There have been a lot of films made about the mighty and brutal warrior Oda Nobunaga, but certainly not one like this, which seems to take its cue from some early legends about his wife Nohime, that she herself was a trained assassin.
The first thing to say is not to come to this film for real life history - the film makers have very much put action and romance and drama above any kind of historical verisimilitude. But the result is very watchable, mostly thanks to some great acting, especially from the two leads, although sometimes Kimura struggles with the widely differing sides of Oda portrayed in the film, from idiotic young man to vicious killer to romantic warrior leader. Jaruka Ayase is terrific as Nohime, the real power behind Odas throne.
The action and drama is often a little over the top, but is always watchable so long as you don't think too much about the likelihood of the plot. The ending will very much be love it or hate it, but I enjoyed it. Like a lot of modern Japanese productions, they seem very good at making a low budget go a long way - some of the settings are quite spectacular.
So overall, while not quite up to the standard of the best recent Japanese historical dramas, this is still very much worth your time.
