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When the Last Sword Is Drawn

 When the Last Sword Is Drawn
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TVTItem
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn
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When the Last Sword Is Drawn
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WhenTheLastSwordIsDrawn
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When the Last Sword Is Drawn (壬生義士伝 Mibu Gishi Den, Legend of the Loyal Retainers of Mibu) is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film, based on a novel by Jiro Asada. Directed by Yojiro Takita, it stars Kiichi Nakai and Koichi Sato.One dark night sometime in the late 19th century, former samurai Saitō Hajime (Sato) brings his sick grandson to the local physician, Chiaki Ono (Takehiro Murata). On the doctor's mantelpiece, he spies an old photograph of a man he recognizes from the Bakumatsu and the Boshin War, whom he knew as Nambu Morioka.In a series of flashbacks, the two men recall the story of an Impoverished Patrician named Yoshimura Kanichiro (Nakai) who defied his lord and left his home and family to serve in The Shinsengumi, taking the pseudonym Nambu Morioka. Saitō's initial impression of Nambu as a money-grubbing coward is put to the test as the simple-seeming man from Nambu proves himself again and again a Master Swordsman.The film was nominated for eight awards at the 2004 Japanese Academy Awards, and won Best Film, Best Actor (Nakai), and Best Supporting Actor (Sato). A trailer can be viewed here.
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn
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2023-08-25T19:00:02Z
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2023-08-25T19:00:02Z
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Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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DBTropes
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Gatling Good
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Gatling Good: One is featured briefly in a scene during the Boshin War.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_17a606bd
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Master Swordsman
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_17a606bd
comment
Master Swordsman: Yoshimura was a dojo instructor in Nambu, and though only a poor samurai from the northern backcountry, he's able to hold his own when a drunken Saitō draws on him outside a bar despite having a few drinks in him himself. Late in the film, he singlehandedly attacks a company-strength unit of the Imperial Army with only his katana and wakizashi, and actually survives long enough to make it back to Nambu before succumbing to his injuries the following night.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_1bc2e445
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End of an Age
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_1bc2e445
comment
End of an Age: This film is set during the Meiji Restoration, which historically saw the downfall of the samurai class and shogunate as the de facto rulers of Japan, and the Emperor taking back direct rulership for the first time in several hundred years. After this, Japan rapidly industrialized and Westernized, ultimately becoming the dominant superpower of East Asia until World War II. This film is told from the point of view of the losing side of the revolution, framing it as tragic but largely inevitable.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_1e1afc1b
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Framing Device
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_1e1afc1b
comment
Framing Device: The film is told as a series of flashbacks of Saitō and Chiaki recalling their memories of Yoshimura.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_382a6399
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The Hero Dies
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The Hero Dies: Yoshimura bleeds out from the gunshot wounds he takes in a headlong one-man attack on the Imperial army.
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Achey Scars
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comment
Achey Scars: Saitou Hajime walks with a limp in the film's present day, which turns out to be a souvenir of a gunshot wound to the calf he sustained when he tried to follow Yoshimura on his Underequipped Charge. He's shown clutching at it when he recalls the scene.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_44fc28e8
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Honor Before Reason
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_44fc28e8
comment
Honor Before Reason: Late in the war, Saitō tells Yoshimura to desert and go home: everyone knows the shogunate forces are losing, and Saitō doesn't want him to die for no purpose. Yoshimura refuses, shortly before suicidally charging a company of Imperial troops. He does return home afterwards, so badly injured he dies shortly after.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_4540f0b9
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Mistaken for Dying
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_4540f0b9
comment
Mistaken for Dying: Saitō isn't sure his grandson is dying, but he has a fever that won't go down. Shizu (Dr. Chiaki's wife, and Yoshimura's daughter) assures him it's not serious.
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Dual Wielding
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_50d71a78
comment
Dual Wielding: When the Imperial Army catches up with the Shinsengumi towards the end of the film and demands their surrender, Yoshimura's response is to draw both his katana and wakizashi, make a stirring speech, and charge into the guns.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_76340146
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Underequipped Charge
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_76340146
comment
Underequipped Charge: Late in the film, Yoshimura and Saitou's Shinsengumi unit are cornered by a musket company of the Imperial Army and ordered to withdraw from the area or be killed as rebels against Emperor Meiji. As his comrades flee, Yoshimura draws his wakizashi (he already had his katana out), and yells to the Imperial troops, "I do not wish to raise my arm against His Majesty the Emperor, but my conscience bids me to fight!" He then charges alone into the guns with only his two swords, disappearing into the smoke as Saitou tries to follow but goes down from a gunshot to the ankle.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_7a0374eb
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Impoverished Patrician
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_7a0374eb
comment
Impoverished Patrician: As a samurai, Yoshimura is the Japanese equivalent of a knight, a retainer of the lord of Nambu, but he barely earns enough teaching at his lord's dojo to keep his family fed and housed. He initially asks his lord for permission to leave the clan to join the Shinsengumi for higher wages, then runs away in the night anyway when denied permission, which leads to his son being bullied by other students.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_895ec17
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Only in It for the Money
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_895ec17
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Only in It for the Money: As Nambu Morika, Yoshimura cultivates the impression of a greedy coward. He actually sends most of the money he earns in the Shinsengumi home to his family in Nambu.
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Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_a9de87d2
comment
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Yoshimura puts on the air of a coward who's Only in It for the Money. Actually, he's sending most of his earnings home to his family and simply dislikes fighting, only doing it when he feels he has no choice (honorable or practical, depending on the situation).
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Wrecked Weapon
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_c0d106a8
comment
Wrecked Weapon: After beheading the seppuku runaway, Yoshimura falsely claims to have incurred a chip in his katana's blade in the process in order to extract more money from the Shinsengumi officers (ostensibly to replace the sword). When he returns to Nambu badly wounded after fighting the Imperial Army, his sword is so badly bent his lord gives him one of his own to commit seppuku with.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_c78d3e08
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Seppuku
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_c78d3e08
comment
Seppuku: Yoshimura first shows his true skills when he acts as kaishakunin for a Shinsengumi who had been ordered to commit seppuku. The man chickens out and tries to run, but Yoshimura catches and kills him with two blows. The children of other samurai bully Yoshimura's son Kaichirou after his father defies his lord by leaving the clan, telling Kaichirou to commit hara-kiri. Chiaki defends Kaichirou. Yoshimura's lord orders him to kill himself when he returns home after the battle, but he succumbs to his injuries first.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_da1211b4
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Security Cling
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_da1211b4
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Security Cling: Having lost both her father and her older brother to the Boshin War, Shizu clings tightly to her husband Chiaki in her sleep.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_e1311c40
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Romancing the Widow
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_e1311c40
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Romancing the Widow: A close variant. Chiaki married Shizu after her father Yoshimura came home mortally wounded, and her older brother Kaichirou left to take his father's place fighting in the Boshin War and didn't come back.
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 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_ed46da54
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Martial Pacifist
 When the Last Sword Is Drawn / int_ed46da54
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Martial Pacifist: In the finest East Asian tradition, Yoshimura is a Master Swordsman who prefers the discipline of swordwork to actual fighting, only fighting when he feels he has no other choice.
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When the Last Sword Is Drawn

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 When the Last Sword Is Drawn
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Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass / int_9a7c85d6
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