Orpahn Azumi (played by J-pop uber babe Aya Ueto) is brought up in feudal, war-torn Japan as an assassin. She is trained by Master G along with 10 of her fellow orphaned male assassins to kill two rival warlords (this is for the noble purpose of bringing peace to the nation). After completing the training, Master G has one final test for the 10 assasins. In a move that would make the Battle Royale people giddy with delight, the 10 assasins are to pair off with each other and have one final battle to the death, leaving only 5 assassins left (of course Azumi survives).

So their mission is set and Azumi, in a one piece mini skirt, with her sword and her samurai posse, journeys out to decapitate the unlucky rival warlords. Initially, Azumi’s posse wreaks some serious havoc, slicing and dicing through hundreds of lesser samurais, that have hair everywhere but on the top of their heads. That is until they run into Saru and his ninja gang. On an interesting sidenote, if Saru was forced to take a dna test, that test would probably reveal that he was the father of Wolverine from the X-Men. Anyways, because some of her posse were in trouble, Azumi could not face off with Saru and his ninjas, but dont worry they will be back.

Along the way a weirder and far deadlier assasin than, Wolverine’s father, “Saru” is introduced. His name is Bijomaru. It is a rare unknown fact but David Bowie had another alter ego between the Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke periods. That other alter ego was a Japanese Samurai that wore a white robe, heavy androgynous makeup, and always carried a rose in his mouth. Now that alter ego finally has come to fruition, in the character of Bijomaru, the baddest and deadliest androgynous samurai to have appeared on film. Of course it is fate that Azumi and Bijomaru will have to face each other in the end. (Guess who wins?)

I did not mind placing contemporary music in a film set in the 1800’s, but I did mind placing bad contemporary music in a film set in the 1800’s (1980s type of heavy metal music played in a sterile muzak form). Besides that, I enjoyed the movie for what it was, alot of mayhem caused by a J-pop singer in a mini skirt and her sword.