Musashi 2003 TV series NHK (49 eps)

[Ghaleon]

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Has anyone seen the NHK Taiga series Musashi with 49 episodes?
It's based on Yoshikawa's Musashi novel from beginning to end. I heard it's kinda accurate to the novel.
Musashi is often considered the greatest swordsman of all-time. So I was pretty hyped up when I first heard about this series being adapted from the novel.

(From AsianMediaWiki)
Now, the story of this legendary swordsman-philosopher-painter comes to life in the 2003 NHK Taiga Drama "Miyamoto Musashi." Based on the famous biography written by Yoshikawa Eiji, this year's drama boasts a list of stars that reads like a Who's Who of screen and television. Among them: Fujita Makoto, Emori Toru, Nakamura Kankuro, Nakamura Tamao, Miyazawa Rie, Watase Tsunehiko, Takashima Masanobu, Tsutsumi Shin'ichi, and Katase Rino.

(From wikipedia)
Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, Miyamoto Musashi?), was a Japanese swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became legendary through his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.


Here's the cast list -

Hiroshi Abe ... Gion Touji
Numata Baku ... Gaiki Ishimoda
Toru Emori ... Akaneya Genzo
Takaaki Enoki ... Seijuro
Makoto Fujita ... Yagyu Sekishusai
Ebizo Ichikawa ... Miyamoto Musashi / Shimen Takezo
Rino Katase ... Okou
Kazuo Kitamura ... Tokugawa Ieyasu
Takeshi Kitano ... Shinmen Munisai
Masahiro Matsuoka ... Sasaki Kojiro
Rie Miyazawa ... Oshino
Kiichi Nakai ... Yagyu Munenori
Yukie Nakama ... Yae / Koto
Kankuro Nakamura ... Terumasa Ikeda
Isao Natsuyagi ... Hosokawa Tadaoki
Masanobu Takashima ... Yagyu Hyougonosuke
Shinobu Terajima ... Aya
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi ... Honiden Matahachi
Rina Uchiyama ... Akemi
Dai Watanabe
Tsunehiko Watase ... Takuan
Ryoko Yonekura ... Otsu

If you're into samurai novels or swordplay drama, you should definitely check this series out.

[atlantean0208]

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If you like the drama, you should read the manga, it's also badass. Also loosely based on Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_(manga)

Manga currently on going - vol29. Completely scanlated up to the latest: vol 29 c260. Online reading here

[Ghaleon]

Thanks I'll check it out. Do you know if it goes beyond the novel? i.e. after the fight with "Ganryu" S. Kojiro?

BTW here is the "Snow of Three Three Halls" scene from the NHK 1984 version of Musashi:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NzATiWq9sjk

Here is a clip of the first episode of Musashi 2003 with Kojiro:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=djKmta...eature=related

[atlantean0208]

Thanks I'll check it out. Do you know if it goes beyond the novel? i.e. after the fight with "Ganryu" S. Kojiro?

BTW here is a clip from the NHK 1984 version of Musashi:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NzATiWq9sjk

Here is a clip of the first episode of Musashi 2003 with Kojiro:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=djKmta...eature=related

There are lots of discrepancies between the novel and the manga, it's just a loosely adaptation. You can read the story arcs of the manga in the wiki.

[Ghaleon]

There are lots of discrepancies between the novel and the manga, it's just a loosely adaptation. You can read the story arcs of the manga in the wiki.

So what did you think of the NHK 2003 series of Musashi? Have you also read the novel by Yoshikawa? His novel is one of my favorite novels of all-time.

[Ghaleon]

So far I'm enjoy these series. It's about 75-80% accurate to the novel which is quite good for a swordplay serial. Because the novel itself is huge (1000+ pages), the series is made into 49 episodes. So the series has good pacing.

Thus far, all the sword fight scenes have been excellent. They actually remind me of the video game Samurai Shodown. The only other series that has the same quality of sword fighting scenes is probably Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001.

I'm up to episode 12 and the latest fight scene is "Snow of Thirty Three Halls". It's the sword duel between Musashi and Yoshioka Denshichiro. It was done really well. They actually mimicked part of the 1984 version for this scene.