are hilarious. And Akemi and Otsu, the two main female characters, are as lovely as ever.

And the overall story begins to make more sense. The film opens with Takeno deciding to leave the castle and, therefore, is given a new name for his new life. His new personal name, Musashi, is in fact the same name as Takezo. That is, the same kanji characters. But because of the (to outsiders) baffling lack of consistent phonetics, this is perfectly acceptable and understandable, and the story makes some attempts to at least make it clear. The newly rechristened MM sets out to learn swordsmanship from only the best practitioners, in a time when ronin (landless samurai) are legion and times are tough.

There is some clever strategy and thoughtful plot points, and the final sword battle caps things off rather well. Overall, I'd say this instalment would be good for those who want to understand the series as a whole, but not so compelling as a stand-alone viewing.

I felt that this was the best one in the series. After seeing the three-part "Samurai" series with Mifune Toshiro I was disappointed that its second installment, Duel at Ichijoji Temple, missed a lot of elements and side-stories that Yoshikawa Eiji covered. This version, however, covers a lot of these elements. In fact, I was surprised by all the elements that were there. So much that it takes three installments to cover what Yoshikawa has in Books II, III, and IV; whereas Inagaki covers those books in one installment and thus misses a lot of character development, which is, of course, necessary to seeing the development of Musashi.

The movie continues from where the first one set out with Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, leaving Himeji Castle and starting on his epic quest to complete his skill in the Way. The story of the Yoshioka school is developed (which leads to the two duels and finally, at the fourth installment, the duel at Ichijoji - which does have Musashi fight the 12-13 year old Yoshioka figurehead - an element left out of the Inagaki trilogy).

I was really happy with the way they did this second installment. The introduction of Sasaki Kojiro, Osugi and Gon's pursuit of Musashi, Akemi and Otsu's desire for Musashi, and the fight with priests of Hozoin - including the duel at Hannyazaka are all the action this installment has to offer, coupled with excellent acting, cinematography, music, and screen writing.

All the movies in the series are very well-done. I cannot recommend seeing this series enough; you will not be disappointed. See also the 2003 miniseries by NHK, called "Musashi" for a forty-nine hour alternative. Overall, 8.5 out of 10.