A samurai must kill his best friend just to let his nephew legally murder someone. Edo-period bureaucracy is BRUTAL.
Watanabe Kazuma's younger brother is brutally murdered by Kawai Matagoro. However, Kazuma's vendetta is denied since the Japanese law in the 17th Century only allowed a samurai to avenge his father or older brother, but not a younger brother. This incident makes his family member Araki Mataemon face his best friend in order to clear path for Kazuma. The tension mounts as they must carry out the vengeance before the murderer Kawai Matagoro reaches the safety of a direct retainer of the Shogun.
Acting
Hideki Takahashi's restrained agony as the doomed best friend.
Writing
The absurd legal loophole driving genuine tragedy.
Director
Yoshiki Onoda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on actual historical precedent: the Kagiya no Tsuji incident of 1634, where revenge law technicalities genuinely forced this horrific choice.
The film dramatizes bushido's dark underbelly — the same code that glorifies loyalty here demands friendship's destruction for procedural correctness.
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