Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

Back in the 80’s when local convenience stores not named 7-11 and video arcades still existed there was a popular game called Karate Champ. All the older kids would be gathered in a semi circle, laying down quarters to challenge each other until their parents indicated it was time to go. Me, I was wasting my allowance on a little known game called Shinobi tucked away in the quiet recesses of Time Out, my local arcade. I loved that game. It made me want to become a ninja when I grew up.

2008 and I’m still no ninja. But the fascination with them has never left me, which is why I bought Shinobi: Heart Under Blade without a second thought. I never buy movies that I haven’t seen before, let alone, never heard of. But the title brought back the days of pure joy I would feel when playing Shinobi. It turned out to be a great purchase. Chinese martial arts blockbusters such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers don’t even compare to this Japanese tale.

Set in 17th century Japan, the story centers around two young lovers from enemy camps, Oboro (a delicious, little vamp from the Iga clan) and Gennosuke (an introspective, young buck with a righteous mullet from the Kouga). Under order of the Shogun, their respective camps have been under treatise for over 400 years to coexist peacefully. But a Shogun aide declares a dissolution to the treaty and pits five of the best warriors from each clan against one another for the rights of their kin to succeed the current Shogun. To add insult to injury, Oboro and Gennosuke are appointed leaders of their respective clans – therein, lies the rub.

It’s like Romeo and Juliet…ninja style. Like the timeless tale of forlorn love that precedes it, the hero (Gennosuke) is a gigantic female private part, vowing to discover the real intent behind the politicos’ actions instead of commiting unpleasantries toward his beloved or her people. Oboro, on the other hand, chooses to accept her fate even if it means killing the man she loves. It’s obvious who wears the pants in that relationship. If I were to kick her in the groin I would break my foot from her humongous balls of steel.

All kidding aside, this movie deals with various themes – loyalty, pride, warrior code, and the loss of a sub-culture by government hands – indigenous to Japanese society. Sound familiar? That’s because, although containing elements of fantasy, Shinobi essentially mirrors the plight of the samurai. The fierce dedication each tribesman has for his respective leader, the ultimate sacrifice of one’s own life for a greater purpose, scheming political figureheads with deceitful agendas – this movie reads more like a Japanese history book than the comic/anime series it’s based on…with action sequences so brilliant it would bring even the most impotent of men to attention.

Never in my life have I seen such imaginative fight scenes. The supernatural powers each warrior member of the Iga and Kouga possess are enough to make the traditional Chinese ‘leap-to-the-sky-float-in-the-air’ swordplay look as boring as two quadriplegics in a sparring session (no offense to the physically challenged).

If a beautiful seductress with poison literally running through her veins and a pro-mullet activist with the ability to move faster than time isn’t enough to entice you, I don’t know what will. Asian fetishist the world over, however, will be done in by Yukie Nakama’s (Oboro) Piercing Eye technique…like I was. She’s so hot.

And so is this movie.

MUST OWN