Muromachi Burai: A fun throwback to the jidaigeki genre.

 

The live-action adaptation of Ryosuke Kakine's 2016 novel, Muromachi Burai brought an epic jidaigeki production to the big screen in 2025. Having enjoyed some of the director, Yu Irie's previous works such as AI Collapse, Joker Game and Memoirs of a Murderer, I was both cautiously optimistic and intrigued to see whether Irie could pull off such a period movie. With a talented cast that featured Yo Oizumi, Kazuki Kitamura and Shinichi Tsutsumi, it had all the right ingredients to succeed. I believe that it did so.

A full century before the Sengoku Jidai erupted in Japan, famine and plague ravaged the lands. The rather self-serving and laconic shogun did nothing to aid the people in need of his help. Rumours swirl around of a rebellion, an uprising and it coalesces around one man. Vagabond and skilled swordsman, Hyoe Hasuda, is the mastermind behind the revolt, leading the downtrodden common folk in their rise to arms. In a sad twist of fate, his friend Doken Honekawa, now in charge of the security of Kyoto, is destined to be stood on the opposing side of the conflict. 

The high production values can be seen right from the get-go with the excellent usage of what appears to be a fog machine to get some great imagery of perhaps smoke and fog as the peasants struggle to carry a heavy load as the imperials bark at them. The camera then does a wonderful job of panning out into an establishing shot. There are some truly beautiful wide-angle shots that showcase the stunning landscapes, even when they're filled with bodies or carnage. There's also some nice over-the-shoulder shots that work extremely well as does the mid-range ones. There's also some nice colour grading to give it a gritty, kind of dirty vibe which suits the backdrop and the plot. 

The fight scenes are quite well done. I greatly appreciated and enjoyed the short one that happened within the first ten minutes of the movie as a character's recklessness sees him outmatched by a patient, skilled swordsman. Tomoaki Kawasumi is the man responsible for the choreography and does a fine job with it too. The sword action showcases clear, precise strikes and movements. There's also some love shown for the staff as we get really nice fight sequences showcasing that weapon to the same degree if not more than the sword. The movie and Yu Irie, save the large scale battles and skirmishes until the latter portions of the movie and that was a wise choice. The battles are absolute chaos and carnage. There's some brutal death scenes within the major battle sequence that is rather consequential. Plus, there's an old-school duel that harkens back to the classics of the genre and to westerns too. The go-pro footage gave the fight sequences a modern look and it was well-used, blended into the more traditional methods and shot types without overstaying its' welcome. 

I should note that the soundtrack is vastly different from pretty much any other film within either the chanbara or jidageki genres, with this movie's score sounding much more like tracks you'd hear in the Dollars trilogy composed by Ennio Morricone. It gave the movie something unique. 

Yo Oizumi was a masterstroke in casting. His confident charm, effortless charisma and swagger made him a truly likable protagonist. He's the mastermind whose charm and disarming demeanour disguises his keen intellect and keen eye for strategy. Oizumi also nailed the action when called upon, never once looking out of place. He also gave the movie the emotional depth it required by bringing out the raw passion and underscoring his friendship with Doken with some hesitation to oppose his friend. 

On the opposite end, Shinichi Tsutsumi managed to make Doken Honekawa a very compelling character instead of a one-note antagonist. His hesitation and torn conscience underlined a concern for his friend as well as a reluctance to actually perform what was his duty. 

Kento Nagao also impressed me in the role of Saizo. At first, I was concerned that he would just spend the entirety of the movie shouting every single line, but thankfully that was not the case. In the latter stages, he got a much better chance to showcase his acting range. Plus, he was the most impressive out of all the cast in terms of action because he had the most to do. The training sequences were rather weird, but also impressive. 

It was nice to see Rina Takeda, even if she didn't get a single line of dialogue as the mute Korean refugee that aided both Hyoe and Saizo. She did at least get some action in the large-scale battle. 

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Muromachi Burai as it proved that there's still life in the jidaigeki genre to this very day. It had fun action sequences, an emotional heart and a great cast that gave it their all. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre, fans of Yo Oizumi and action fans in general. Not sure if I'd recommend it to fans of history though as a lot of what the movie shows us regarding Hyoe is made up. He didn't get much mention in the historical records.