Shizuka (Yoshiko Sengen) is a college student struggling with the climate of Japan. The media is biased, the people around her lack the basic freedoms that she believes that they deserve, and the country that she loves feels as if it’s falling apart. With each of the threats that surround Shizuka on a regular basis, she must find a way to fight for what she believes in, and The Cherry Bushido is the story of her doing just that. As she joins the Japan Salvation Conference, she finds herself among like minds, traveling to the spirit world, and all that she thought she knew will come into question–and the future of Japan hangs in the balance.
The Cherry Bushido is driven almost entirely by politics, and the film becomes almost a mirror image of the world in which we currently live. Politics are politics, no matter where in the world you travel, but the reality is that people living in one place often focus entirely on their government and overlook the things that are occurring around the rest of the world. The Cherry Bushido opens the world’s eyes to the things that occur globally, not just domestically–and it presents viewers with a unique way of understanding the state of the world. This is a testament to the writing of Sayaka Okawa and Ryuho Okawa, as they understand human connection and how to reach their viewers on a multitude of levels.
The Cherry Bushido is essentially The Matrix meets Doctor Strange, and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. On one hand, both of those aforementioned films have made hundreds of millions of dollars since their respectives releases, but on the other, the content of The Cherry Bushido ultimately feels too derivative of this content. I don’t mind borrowed content, but there is something about The Cherry Bushido that doesn’t feel borrowed, but taken. Now I’m not accusing anyone of stealing anything, but the derivative nature of what The Cherry Bushido presents to its viewers is slightly off-putting.
Cinematically, and in terms of the score, The Cherry Bushido feels like authentic Japanese cinema. The choreography is exciting and enticing, and the cast does a wonderful job of developing these scenes in a way that appeals to viewers. The choreography is ultimately presented beautifully, almost like dance–and viewers are sure to appreciate what goes into this aspect of The Cherry Bushido. As the choreography, cinematography, and score converge throughout the entirety of the film, the sentiment present in the film is brought to light–and it’s ultimately this marriage that allows the film to flourish.
Unfortunately the version of The Cherry Bushido that I have access to is dubbed in English–and that takes a lot away from the film. Given the fact that it was filmed in Japanese, but I was presented the product in English caused me to struggle with fully understanding the dialogue and the acting. This aspect of the film doesn’t bog it down fatally, but it throws a wrench in the official version of the film, diminishes the talents of the many actors, and ultimately sees a number of intense situations lose relevance–it’s detrimental.
It’s difficult to judge the true quality of a film that has been dubbed over in another language like this version of The Cherry Bushido, but the reality is that the film itself–prior to these changes–has a few issues of its own. While the film is a bit derivative of films like Doctor Strange and The Matrix, the narrative, and the role it plays in the grand scheme of the political climate right now, is appealing to viewers. The cinematography, choreography, and the score play a pivotal role in the film’s reception, and I believe that these are the aspects that ultimately afford The Cherry Bushido success.
Directed by Hiroshi Akabane.
Written by Sayaka Okawa & Ryuho Okawa.
Starring Yoshiko Sengen, Hiroaki Tanaka, Rin Kijima, Rina Narita, Ryoma Ichihara, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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