

User Score
1 votes
The story opens in October of 1624 when the newly appointed Shogun Iemitsu visits the famed Kan-ei temple. On his way the procession is disrupted when a small child runs into the street, a crime punishable by execution. One man steps forward to save her life by putting his on the line. Brave and compassionate Isshin Tasuke has come into the limelight as a hero of legendary proportions. His uncanny resemblance to Shogun Iemitsu will lead to many adventures that formed on of the great series in Japanese cinema. With his intelligence and personality, Tasuke seeks to intervene in the struggle between opposing factions in the Shogun's Ruling Council.
Director
Screenplay
Status
Released
Original Language
JA

Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.

In an alternate version of 1949 Japan in which World War II never happened, the Japanese capital of Teito is home to both an ultra rich upper class and the dirt poor masses. The city is thrown into a state of panic when a phantom thief called “The Kaijin (Fiend) with 20 Faces” (K-20 for short) begins to use his mysterious abilities to steal from the rich and give to the poor. One day a circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is framed for K-20’s crimes and becomes determined to clear his name. He teams up with K-20’s next target, a wealthy duchess named Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu) and her detective fiancé (Toru Nakamura), to take K-20 down once and for all.