MAKIA YAMAGCHI IN A SAMURAI IN TIME

JUN'ICHI YASUDA: A SAMURAI IN TIME (2023) JAPAN CUTS 2025

A samurai transported to modern day Japan becomes a film actor

The film is enthusiastically and knowledgably reviewed on [url="https://mobile.myreviewer.com/Blu-ray/228225/A-Samurai-in-Time/228259/Review-by-Jitendar-Canth"]my reviewer.com[/url]. The writer wound up staying awake till three a.m. to watch the dvd and was convinced it was probably the best film he would see all year. An overview for Japan Cuts says the film, directed by Jun'ichi Yasuda, is a comedic and heartfelt tribute to the jidaigeki genre (samurai period dramas). It stars Makiya Yamaguchi as the samurai, who ends up working in a movie studio, starring in jidaigeki films. The film is praised for its low-budget charm and the lead actor's performance.

All this is true. You have to make allowances at the outset for a time-travel fantasy, sort of the reverse of the idea in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Artur's Court. But thisdoesn'thave quite the charm and storytelling skill of Mark Twain. Makia Yamaguchi, who has a strong, sernsitive face you never tire of watching, plays the lead role of Shinzaemon Kosaka, who was a member of the Aizu clan in support of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the late Edo period in Japan. During a fight lightening strikes and transports him to the modern era, which he doesn't spot at first because he has landed in a place where they still make jidaiki films, though the historical fight genre is not in fashion anymore. Kosaka adjusts quickly to his situation. He knows his only skills are as a sword fighter, and his only living will be as a kiraeyaku– a costumed film extra who gets slashed in jidaigeki productions like those of the nerdy but soulful script supervisor Yuko (Yuno Sakura), who takes him under her wing. And then things go on and on with. series of short episodes that introduce various other characters, mostly fellow kiraeyaku.

This was a big hit at Japan Cuts (in Japan) it's reorted, the biggest Japanese indie phenomenon since One Cut of the Dead. This low budget film financed entirely by director Junichi Yasuda, it's said was initially shown in only one Japanese theater, but through word-of-mouth grew into a nationwide sensationn, ultimately taking home Best Film at this year’s Japan Academy Film awards.

The film is not just a comedy, but also a love letter to the jidaigeki genre, which though its popularity was far off in the mid-20th century, has too romanitic a place in Japanese culture ever to be forgotten It explores the legacy of samurai culture in Japan and the challenges faced by the genre in contemporary cinema. Perhaps it will lead to some mavericks making authentic samurai films again.

A Samurai in Time 『侍タイムスリッパー (Samurai Taimusurippa, "Samurai time slippers"), 131 mins., premiered at Koto Oct. 14, 2023, also Montreal (Fantasia) Jul. 28, 2024, Fight Fest (UK) Jul. 24, 2024, many Australian and UK fests, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and others. It was screened for this review as part of Japan Cuts 2025.Monday, July 14, 2025
8:30 pm
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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.