Fukasaku's first costume drama. When Toei opened the theme park Uzumasa Eigamura in its studio complex in Kyoto and this was a great success, the studio bosses decided that the genre which had made Toei great the historic costume drama, should be given a new lease of life. It was already ten years since the last film in this genre had left the Toei Studio.
At the start of the seventeenth century when suddenly the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu dies, a battle for succession is unleashed between the eldest and the second son. Everyone gets involved, from the circles of the Shogunate, the Imperial court and the rural aristocracy. The so-called Yagyu clan unites behind Ieyasu's eldest son and plots on many fronts, for instance cunningly using the demand that the Shogun has to be initiated in kendo sword-fighting. They also send swarms of ninja spies to eavesdrop on and besiege the enemy. In the midst of these intrigues, there is also the split between the patriarch of the Yagyu clan and his eldest son.
The dramatic whirlwind of sword-fighting, political intrigue, family drama and love vicissitudes make the film a historic counterpart to the BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR AND HUMANITY series. The leading role was for Yorozuya Kinnosuke, the star who had played many leading roles in the glory days of the Toei costume dramas under the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. It was twelve years since he had worked for his favourite studio. The film was a box-office hit and had a sequel the same year in AKO-JO DANZETSU/THE FALL OF AKO CASTLE, again directed by Fukasaku and with Nakamura Kinnosuke playing the lead. Toei produced several more costume dramas, but the attempt to relive the great days eventually faced a lack of response from audiences. (Y.S.)