The film further explores the aspect of Baian treating Oseki and her clients as nagging wives, mothers, or even mothers-in-law. Baian is an acupuncturist but also a hitman. He is careful when selecting his targets, as there are some Baian believes do deserve to die. The movie opens with details outlining exactly how all the real-life events worked. For instance, the clients were able to find a middleman that went by the term vine. The vine would then approach Baian on behalf of the client and pay him for the job, then later split the rest of the earnings between them. Hiko is a toothpick maker and other assassin, he is also one of the few people aware of A’s dual profession. He was the closest to Baian in terms of friendship.
In due time, however, the vine once more contacts him for an order regarding Omino, who is the second wife of a middle aged restaurant owner. The woman began to take control of the restaurant and began forcing the employees to entertain the perverted customers. They were able to do so with the help of hired geishas.
Baian advances the inquiry and turns to Omon’s pamphlet who falls in love with him as Baian makes love with her owing to his fluttering competencies in human anatomy as established by the training flashbacks. Although, Baian was expecting a murder mystery, he ends up discovering that the murderous order that involves him does not only concern the assassination of another woman many years ago.
So much so that Baian, who has probably lived a life of conservatism in his 60s, swinging swords at young women in the movie endorses that demographic while shaping the overwhelming theme towards the older age group. It starts with the variety of samurais shows on which the protagonists unleash violence that Is very appealing and entertaining when sparked with equal parts of noir and drama. The Japanese are usually known to be right on target with the moves they make and the anime they bring forth, depicting their primary audience, kids of course, while sundry anime seems to fit all ages.
Many of the movies derived through hodgepodge elements include a myriad of fixated concepts. Such as the doctor/assassin trope which gained a lot of popularity especially after Zatoichi. And Baian spins this element other way around delightfully in this movie supporting brilliantly each one of the facets
In fact, the way he kills, which is to shove needles in various spots on his target’s body without any fuss, is remarkable to observe, and Kawake draws a lot from this tactic and shows it in different ways as much as possible. And perhaps even better than everyone else, Etsushi Toyokawa manages to highlight both capacities in excellence, with his constant cool essentially making the moments where he loses it stand out intensely. Giving some of these episodes a humorous angle, courtesy of the nosy maid he’s dealing with, also complements the narrative nicely.
It is quite a good story too, the layered script together with Baian’s skillful hand makes it exciting and suspenseful as more and more things are revealed over time, and Shunsuke Kawake’s direction and editing helps in telling the story through the different twists as well as action. Admittedly, there comes a time when it becomes a bit too implausible, and the melodrama which is associated with all the main character’s previous experiences may be irritating, but not enough to spoil the general perception of the film.
The quality of the images is also worthy of mention, the era is presented with a blend of realism and noir while the odd yellow and then red sets provide some dramatic hues.
There are varying action scenes which include sword fights and silent murders that have been excellently choreographed. The way a samurai and a silent assassin murder people offers a very entertaining antithesis.
The two main Brazilian/Asian women in the film are the ones stealing the show when it comes to the acting. Yuki Amani as the typical Japanese killer woman is very good throughout the most of the movie, including those brief moments when she is a victim instead, while Miho Kanno as the Omon woman who loves to gossip but is a bit drunk is equally good, another very enticing antithesis here. Ainosuke Kataoka as Hiko is from the male actors an exception, his participations with Baian are comic and in some moments rather “heavy”.
There are faults in the show but mostly this derives from the class of people targeted, all in all Baian the Assassin M D Part 1 combines samurai action with crime drama, intricate plot and stunning production values which entertaining.
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