Aya Ueto Movies
The effects of schizophrenia reverberate through three generations of educated Indian women when a woman is diagnosed with the psychotic disorder and those around her, including her westernized daughter, struggle to maintain normal lives.
As Azumi 2 gets underway, remaining assassins Azumi and Nagara set out in pursuit of their final target - the notorious Masayuki Sanada. But Sanada is fully prepared for the confrontation; he's hired the dreaded Koga Ninja Clan to dispense with Azumi, and they won't stop until their mission has been completed. The Koga Ninja Clan aren't the only foes that Azumi has to worry about either, because Kiyomasa's failed retainer Kanbei is out for blood as well. With enemies closing in from all sides, things are beginning to look decidedly grim for the assassin forced to choose between love and duty. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aya Ueto, Shun Oguri, (more)
Orphaned as a little girl, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is raised in the forest with a group of ten children by their master (Yoshio Harada), who trains them to be peerless assassins. Azumi and Nachi (Shun Oguri) are the strongest of the fighters. When the group comes of age, the master gives them one final test. He tells them to team up with the person to whom they feel closest. Then he tells them to kill that person, explaining that an assassin never gets to choose whom to kill. The teens reluctantly fight to the death. Then the survivors are brought out of the woods to begin their work, assassinating the corrupt warlords who are preventing peace in the land. The assassins, particularly Azumi, perform their missions with flair, but complications arise. One of the teens (Takatoshi Kaneko) is poisoned by a ninja's blade, one (Kenji Kohashi) falls in love with a circus performer (Aya Okamoto), and Azumi begins to question her desire to live the violent life of an assassin. Meanwhile, one warlord (Naoto Takenaka) cleverly escapes their blades, and together with his bodyguard Kenbei (Kazuki Kitamura) and a "monkey-faced" ninja, Saru (Minoru Matsumoto), they find Bijomaru (Jô Odagiri from Bright Future), a violent madman, release him from prison, and unleash him upon the young team of assassins. Azumi, based on the manga by Yu Koyama, is the first of cult director Ryuhei Kitamura's (Versus) films to be made within the Japanese studio system. It was shown at the 2004 New York Asian Film Festival, presented by Subway Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aya Ueto, Kenji Kobashi, (more)
