Samurai Swordfish (2022)

"It's about trying or giving up"

Samurai Swordfish is a heartwarming time traveling samurai story packed into a 25-minute short film. There wasn’t time to fill in a lot of story gaps but most drama and film watchers will know how to fill in the blanks.

In 1863, Eisuke and Toramaru are best friends and samurai training partners. Toramaru is selected to the Shogun’s special unit though Eisuke is not as Eisuke is blind. Toramaru asks Eisuke to take care of his son should anything happen to him. One day while training the son, Toramaru’s practice sword with the words, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you” falls into the river and Eisuke goes in to save it. He surfaces in a modern Tokyo pool with no one else there except for coincidentally his great-great-great-grandson Ryusei. Through Ryusei he is introduced to Toramaru’s descendent who is in need of his help in learning the samurai spirit. Taiga was a competitive swimmer until he recently lost his leg in an accident. Eisuke shows him his disability can’t stop him from being a competitor by training with Ryusei and learning how to swim.

The story skipped over Eisuke coming to terms with being in the future-he just accepts it. It skipped over Ryusei and Taiga questioning whether he’s from the past-they just accepted it. The story skipped over the intricacies of learning how to properly swim freestyle-Eisuke seemed to know how. And while the synopsis maintained that Eisuke drown, he never died. As I said, most viewers who have watched time travel dramas/films will understand the steps glossed over due to the lack of time. The central focus was Eisuke’s sense of duty to Toramaru’s descendent, a surrogate for Toramaru’s son. Eisuke was willing to do whatever was needed to help Taiga succeed and regain his spirit. In the process of doing that, he was also helping Ryusei who had given up swimming when Taiga could no longer compete.

This short film could easily have been made into a full-length film. I liked how it highlighted the Paralympics by introducing two medalists who served as motivation for Taiga. Eisuke was able to show Taiga some of the Bushido principles of loyalty, bravery, and honor. Taiga and Ryusei discovered their inner samurai spirits through the efforts of a blind samurai who never gave up. Definitely worth 25 minutes of your time if you are in need of something uplifting.

15 October 2024

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