chihiro yamamoto

Koichi Sakamoto’s BLACKFOX: AGE OF THE NINJA Teaser Revealed

World-renowned martial arts champion, actress Chihiro Yamamoto, makes her lead debut in Blackfox: Age Of The Ninja. Hailing from Nihon Eiga Broadcasting for in-house paid TV service, Samurai Drama Channel, the first teaser is already making the rounds – billed as a live-action prequel feature to the pending October 5 release of sci-fi anime, Blackfox. Yamamoto will play a girl named Miya whose special ability makes her the target of mercenaries. In wake of her father’s murder at the hands of the killers, Miya not only salvation in a chance meeting with Hyoe and his granddaughter Rikka Isurugi, who comes from a long line of ninja in her family, but also a potential ally in avenging her father. Legendary action director and filmmaker Koichi Sakamoto, who has worked on numerous costume television franchises like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Power Rangers among other film and TV credits, directs from […]

Ken Ochiai's UZUMASA LIMELIGHT Honors The Unsung Heroes Of Chambara Cinema

Lee B. Golden III

The golden age of samurai movies may be long gone, but such films are always welcome in the eyes of adoring fans who continue to share appreciation for the chambara genre. That sentiment can be seen extended through the latest effort of director Ken Ochiai in his new film, Uzumasa Limelight, which centers on seasoned action actor Seizo Fukumoto as a retiring stuntman training a young actress in pursuit of action film stardom. The new film showcases Fukumoto‘s in his first principle lead role, ostensibly based on his own life as a “kireriyaku”, perfecting the art of dying on screen to sell the hero’s performance. To date, Fukumoto‘s eclectic career highlit by names such as the late Kinji Fukusaku and Shigehiro Ozawa, and actors like Sonny Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada and Tom Cruise, has earned him the legendary record of dying on film anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 times, a figure […]