The Hakkenden - The Legend of the Dog Warriors (LD 1 of 7)

Release date: 1995-08-01
Suggested retail price: $39.98
Age rating: NR

SKU: PILA-1191-A
UPC: 013023451773 013023451773

Description:
The Princess Fuse dies and eight spirit beads fly toward the heavens. The first of them to materialize is the dog warrior of "KO (filial devotion)", Shino Inuzuka.

"...they can speak to all of us at all times in a universal language of hope for redemption, the eight dogs of Satomi will forever be immortal"
-Gordon M. Berger, Ph.D.,
University of Southern California

THE HAKKENDEN
The Hakkenden is the first fully animated adaptation of the well-loved classic by Bakin Takizawa, "Nanso Satomi Hakkenden." The production features a first-rate staff, including director Takashi Anno, character designer Atsushi Yamagata, and screenwriter Noboru Aikawa. This qualityteam has combined the rich characters of the eight dog warriors to produce a work of overwhelming popularity.

Episode One
The Kaleidoscope
The year is 1457. Princess Fuse, daughter of Yoshizane Satomi, Lord of Awa province, is forced into matrimony with her dog, Yatsufusa. This situation occurs when, under siege by the neighboring army of Lord Kagetsura Anzai and facing starvation. Yoshizane makes a desperate, last-ditch promise to the animal. Ultimately, the princess is killed, along with Yatsufusa, by a bullet from the gun of Daisuke Kanmari, who had come to rescue her. At the moment of Fuse's death, eight spirit beads from the necklace she was wearing disperse into the sky and the legend of the dog warriors begins.

Episode Two
Dark Music of the Gods
The year is 1458. A child is born in the village of Otsuka, in Musashi Province. His name is Shino Inuzuka. After coming of age, he is entrusted with a legendary sword, the Murasame, by his father Bansaku. Shino's father, however, commits hara-kiri after losing face when his brother-in-law, Hikiroku Otsuka, tries to trick him into giving up the sword. Then Shino, devastated by his father's death, somehow comes into possession of a small bead. On this strange bead, the Chinese character "KO", symbolizing filial devotion, mysteriously appears.

(added on 2021-08-17, modified on 2021-08-17)

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