The Third Shadow Warrior
1963·Drama·1h 44m
7.1
★
In the mountain regions of Hida, the dreams of a peasant named Kyonosuke, who longed to be a samurai, come true when he becomes one of three doubles, of shadows, of Lord Yasutaka. After months of intense and cruel training, he faces his destiny when the Lord and the other two shadows are killed in battle and he must take on the role of Lord Yasutaka....
Directed by Umetsugu Inoue
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Raizō Ichikawa
Kyonosuke Ninomiya / Yasutaka Ikemoto
Hizuru Takachiho
Teruhime
Masayo Banri
Kohagi
Katsuhiko Kobayashi
Shigeru Amachi
Sadamitsu Miki
Ryūzō Shimada
Tatsuya Ishiguro
Rieko Sumi
Nobuo Kaneko
Saburo Date
Manabu Morita
Yūji Hamada
Crew
Umetsugu Inoue
Director
Seiji Hoshikawa
Screenplay
Hajime Kaburagi
Original Music Composer
Yoshinobu Nishioka
Art Direction
Popular Reviews
1 review
alex glifford
9.0★ · 03/08/26
Best feeling when a film you loved actually gets so much better somehow
This felt so much more airtight
The blows feel heavier, the tension is tenser, the turns are twistier, the shadows darker
The performances are more impressive and I could notice so many more subtleties
WOW guys it’s so good
A complete genre triumph
Reaching some kind of pinnacle for chanbara here
Or just like the period piece in general
Covering almost everything the epic sauce cinematic archetype has to offer
Big battles, small battles, convoluted politics, the evil strong and the innocent weak
The merciless and the used and the beaten and the beaters oooooo man
And the visuals are even more captivating
Fully drawn in to the dark here
So so much is packed in to such a short runtime it’s incredibly dense
And that is absolutely a winning factor for this specifically, but it does waver a bit right in the middle here
All good, seriously nothing to worry about and it wasn’t jarring at all, especially second time around
It feels like it attempts some narrative shift but doesn’t really spend enough time like… shifting
You end up only one location and scene to carry the weight of the first half into the second
Where just trying to survive and get by is mutating into ego and greed
And it’s not fast by any means
You kind of get two scenes thinking about it now
But it’s quick
And for something so packed it’s very noticeable when the plot sort of stops
And the fact is loses so many threads for just one scene makes it all the more noticeable when it pieces them back together again
Bc they never leave and you remember how many there were like 5 seconds later
But the disconnect is very strong and I wonder if I’ll ever not find it a bit disruptive
Or at the very least annoying
Doesn’t ruin anything, but is an obvious place to me where a simple improvement could’ve propelled this to somewhere even higher in my books
Acc idk if it would be simple
But my point is it’s got everything else
Like actually everything else
It is an absolute triumph
I sort of can’t believe it still how good this is for how little it’s talked about
Got to be the best performance I’ve seen from Ichikawa and all the other actors are doing fantastic
I could talk about it in so many different ways forever
But I’ll stop for now I thinkkkk
Oh maybe the action could be a bit stronger but I think budget constraints explain that pretty quickly
And they aren’t even bad
I’ve seen so much worse from much more expensive films and rarely seen better from anything
But even a little piece of gold (however pure and yummmy) is gna stick out when the rest of the film is made of diamonds
Yeah man it’s good it’s good
This felt so much more airtight
The blows feel heavier, the tension is tenser, the turns are twistier, the shadows darker
The performances are more impressive and I could notice so many more subtleties
WOW guys it’s so good
A complete genre triumph
Reaching some kind of pinnacle for chanbara here
Or just like the period piece in general
Covering almost everything the epic sauce cinematic archetype has to offer
Big battles, small battles, convoluted politics, the evil strong and the innocent weak
The merciless and the used and the beaten and the beaters oooooo man
And the visuals are even more captivating
Fully drawn in to the dark here
So so much is packed in to such a short runtime it’s incredibly dense
And that is absolutely a winning factor for this specifically, but it does waver a bit right in the middle here
All good, seriously nothing to worry about and it wasn’t jarring at all, especially second time around
It feels like it attempts some narrative shift but doesn’t really spend enough time like… shifting
You end up only one location and scene to carry the weight of the first half into the second
Where just trying to survive and get by is mutating into ego and greed
And it’s not fast by any means
You kind of get two scenes thinking about it now
But it’s quick
And for something so packed it’s very noticeable when the plot sort of stops
And the fact is loses so many threads for just one scene makes it all the more noticeable when it pieces them back together again
Bc they never leave and you remember how many there were like 5 seconds later
But the disconnect is very strong and I wonder if I’ll ever not find it a bit disruptive
Or at the very least annoying
Doesn’t ruin anything, but is an obvious place to me where a simple improvement could’ve propelled this to somewhere even higher in my books
Acc idk if it would be simple
But my point is it’s got everything else
Like actually everything else
It is an absolute triumph
I sort of can’t believe it still how good this is for how little it’s talked about
Got to be the best performance I’ve seen from Ichikawa and all the other actors are doing fantastic
I could talk about it in so many different ways forever
But I’ll stop for now I thinkkkk
Oh maybe the action could be a bit stronger but I think budget constraints explain that pretty quickly
And they aren’t even bad
I’ve seen so much worse from much more expensive films and rarely seen better from anything
But even a little piece of gold (however pure and yummmy) is gna stick out when the rest of the film is made of diamonds
Yeah man it’s good it’s good
Best feeling when a film you loved actually gets so much better somehow
This felt so much more airtight
The blows feel heavier, the tension is tenser, the turns are twistier, the shadows darker
The performances are more impressive and I could notice so many more subtleties
WOW guys it’s so good
A complete genre triumph
Reaching some kind of pinnacle for chanbara here
Or just like the period piece in general
Covering almost everything the epic sauce cinematic archetype has to offer
Big battles, small battles, convoluted politics, the evil strong and the innocent weak
The merciless and the used and the beaten and the beaters oooooo man
And the visuals are even more captivating
Fully drawn in to the dark here
So so much is packed in to such a short runtime it’s incredibly dense
And that is absolutely a winning factor for this specifically, but it does waver a bit right in the middle here
All good, seriously nothing to worry about and it wasn’t jarring at all, especially second time around
It feels like it attempts some narrative shift but doesn’t really spend enough time like… shifting
You end up only one location and scene to carry the weight of the first half into the second
Where just trying to survive and get by is mutating into ego and greed
And it’s not fast by any means
You kind of get two scenes thinking about it now
But it’s quick
And for something so packed it’s very noticeable when the plot sort of stops
And the fact is loses so many threads for just one scene makes it all the more noticeable when it pieces them back together again
Bc they never leave and you remember how many there were like 5 seconds later
But the disconnect is very strong and I wonder if I’ll ever not find it a bit disruptive
Or at the very least annoying
Doesn’t ruin anything, but is an obvious place to me where a simple improvement could’ve propelled this to somewhere even higher in my books
Acc idk if it would be simple
But my point is it’s got everything else
Like actually everything else
It is an absolute triumph
I sort of can’t believe it still how good this is for how little it’s talked about
Got to be the best performance I’ve seen from Ichikawa and all the other actors are doing fantastic
I could talk about it in so many different ways forever
But I’ll stop for now I thinkkkk
Oh maybe the action could be a bit stronger but I think budget constraints explain that pretty quickly
And they aren’t even bad
I’ve seen so much worse from much more expensive films and rarely seen better from anything
But even a little piece of gold (however pure and yummmy) is gna stick out when the rest of the film is made of diamonds
Yeah man it’s good it’s good
This felt so much more airtight
The blows feel heavier, the tension is tenser, the turns are twistier, the shadows darker
The performances are more impressive and I could notice so many more subtleties
WOW guys it’s so good
A complete genre triumph
Reaching some kind of pinnacle for chanbara here
Or just like the period piece in general
Covering almost everything the epic sauce cinematic archetype has to offer
Big battles, small battles, convoluted politics, the evil strong and the innocent weak
The merciless and the used and the beaten and the beaters oooooo man
And the visuals are even more captivating
Fully drawn in to the dark here
So so much is packed in to such a short runtime it’s incredibly dense
And that is absolutely a winning factor for this specifically, but it does waver a bit right in the middle here
All good, seriously nothing to worry about and it wasn’t jarring at all, especially second time around
It feels like it attempts some narrative shift but doesn’t really spend enough time like… shifting
You end up only one location and scene to carry the weight of the first half into the second
Where just trying to survive and get by is mutating into ego and greed
And it’s not fast by any means
You kind of get two scenes thinking about it now
But it’s quick
And for something so packed it’s very noticeable when the plot sort of stops
And the fact is loses so many threads for just one scene makes it all the more noticeable when it pieces them back together again
Bc they never leave and you remember how many there were like 5 seconds later
But the disconnect is very strong and I wonder if I’ll ever not find it a bit disruptive
Or at the very least annoying
Doesn’t ruin anything, but is an obvious place to me where a simple improvement could’ve propelled this to somewhere even higher in my books
Acc idk if it would be simple
But my point is it’s got everything else
Like actually everything else
It is an absolute triumph
I sort of can’t believe it still how good this is for how little it’s talked about
Got to be the best performance I’ve seen from Ichikawa and all the other actors are doing fantastic
I could talk about it in so many different ways forever
But I’ll stop for now I thinkkkk
Oh maybe the action could be a bit stronger but I think budget constraints explain that pretty quickly
And they aren’t even bad
I’ve seen so much worse from much more expensive films and rarely seen better from anything
But even a little piece of gold (however pure and yummmy) is gna stick out when the rest of the film is made of diamonds
Yeah man it’s good it’s good
alex glifford
9.0★ · 11/26/25
from the very first shot this just felt like something SO SO SPECIAL
I’m so excited by this film WHAT
I don’t think I’ve seen any camera work more fluid and inventive from this time period or genre
And that’s really saying something
It just never took a break it was non stop and a joy to be apart of
Incredible performances, stuff actually felt human
I was saddened and all the things at any given time
So much hope and so much bitterness
WOW we were just swinging every which way with this one
A real epic this felt epic
Tackling the story of a whole life and the whole shizzle
This was so so unique in every aspect
But wait … isn’t this story told lots of times in various films ?
Oh yes wait yes actually but this is STILL so one of a kind
Very dissimilar to Kagemusha despite the main premise
Haven’t seen any others but just based of what I’ve seen from this corner of the cinematic world, I can’t imagine there’s much like it anywhere
I remember this feeling when I finished The Great Killing another chanbara that had so much ingenuity and passion and innovation going for it
It just felt so free as did this
Just doing its own thing and doing it SO WELL
Endlessly gripping
Sort of as good as it can get
I can’t ever imagine a story like this being done any better than this and that wow I mean wow that is a wonderful feeling is it not yes yes it is indeed it is
OO I just have so much I want to say and praise
Wait … is this Top 50 vibes bro this actually could be … oh wow it’s happening oh god I feel it oh goodness gracious
A rupture a bloody rupture in the world happening happening now happening currently
Maybe
This was really good
I’m so excited by this film WHAT
I don’t think I’ve seen any camera work more fluid and inventive from this time period or genre
And that’s really saying something
It just never took a break it was non stop and a joy to be apart of
Incredible performances, stuff actually felt human
I was saddened and all the things at any given time
So much hope and so much bitterness
WOW we were just swinging every which way with this one
A real epic this felt epic
Tackling the story of a whole life and the whole shizzle
This was so so unique in every aspect
But wait … isn’t this story told lots of times in various films ?
Oh yes wait yes actually but this is STILL so one of a kind
Very dissimilar to Kagemusha despite the main premise
Haven’t seen any others but just based of what I’ve seen from this corner of the cinematic world, I can’t imagine there’s much like it anywhere
I remember this feeling when I finished The Great Killing another chanbara that had so much ingenuity and passion and innovation going for it
It just felt so free as did this
Just doing its own thing and doing it SO WELL
Endlessly gripping
Sort of as good as it can get
I can’t ever imagine a story like this being done any better than this and that wow I mean wow that is a wonderful feeling is it not yes yes it is indeed it is
OO I just have so much I want to say and praise
Wait … is this Top 50 vibes bro this actually could be … oh wow it’s happening oh god I feel it oh goodness gracious
A rupture a bloody rupture in the world happening happening now happening currently
Maybe
This was really good
from the very first shot this just felt like something SO SO SPECIAL
I’m so excited by this film WHAT
I don’t think I’ve seen any camera work more fluid and inventive from this time period or genre
And that’s really saying something
It just never took a break it was non stop and a joy to be apart of
Incredible performances, stuff actually felt human
I was saddened and all the things at any given time
So much hope and so much bitterness
WOW we were just swinging every which way with this one
A real epic this felt epic
Tackling the story of a whole life and the whole shizzle
This was so so unique in every aspect
But wait … isn’t this story told lots of times in various films ?
Oh yes wait yes actually but this is STILL so one of a kind
Very dissimilar to Kagemusha despite the main premise
Haven’t seen any others but just based of what I’ve seen from this corner of the cinematic world, I can’t imagine there’s much like it anywhere
I remember this feeling when I finished The Great Killing another chanbara that had so much ingenuity and passion and innovation going for it
It just felt so free as did this
Just doing its own thing and doing it SO WELL
Endlessly gripping
Sort of as good as it can get
I can’t ever imagine a story like this being done any better than this and that wow I mean wow that is a wonderful feeling is it not yes yes it is indeed it is
OO I just have so much I want to say and praise
Wait … is this Top 50 vibes bro this actually could be … oh wow it’s happening oh god I feel it oh goodness gracious
A rupture a bloody rupture in the world happening happening now happening currently
Maybe
This was really good
I’m so excited by this film WHAT
I don’t think I’ve seen any camera work more fluid and inventive from this time period or genre
And that’s really saying something
It just never took a break it was non stop and a joy to be apart of
Incredible performances, stuff actually felt human
I was saddened and all the things at any given time
So much hope and so much bitterness
WOW we were just swinging every which way with this one
A real epic this felt epic
Tackling the story of a whole life and the whole shizzle
This was so so unique in every aspect
But wait … isn’t this story told lots of times in various films ?
Oh yes wait yes actually but this is STILL so one of a kind
Very dissimilar to Kagemusha despite the main premise
Haven’t seen any others but just based of what I’ve seen from this corner of the cinematic world, I can’t imagine there’s much like it anywhere
I remember this feeling when I finished The Great Killing another chanbara that had so much ingenuity and passion and innovation going for it
It just felt so free as did this
Just doing its own thing and doing it SO WELL
Endlessly gripping
Sort of as good as it can get
I can’t ever imagine a story like this being done any better than this and that wow I mean wow that is a wonderful feeling is it not yes yes it is indeed it is
OO I just have so much I want to say and praise
Wait … is this Top 50 vibes bro this actually could be … oh wow it’s happening oh god I feel it oh goodness gracious
A rupture a bloody rupture in the world happening happening now happening currently
Maybe
This was really good