Samurai Wolf II

Considerably less spaghetti (apart from the music) than the first Gosha movie about Kiba, this time it’s almost an orthodox chanbara. Where they relied on building a restless atmosphere of the silence before the storm in the first movie, here they opt for frequent action. Last time, it was slowed down to great effect, with very few actors, whereas here it’s frenetic and takes place amongst crowds, almost. Where Kiba was the protagonist and held the reins firmly in his hands, this time he is driven by events and by Magobei. If it weren’t for the main protagonist (and the switched guard due to the hand injury in the final duel), it would be really hard to tell that this is a sequel. Good, nonetheless, but different from the first time. In the end it’s all about which one of the sequels tickles your fancy, and not about which one is better/worse. In any case it’s a great shame that Gosha stopped filming in black and white with this movie. Few people had such a feeling for its specifics and advantages as he did. And after all it’s also a shame that Gosha did not make more movies with Rōnin Kiba; I came to like the rascal. (03/27/2013)