Kumokiri Nizaemon

This 2013 6-part mini-series tells the tale of a gang of thieves called the Kumokiri (Clouds and Mist) named because of their amazing ability to materialise and disappear like the clouds and rain during their robberies. This is not just any bunch of thieves carrying out smash-and-grab raids - the targets are usually rich and corrupt and the robberies are researched and planned meticulously (sometimes years in advance) by gang leader Nizaemon, played by Kiichi Nakai (who excelled as ninja Tsuzura Juzo in Owl's Castle). As a result the Shogunate appoints master swordsman Abe Shikibu (played by Jun Kunimura) to catch and stop the gang. The result is a battle of wits between the bandits, planning their biggest ever raid, and the samurai squad tasked to stop them. Great story line and excellent characters played by a really strong cast which also features the excellent Ibu Masato (Gunshi Kanbe, Fuurin Kazan) and a really enjoyable series all round.

As a fan of the Japanese Samurai movies for over 40 years, this movie simply was one of the worst among the worst samurai movies. The screenplay is terrible, the directing almost non-exist, the scenarios and the plots random and patchy with lot of over-the-top nude and naked female body exposures, light-porn like sexual scenes, it's a shame to involve so many top-tier actors and actresses to be signed up to play roles that were so lame and bland. A very messy samurai movie ever made. The story line was so weak with stuffed scenes to inflate it into a long but totally disconnected production with no feeling, no passion, no.... NOTHING but shallowness to deliver to the audiences. This mini-series really sucked big time!