Netflix so rarely presents live stage shows on their platform, so I was kind of surprised when this came up as a new release this evening. Doing some rudimentary research, Seven Souls in the Skull Castle was filmed in 2013. The story takes place in 1590, after the demise of Oba Nobunaga. The nation still sits on the brink of war and unification under the Toyotome Hidoyoshi. In the Kanto region, there sits a dark castle in which the evil Tenma (Mirai Moriyama), a self proclaimed "demon". He wants to ally himself with foreigners and rule the rest of Japan in his evil ways. Muahaha!
Standing in his way is a wandering swordsman, Sutenosuke (Shun Oguri) who helps to rescue a young woman, and he then meets members of a small village supported by a former ally named Ranbe (Taichi Saotome) populated with thieves, vagabonds, prostitutes, and many other outsiders. The sweeping Shakespearean drama unfolds at a thrilling pace, with epic sword battles, stunts, lavish costumes, and a glorious soundtrack echoing with the clang of blades and driving the action onstage like a live-action Anime come to life. Having so much movement on stage seems counterproductive to many Western techniques, but all of the action actually serves to highlight the more emotional moments as characters struggle as another remembers the past in stark lighting as the others fade... emotional moments dig deeper and the visuals serve as a highlight.
This original Samurai Drama has played every seven years since 1990 and was the first original production to take place in the historic IHI Stage Around Tokyo for a whopping 15-month run. Highly recommended!!!
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