A wandering samurai finds a straw dummy with a magical sword, which makes him overwhelmingly powerful but begins to drive him mad.
Direction
Tezuka's final short — pure unrestrained id on screen.
Director
Osamu Tezuka
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tezuka made this at 58, confronting his own mortality and legacy through Jungian psychoanalysis — the sword is literally his creative power consuming him.
The Muramasa blade was historically considered cursed; Tezuka weaponizes this folklore to critique Japan's wartime obsession with perfect, self-destructive devotion.
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