THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY

5/12/20232h 48m

Digital Release (US)

Overview:

Oda Nobunaga and Nōhime were originally married to mend a hostile relationship between neighbouring regions. Unfortunately, they were like oil and water, making for a somewhat unhappy marriage. When Oda's enemy, Imagawa Yoshimoto, attacks Owari with his vast army, Oda is devastated by the overwhelming gap in military strength. However, Nohime encourages him not to despair, and the pair draw up a tactical plan that will allow them to overcome the odds.

Director:

Keishi Otomo

Status:

Released

Language:

Japanese

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

japan
samurai
jidaigeki
sengoku period
historical romance
oda nobunaga
azuchi-momoyama period
honnō-ji incident

Cast

Takuya Kimura

~ as ~

Oda Nobunaga

Haruka Ayase

~ as ~

Nōhime

Hideaki Ito

~ as ~

Fukuzumi Heitaō Sadaie

Miki Nakatani

~ as ~

Kagamino

Takumi Saitoh

~ as ~

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Hio Miyazawa

~ as ~

Akechi Mitsuhide

Ichikawa Somegorō VIII

~ as ~

Mori Ranmaru

Kinya Kitaoji

~ as ~

Saitō Dōsan

Masato Wada

~ as ~

Inuchiyo Maeda

Tsutomu Takahashi

~ as ~

Katsuzaburo Ikeda

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
With two neighbouring kingdom's set for war, their kings decide that the best way forward is for the son of one - "Oda" (Takuya Kimura) to marry the daughter of the other - "Nohime" (Haruka Ayase). Neither are very keen on this arrangement but patrimonial loyalty and all that... An early shoulder massage illustrates really early on that these two are not a marriage made in heaven. Indeed, she proves considerably more adept than him at just about everything and is also unafraid of speaking her mind in front of his nobles - and women, well that just wasn't done! What now ensues does have an element of predictability to it, but this period of 16th century Japanese history is fraught with intrigues, political machinations, duplicity and ambition - and over the next 2¾ hours we have a decently paced unravelling of a generation of dynastic ambitions and manoeuvring that looks good and holds the attention well. Ayase takes the acting plaudits - she delivers well; and the others contribute adequately as the story advances. For me, it was the focus on the internecine society of love and honour your lord whilst you figure out ways to stab him in the back that worked well here. Loads of CGI - well it is 2023, after all, but the costumier and armourer's arts are well represented and the combat scenes spare us the worst excesses of repetition. It's a long slot of your day to commit to on the television, and I wonder if it would look better on a cinema screen, but if it's a genre in which you've an interest, then this is well worth a watch.