Zoku Shinobi no Mono is part two in the eight-film Shinobi no Mono series that chronicles the exploits of ninjas in the Sengoku or Warring States period leading up to the establishment of peace with the founding of a centralized power under Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603. As a traditional jidai geki or period drama, Zoku balances serious drama and political intrigue with as realistic a portrayal of ninjitsu arts as could be expected from a feature film. This second episode in the series is slow moving at times and uniformly dreary in tone, but features some excellent action sequences set against a fascinating and bloody period in Japan’s history.

Ichikawa Raizo returns to the lead role of Ichikawa Goemon, a Japanese Rob Roy of sorts who with his wife Maki (Fujimura Shiho) have retired to the countryside after failing to assassinate daimyo Oda Nobunaga (Wakayama Tomisaburo). This failure comes back to haunt them when Nobunaga’s forces, ordered to capture and kill all Iga ninjas track down Goemon and his family. In an ensuing battle, Goamon’s infant son is murdered and he and Maki retreat to the last remaining ikko ikki stronghold in the Kaga province. The ikko ikki are made up of a Buddhist religious sect and simple peasants who rebelled against the daimyo and sought vainly to form their own autonomous domain. While biding his time to strike back at Nobunaga, Goemon is approached by famed ninja master Hattori Hanzo (Date Saburo) with news that one of Nobunaga’s chief warlords, Mitsuhide, had fallen out of favor with his master after challenging his order to kill all ninja. While posing as a farmer who desires to be a samurai, Goemon approaches Mitsuhide and begins to exert his influence in order to turn the warlord against Nobunaga. Mitsuhide eventually marshals his forces against Nobunaga and Goemon takes advantage of the ensuing chaos to slip in and butcher Nobunaga. When news of the daimyo’s death reaches the ikko ikki, the people rejoice but their celebration is short-lived for the stronghold is soon surrounded by forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who is prepared to avenge the death of Nobunaga as warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu awaits the right time to make his grab for power. Goemon slips out of the stronghold in a failed strike on Hideyoshi and races to bring surviving warriors from another ikko ikki settlement before it’s too late. Goemon returns to find the stronghold in ruins and sets out on a last desperate attempt to assassinate Hideyoshi.

As this lengthy plot summary suggests, Zoku is an involved movie that requires your full attention to follow along. It’s less forgiving for those unfamiliar with Japanese history as it provides only basic explanation as the plot unfolds. It doesn’t help that the editing and structure of the film is such that Goemon ends up turning up all over the place, eavesdropping here or passing secret notes there. This spy work is essential to the plot, but can be tedious when there are long periods of scheming by various persons and little action.

The payoff for wading through the twisted plot development is in various scenes of ninjitsu and samurai warrior action. Caught off guard at the beginning and forced to witness the death of his child, Goemon deftly leaps into unconventional action by taking to the rafters and rooftop to fight his attackers. Later, Hanzo makes a dramatic appearance as his apprentice tosses smoking shuriken through the forest while he emerges in a theatrical disguise. Hanzo was famously played by Sonny Chiba in Shogun’s Samurai (1978) and is played here by Date Saburo, a regular of Shintaro Katsu’s Zatoichi series. He doesn’t really get in on the action, but rather acts as an independent player who as a fellow ninja regularly feeds Goemon vital information. Goemon’s assassination missions are very well staged as he drops from the ceiling to terrorize Nobunaga before cutting his limbs off in a devilish attack or as he tosses explosives into Hideyoshi’s camp. The finale is Goemon’s infiltration of Hideyoshi’s castle where he succeeds in reaching his target’s room, but is thrown off by uguisubari-rouka, or nightingale floors which are designed to creak in order to warn residents of intrusion. The battle here is great, but a bit of a bummer and eventually acts as a lead-in to part three, Shin Shinobi no Mono. The samurai action consists of spear work, brief full battle scenes and a lot of racing about in full armor on horseback. Canons and rifles are also employed. There is plenty of martial spectacle all around, although each individual scene is relatively short.

Zoku Shinobi no Mono is a solid follow up to the first film in the series, but the epic historical intrigue somewhat overwhelms the characters themselves. The action is entertaining, but divided up by long periods of drama that can be taxing. Thankfully, the film is nicely shot and features a pleasant, minimalist score. As a ninja flick, Zoku is still recommended for its non-exploitive depictions of ninja and for its quality action.

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