Samurai II- Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955) [Film Review]

Samurai II- Duel at Ichijoji Temple; or, The Way of the Warrior

Fearless Miyamoto Musashi returns in this action-packed sequel to display some proper samurai skills.

Release Info

Directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Kaoru Yachigusa, Mariko Okada, Kōji Tsuruka
Language: Japanese Original Title: Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijōji no Kettō Runtime: 103 min

Plot

Three years after harsh studying in Himeji Castle, Musashi finally disembarks on a journey across Japan to gain some practical experience and complete his samurai training. The credits do not state this explicitly, but from Akemi’s account about her age at the beginning of the movie, we may infer that Musashi wondered two years throughout the country until he arrived in Kyoto. There, the samurai beats the living hell out of the apprentices of the Yoshioka School and challenges its master, Yoshioka Seijuro (Akihiko Hirata) to a duel. The master accepts but a horde of samurais show up instead of him. Meanwhile, Oko and Akemi (the vicious women from Part I) become aware of that Musashi is in town. In addition, Otsu finally tracks down her beloved and also comes to Kyoto. Additionally, old friend, Matahachi, finally reunites with his mother and tries to seek revenge on Otsu. On top of it all, a strange, and highly sophisticated, samurai called Sasaki Kojiro (Kōji Tsuruka) lurks in the shadows, desiring a duel with Musashi. How on earth our hero is going to deal with such a mess?!

The adventure continues

After reading such synopsis, you might think that the sequel is going to be the same like the Part I or even worse in terms of sappiness and soap opera undertones. Nothing could be further from the truth. I agree that too many characters were thrown into the story at once, but all their complicated dilemmas were neatly tied in together with unstoppable fighting sequences done by Musashi. This is the advantage that takes Duel at Ichijoji Temple over Musashi Miyamoto.

In addition to this, once again the viciousness of samurai clans is exposed to us. After kicking a dozen of apprentices’ asses, Musashi requests to fight with master Seijuro, yet our hero is forced to put up with more masses of samurais throughout the picture, who just can’t stand that finally there’s someone better than them in town. This state of affairs eventually leads to epic showdown at rice paddies, where Musashi fights single-handedly with the whole clan… That’s how awesome he is.

 

Of course, apart from standard love subplots exemplified by the characters of Otsu and Akemi, who fall head over heels in love with Musashi, we also get a villain who is a real deal. Sasaki Kojiro does not frig about and he is also on a quest for self-excellence, but contrary to Musashi’s humble intentions, he wants to make a name for himself in the samurai world. In other words, Sasaki is in pursuit of fame and vanity. Nevertheless, it does not stop him from perceiving Musashi as a worthy opponent and even appreciating his skill. Sasaki even helps out our hero towards the end, at the same time hoping to face him in the future. What a guy!

Recommendations

I recommend this movie to all those who have seen the first part and enjoyed it. This sequel elevates the character of Musashi Miyamoto to another level of awesomeness and a very good screenplay as well as magnificent Toshiro Mifune are the main responsible factors. All in all, Duel at Ichijoji Temple is a worthwhile continuation.

Overall score: 8/10