This one goes back a ways. The Dagger of Kamui is a rather routine Japanese anime action flick. Set in the 19th century, a young man named Jiro is falsely accused of murdering his adoptive mother and sister, later tricked into killing his own father, and is then falsely accused of murdering his birth mother. Hard luck.

Anyway, Jiro is trained as a shinobi, and then goes off in search of a treasure his father was trying to find. Pursued by his enemies, Jiro travels to America, where the Indians speak Japanese, and then back to Japan. He makes many friends and allies along the way. Some survive. And finally there is the battle with his arch enemy.

It is not a bad story, just formulaic. There is some nice artwork, and of course lots of fighting for you action fans. It’s just that outside of a trip to America, the story is pretty basic.

The Dagger of Kamui is directed by Rintaro, who would later direct Metropolis.

Not a bad film, but not exactly great either. I rate The Dagger of Kamui as barely average.