Review of Azumi (2003) by Coxxie M — 03 Aug 2009

Since Kill Bill 1 I never saw such a wonderful sword choreography. But it wasn't just for the honour, the pride and the respect that I feel for the Asian samurai culture that I liked this movie, it was the plot. A very interesting plot that really caught my attention. The movie tells us the story of a young girl called Azumi. While still a little girl, Azumi's mom died in an accident, so together with 9 other kids, she was adopted and raised by a retired samurai.

The 10 children were raised as samurais, learning all the secrets of mastering a sword so they could complete a secret mission that their "father" never wanted to tell them. But now, the 10 kids have become teenagers, its time to reveal the mission: Destroy all the powerful feudal people that could create gigantic wars, just to obtain a little power. So thats when Azumi and the guys found out: They were NOT being raised as samurais, they were being raised as murderers. Will they do the mission? Are they ready for the mission? They'll have to past a test, a horrifying test to see which of them are ready and which of them are not. If they pass the test, they have two targets to kill. The first one will be a piece of cake, the second one won't be that easy...

"Azumi" movie is based on a manga by the same name. I never had the chance to read the manga, but I really recommend this movie. A movie where murderers are not cold-hearted serial killers. They are just teenagers, feeling guilty by every step they take and by every person they kill. Just normal teens trying to accept (and avoid) their destinies.