Bushi no Ichibun

Directed by Twilight Samurai's Youji Yamada, starring Takuya Kimura and newcomer Rei Dan. The English title is Love and Honor, eventhough that's not really the literal meaning.

Shinnojo Mimura was stuck in a dead-end job, a food taster for the King. One day he tasted a sashimi but apparently the fish was out of its season, thus poisoned. He became blind and unable to continue his job. He counted on his wife and other people and became dependent, a thing he despised. On an advice of his aunt, his wife asked for a powerful samurai's help to maintain her husband's economy status, apparently with strings attached. Rumors started to fly around and Mimura was on the verge of losing his love.. and honor.

Do you know Takuya Kimura? I certainly hope you do because he is absolutely THE MAN. I don't care if anyone says that he's just another typical Japanese boyband member because he's not. He's a good actor. He has that kind of presence on screen.. a thing not every actor has. Especially a Japanese one that young. He rarely makes films (mostly works on TV series) and I'm so happy this one didn't disappoint. The story is very simple, no fancy samurai-fighting included, and Takuya's performance was very enjoyable. And Rei Dan suited her part well.. Hope to see her more often. The film is slow-paced, like most Japanese films, but this time it worked. The simplicity of it made it enjoyable. And it had a touching end that conluded the film perfectly.

8.5 / 10.