The Vice-Commander who wrote haiku between beheadings faces his sunset.
Follows the final days of the shogunate and Shinsengumi's Vice-Comander Hijikata Toshizo along with his fellow anti-imperialist group.
Acting
Koji Yamamoto's Hijikata: exhaustion and fire in equal measure.
Production
Gritty Bakumatsu detail—this ain't your polished tourist samurai flick.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Shinsengumi have been mythologized wildly in Japan—this film leans into their tragic 'last samurai' romance rather than their documented brutality.
Koji Yamamoto played Hijikata across multiple Shinsengumi projects; this was his farewell to the role, mirroring the character's own ending.
JP
