Tonosama - Yaji kita

This was a bit of a surprise for me as I was unaware of the Japanese samurai action/comedy genre which is where Samurai Vagabond seems to fit in and, although I'm more of a purist for either form on their own I was willing to give this a go. Two Tokugawa lords are up for the open shogun job but wanting a final taste of freedom team up to escape their castles and retainers and hit the road, eventually ending up in the rough and tumble world of early 18th Century tabloid journalism.

Unfortunately Tadashi Sawashima, a prolific, if unremarkable, director fails to deliver on either the action or the comedy. The whole thing is really let down by an overly broad and severely underwritten screenplay. The 'comedy' is of the late period Jerry Lewis by way of third season Gilligan's Island variety, in other words, painful to watch. Action is chaotic and lightly rehearsed and while the leads are all pleasant enough the script requires more than the awful choices they've taken with their roles. It's too bad, it's an interesting story that was more deserving of better staging and writing. Bonus points for beautiful studio based art direction though.