When you watch a Japanese period drama series ("Jidaigeki"), the plots of each episode usually follow the same pattern: a wrong has been done or a crime committed, the protagonist investigates and uncovers the villains, then the villains are either captured or dispatched in a glorious one-against-many fight and all ends well.
Not PINWHEEL HAMAKICHI'S SPELL. And I'm delighted that this is so!
For one thing, our title character, Nezu Hamakichi (formerly Itachi Hamakichi) is a former police investigator ("doshin") who has lost everything: his job, his home, his family and his honor...all because he tried to save his sick wife's life but broke the law to do so. For this, he was banished from Edo (now known as Tokyo), forced to leave his family behind. While he's not the first Jidaigeki protagonist to be a tragic figure (Ogami Itto in LONE WOLF AND CUB is a prime example), it does make him more human. Five years later, he returns to Edo and slowly starts to rebuild his life, earning a living as a maker/seller of pinwheels.
While it is quite common for a Jidaigeki protagonist to help people he comes across, it's usually because he's a traveler or wanderer. Not Hamakichi; the people he helps usually cross his path purely by accident/chance at his little stand outside a temple. Of course, since he's a disgraced former officer, he can no longer enforce the law, but his intelligence and investigative powers are still sharp enough that law officers come to him for help (unofficially, of course). Despite his previous suffering, Hamakichi isn't bitter and refuses to take up the jitte again when it's offered to him, saying that he knows he's no longer worthy of it, but he has a strong sense of justice and realizes/knows that the law and justice are not always the same, thereby displaying an integrity that is both touching and realistic. Also, from a man who has lost it all, throughout this short series he builds friendships and real emotional connections with people (especially children). This man genuinely CARES for people.
There are other things that makes this jidaigeki unlike any other, and one is that not all the episodes end happily. There are one or two episodes that really tug at the emotions where, despite Hamakichi's best efforts, events conclude unhappily, and this is a refreshing change from a lot of Jidaigeki stories. Another factor is that the stories concentrate on the commoners and ordinary people of Edo, NOT on the great clans/families or on the shogunate; you won't see a single ninja or samurai duel in THIS series! While there are at times violent acts committed, you never see Hamakichi take up a katana to battle the villains (a couple of times he may use a knife), instead using his physical prowess to fight. One other thing that is refreshing...Hamakichi doesn't have a kimarizerifu (repeated catch-phrase) for when he faces the bad guys.
The acting is remarkable for a Jidaigeki, never overblown or overdone but remarkably restrained and realistic (including the children). While the cast list here in IMDB is incomplete, I'm fairly certain that Hamakichi is played by the noted actor Tatsuya Nakadai, and he does an incredible job. This series is also filmed on videotape instead of film, which I enjoy because it makes things look more realistic.
All in all, a very refreshing change in pace from most Jidaigeki, and I highly recommend it. To my knowledge, it hasn't been released on video or DVD (especially not here in the U. S.), but the six episodes that make up this series can be found on YouTube.
