What a great drama. Personally ranked it behind Toshiie Matsu and Musashi. I didn't think Takizawa would pull off the Yoshitsune historical figure. But he did a fine job. Very believable as the upright, honorable, and naiive Yoshitsune. His acting still needs improvement, too dead-panned sometimes. Love the girls, can't complain there. Aya Ueto, Ishihara Satomi, Koike Eiko (man they put too much war gear on her, too bad :-( )....nice. Matsudaira Ken as Benkei is the strongest character in the movie. He really played the part well. Nakai has always been a Taiga dorama staple. Very underrated imo.

The drama theme of utter devotion between lord and vassal is interesting and touching. The ending is so emotional and heartful, you could feel the tragedy that was to become of Yoshitsune and his men. Life can be brutal even for the innocent. Very powerful ending, even more so than my two favorite Taiga dorams that I mentioned above. It's truly like a Shakespeare tragedy and I could see why the Japanese still honor and admire Yoshitsune even today. He has become one of my favorite Japanese historical figure. May his dream of a new country of peace always verberate in the hearts and minds of the people of Japan.