Shinobi: Heart Under Blade
Shinobi - Heart Under Blade or Kouga Ninpouchou Basilisk - The Live-Action is a 2005 Japanese romantic drama film directed by Ten Shimoyama and written by Kenya Hirata. The story is an adaptation of Futaro Yamada's novel "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls", which depicts the clash between two ninja clans, Iga and Kouga, and the fated love between Gennosuke (Kouga) and Oboro (Iga). The theme song of this movie was "HEAVEN" by Ayumi Hamasaki. On February 6, 2007, Funimation released the film in the United States. The contents of the DVD is a 2-Disc Set with  the main movie available in Japanese and a new dub from Funimation themselves. The 2nd Disc contains Special Features and making-ofs. All of the films are subtitled in English. A manga and an anime called "Basilisk" are based on the same novel and bear the same character names as in the novel and the movie. Although their characters in the film are highly altered from both the original novel and the manga/anime series. Plot. Set immediately after the Japanese Sengoku period, Iga and Kouga, two mercenary clans have been waging a vendetta against each other over hundreds of  years. Around 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler of Japan and the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, perceives the threat posed by the two clans. Attempting to consolidate his reign, he deliberately stirs up their feud by inviting the clans to choose their five best warriors to fight to the death. Designated as the leaders of the two clans respectively, Kouga Gennosuke (Joe Odagiri) and Oboro (Yukie Nakama), who have secretly married, are unwillingly embroiled in the political plot. Hence, they have to make a difficult decision. Initially, being peaceful and knowing the preciousness of life, they try their utmost to  prevent this meaningless and brutal fight by questioning the shogunate's motives. After the deaths of all their comrades, however, they gradually accept their fate. In the last fight, Kouga Gennosuke chooses not to defend himself and allows his lover Oboro to kill him, thus letting the clan of Iga "win". Meanwhile, Ieyasu sends his armies to exterminate the ninja villages. To accomplish Gennosuke's hope of saving them, Oboro implores Tokugawa Ieyasu not to destroy the villages and, as a show of her sincerity, blinds herself, thereby destroying her most powerful weapons, her eyes (which possess a deadly technique  called . Moved profoundly by Oboro, Ieyasu withdraws his armies and issues an injunction to protect the ninja villages. For generations hence, the villages live peacefully. Cast. The list of six top ninja of Iga and Kouga, along with other characters. Reception. The film was successful financially in Japan earning roughly 11 million US dollars. "Shinobi" won both best actor and best new actress awards at both the Kinema Junpo Awards and Yokohama Film Festival.