Introduction
A young boy named Jiro finds his mother and sister murdered in his home. Falsely accused of the crime, he flees from his village and meets a priest named Tenkai, who has him kill a rogue ninja named Tarouza. After fulfilling that task, Jiro undergoes training to become a master assassin. Many years later, Jiro finds out that he was an orphan and his real father was Tarouza, who had worked for Tenkai until he aborted his mission when he fell in love with an Ainu woman. The young ninja discovers that the Shogunate was to retrieve the lost treasure of Captain Kidd and use it to once again isolate Japan from the rest of the world. Using the clues that Tarouza had kept secret, Jiro—along with the female ninja Oyuki and a slave named Sam—travels to Russia and America to search for the treasure in hopes of using it to extract revenge from Tenkai.
(Source: ANN)
Audience reviews
7 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
fh1478
Shinobi Certainly Don't Wear Pants
The Dagger of Kamui is movie about a boy who just wants to find his father, and as totally not evil man is here to mentor, and he cannot lie because, he looks like the buddha.
It style at every point, and feels so unique in how it is put together, traditional Ninja action, but with synth music and rock guitar that really makes it sparkle.
The story is well told. the style really carries it and charming character design and more gritty moments, and it really goes places you would not expect, but it was made in 80s so anything can happen.
The villain is so evil, in the best fun way, where you're just like. Oh, what is this evil Jackass gonna do next time? what's he gonna frame the main character for this time.
The animation is good with style, so it bec…
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
Journey Through Madhouse Episode #15: A tale of revenge, ninjas, and a treasure hunt, which doesn't aim to be an action anime but rather a historical drama.
The revenge and ninja aspects are somewhat sidelined. The true message of the work seeks to represent Japan's vision regarding opening its borders. The story explores the dilemma that if Japanese protectionism is overthrown, they risk losing their identity. The film represents this, in a rather strange way, in a fight between ninjas and cowboys. The anime aims to reflect the doubts and concerns of Japan at that time, which is why it has its characters travel through Russia and the United States. However, the film suffers from the same concerns. In the third act, it loses some of its identity, shifting from a ninja story to a Western.…
Read at the sourceBlernsballMVP
What an odd, odd little film. One of the most aggressively 80s things I've seen, The Dagger (or "Daggar" as my translation put it. Whoops.) of Kamui is a relatively rare Jidaigeki anime with some classic tropes--ninjas being the focus-- but even rarer subject matter-the Ainu (the indigenous people of Hokkaido), the fall of the Shogunate in the 1860s, Mark Twain and slavery (!?!?).
If that sounds ambitious, it is! There's a lot of interesting ideas at play. Artistically, there's a lot of stylization and pretty complicated techniques at play that leads to some....psychedelic imagery at times. In terms of the plot and themes, it's take on the era is incredibly unique and explores a lot of underexamined topics in Japanese art, race most especially. It feels almost like a relic from a bygone t…
Read at the sourcethec0re3
When it comes to epic ninja dramas, there are not too many out there that come close to the experience that you will leave with after watching Kamui no Ken, or as I know it, Dagger Of Kamui.
The animation is dated and I was shocked to know that this title came out in 1985. When I first watched this title back in 1995, you could not tell me this anime was not amazing to look at. That opinion has certainly changed some but I still maintain that the animations and much of the choreography are amazing to watch. When you find influences from this film in other anime like Naruto and Samurai Champloo, then you know this anime left a big impression.
The story is not your average revenge tale and the twists were pretty mind blowing. Jiro, an orphan child, gets tangled in a wicked game of deceit…
Read at the sourceBoltz
At just over 2 hours long The Dagger of Kamui is a historical epic most people can enjoy, although it will feel a bit more rewarding to those that have experienced a decent amount of anime and manga beforehand and know a few things about the Japanese history and folklore.
The first thing of note is the outstanding soundtrack. It's a unique mixture of electro rock and funky synth tunes, merged with traditional instruments and spoken sound effects. If you've seen Miyazaki's highly acclaimed The Wind Rises, you'll remember the amazing train scene with spoken sound effects. Kamui uses a lot of that and it sounds cool. The music also blends in perfectly - when Jiro is with the Native Americans there's even a pan flute in there.
The second thing that woos the viewer is the animation. There are…
Read at the sourcenostalgic-hero
Kamui no Ken, which I saw for the first time in the abridged version entitled "Revenge of the Ninja Warrior" is a historical drama story about a half Ainu, half Japanese boy living in the turbulent period of the Tokugawa era, the Boshin War and early part of the Meiji era. That setting is the backdrop for the story, and it's one of mystery, intrique, betrayal and vengence.
He's framed for the murder of his mother and sister and forced to flee from his village and is taken in by a monk named Tenkai whom gives Jiro the task of training to become a ninja.
The art style is very well suited for the anime and the ninja fight scenes are done quite well. The musical score is truly something else, it's something like a fusion of 80s rock and traditional Japanese music and in a lot of scenes it do…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
Seriousley! they DON´T make longlasting anime movie with effort anymore like this one, and wich is partially based on actual history its one of my oldskool fav. I dont care about the runtime of the movie because it started strong en ended very strong! Charac. animation is not too special, more a bit kiddy, an very good background story historical places and char. development really were put potential in there , and good mix of 80´s synth and 18th century japanese interpetation music. Beautiful anime sketches inbetween the movie is what i really miss of 21 century anime! just because u can see the drawing of it partially unfinished, just great!
Read at the source