A Samurai in Time

As the Edo period wanes in the mid-19th century, samurai KOSAKA Shinzaemon (YAMAGUCHI Makiya) draws his blade against his rival on the streets of Kyoto. But as the fight begins, sudden lightning strikes… and when Shinzaemon awakens, something is different. He’s been sent forward through time onto the set of a 21st-century period drama!

He is lost, afraid and alone in a familiar-yet-unfamiliar world, but assistant director Yuko (SAKURA Yuno) soon finds something for him to do: his skill with the sword makes him a perfect candidate for an extra in their TV show. So Shinzaemon begins a new life as a kirareyaku, an actor specialising in pretending to die in battle, and slowly finds his way forward in his strange new reality.

A Samurai in Time is a smart, crowd-pleasing comedy centring around a man with a great sense of obligation, and more: behind the laughs, it expertly blends thoughtful character study, sharp cultural observations and a heartfelt tribute to the declining jidaigeki (period drama) industry.

©MIRAIEIGASHA

武士の新左衛門は京都の街で決闘中、雷に打たれ目覚めると21世紀の時代劇撮影現場にタイムスリップしていた。元の時代に戻る術も分からないままさ迷う新左衛門を、助監督の優子が臨時の斬られ役に起用。新左衛門は新たな道を歩み始める。もともと自主映画として制作されたが、時代劇の聖地ともいえる東映京都が全面協力した、笑いと感動が詰まったコメディー。

(Special thanks to Eikoku News Digest)