Kai, en utböling, går med i gänget 47 Ronin som leds av Oishi. Tillsammans söker de hämnd mot den ondskefulle härskare som dödade deras ledare och fördrev deras folk. För att återupprätta sitt hemlands heder ger sig krigarna ut på en resa med ett antal prövningar som skulle krossa vilken annan soldat som helst.
En ärrad samuraj beger sig ut på en blodig vendetta när han nås av nyheten om att hans brorson tvingats begå harakiri till följd av ett misslyckat lurendrejeri.
För länge sedan fanns en mäktig samuraj som troget tjänade sin Shogun. Shogun börjar dock bli paranoid och orolig att samurajen blivit för stark. För att vara på den säkra sidan skickar han sina ninjor för att göra sig av med samurajen. Ninjorna misslyckas dock med sitt uppdrag och dödar istället samurajens älskade fru. Efter detta svär samurajen att hämnas och ger sig ut på en resa för att söka hämnd. Det som gör berättelsen intressant är att han med sig på resan också har sin lille son, som också agerar berättare i filmen.
Life isn't easy in feudal Japan... especially since the aliens landed and conquered everything! Oh sure, the new health care is great, but the public ban on the use of swords has left a lot of defeated samurai with a difficult decision to make concerning their future career paths! This is especially true if, as in the case of Gintoki Sakata, they're not particularly inclined towards holding a day job, which is why Gintoki's opted for the freelance route, taking any job that's offered to him as long as the financial remuneration sounds right. Unfortunately, in a brave new world filled with stray bug-eyed monsters, upwardly mobile Yakuza and overly ambitious E.T. entrepreneurs, those jobs usually don't pay as well as they should for the pain, suffering and indignities endured!
The 38th NHK Taiga Drama is Genroku Ryoran. The "Forty-seven Loyal Samurai" is one of the most enduring and best loved stories of Japan's history. Generations have grown up hearing the stirring tale of Oishi Kuranosuke, chief councillor of the Ako clan who leads his men through suffering and hardship to ultimately avenge their lord after he is unjustly forced to commit harakiri. NHK's 38th Taiga Drama "Genroku Ryoran" is the ambitious remake of this classic epic and boasts a cast that reads like a Who's Who in Japanese entertainment.
Commanding shoguns and samurai warriors, exotic geisha and exquisite artisans—all were part of the Japanese “renaissance”; a period between the 16th and 19th Centuries when Japan went from chaos and violence to a land of ritual refinement and peace. But stability came at a price: for nearly 250 years, Japan was a land closed to the Western world, ruled by the Shogun under his absolute power and control. Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire brings to life the unknown story of a mysterious empire, its relationship with the West, and the forging of a nation that would emerge as one of the most important countries in the world.
