Ichi - Adventure romance

Ichi is an updated retelling of the classic Japanese tale Zatoichi The Blind Samurai with the protagonist cast as a beautiful young woman. Ichi (Haruka Ayase), a blind shamisen player, roams the rolling countryside in search of a certain someone. In her travels, she is often threatened but never harmed as she is enchantingly swift with her sword. After saving the life of bumbling samurai Toma Fujihira (Takao Osawa), Ichi finds herself caught in the middle of a turf war between the keepers of a sleepy inn town and a group of outlaw thugs. Toma grows increasingly enthralled with Ichi’s mysterious talent and dedication to her mission, but backs away as she learns that the thug leader may have the secret she has been searching for.
Beauty is found at every turn in this bewitching tale. The sword work is wonderfully choreographed and gracefully executed so that even though this is a work of fantasy in storyline, it is quite realistic in action. Ayase steals the screen in her graceful take on a classic Japanese role.