An Impressive & Bold Sequel from its Underrated Predecessor

Blade of the 47 Ronin is easily an enjoyable film. It has tons of killing, epic sword fighting, and incredible action sequences. The film doesn’t quite live up to the hype of the original 2013 film, but nonetheless, Blade of the 47 Ronin is an impressive sequel. The film has one heck of a time period twist that continues the story of ancient Japanese Ronin warriors in modern day, taking place 300 years after the original film. The entire cast performed extremely well while the cinematography and soundtrack were superb.

Following the events of 47 Ronin (2013), the story begins with Lord Arai who seeks the help of a witch named, Hirano, to fight a villainous witch, Yurei (Dan Southworth), who intends to destroy all Samurais. Yurei is the descendant of Mizuki, the witch who served as Lord Kira’s aide and was killed by Kai (Keanu Reeves) during the original 47 Ronin film. It is revealed that the only way to stop Yurei is by using the Tengu sword. The sword itself has been split into two, namely the Warrior sword and the Witch Blade. Arai has possession of the Warrior Blade, while Hirano has the Witch Blade.

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300 Years Later

If the blades are to be united, they will be able to successfully kill Yurei and fulfill the prophecy that states: “the Blade of the 47 Ronin, fortified by magic and valor, will be yielded by a true descendant to defeat an evil born from the past.” Only Arai can kill Yurei, due to him being the last descendant of the 47 Ronin. Arai is also the descendant of Chikara Oishi (Jin Akanishi), son of Oishi Yoshio (Hiroyuki Sanada), from the original 47 Ronin who fought the forces of the evil Lord Kira and received an honorable death. Unfortunately, during their meeting, the house is attacked by Yurei’s men, and Yurei manages to kill both Hirano and Arai. But Yurei, through his powers, realizes that Arai wasn’t truly the last descendant.

Other lords named Lord Okoro, Lord Maeda, Lord Shinshiro, Lord Niko, and Lord Ikeda; all meet in Budapest to decide their next move. Shinshiro (Mark Dacascos) says that the Record Keeper has had a vision of a young American woman who was wielding the Warrior Blade in her hands. This seems to say that she, too, is a descendant of the 47 Ronin. While some lords aren’t convinced, others, including Shinshiro, believe that the American woman needs to be found and told the truth about her Ronin ancestry.

Shinshiro found Onami (Teresa Ting) as a baby in the past and has raised her as his own. She also serves as Shinshiro’s second-in-command. With help from a man named Reo (Mike Moh), a Ronin traces down the girl, Luna (Anna Akana), and after saving her from a bunch of Yurei’s men, tells her about the significance in the present scheme of things. While Luna isn’t at all interested in the samurai story she has heard, she decides to listen to them just for the sake of it. They find out from the Record Keeper, Dash (Nino Furuhata) that on the next blood moon, which is in 5 days, Yurei will unite the two blades, forming the Tengu sword, which will unleash the full power of his dark magic.

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The Rise of Luna

Universal Pictures

Luna begins training under Onami, Reo, and Aya (Chikako Fukuyama) so that she can defeat Yurei by using the Tengu sword. However, Luna is eventually contacted by Yurei himself, who tells her that she is a witch the same as him. Luna then realizes that she does possess powers like Yurei but denies the thought that she is indeed a witch. Having already stolen the witch’s sword, Yurei then manages to get hold of the warrior sword by tracking down Luna, who had also received the location of the sword from Dash before he was killed by Yurei’s men. Now having both swords in his possession, he must now wait for the blood moon night.

On the very night of the blood moon, Yurei is able to unite the two swords into the Tengu sword, but before he can claim his full powers, he and his men are attacked by Shinshiro, along with Reo, Onami, Aya, Luna, and Lord Niko (Dustin Nguyen), who is a close friend of Shinshiro. Luna manages to stab Yurei with the Tengu sword, but nothing happens, proving that Yurei had told her was right that she is a witch and not a Ronin descendant. When Luna throws the Tengu sword towards Onami to keep it away from Yurei’s hands, Onami catches it, and the sword immediately starts to glow. This reveals that Onami is the true last descendant of the 47 Ronin. She beheads Yurei, thereby bringing an end to his evil forces and Onami is declared as the new Lord of the House of Arai.

A Perfectly Acceptable Action-Fantasy Film

Universal Pictures

Blade of the 47 Ronin is certainly a film worth watching as the genre itself contains a combination of martial arts, action, horror, and cyber-punk. Coming from Universal’s low-budget films department, director Ron Yuan proves that he has what it takes to direct films onto the big screen. Despite all the blood spillage throughout the film, the CGI could use a little more work. The plot of Blade of the 47 Ronin did seem a bit rushed with the film having a total runtime of one hour and forty-five minutes, but overall, it will be interesting to see where this story will go next.

Blade of the 47 Ronin is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD as well as VOD and Netflix from Universal Home Entertainment. Details pertaining to the upcoming third film have not been revealed at this time.

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