The story nicely entwines two main plots that are unraveling in Munezo's life together. The the plot shift is also nice to see; opens with the honor plot then focus on the love plot and then focus to the honor plot and closes with the love plot. Yet I think that the side plot of the western modernization on the clan's military doesn't really have any significant thing and looks only as a waste of duration time. The character building is very nice, especially on Munezo and Kie, and even also on Hanzama. I like the acting overall, which is a good work for me. Masatoshi Nagase played the movie's focus character very well, encompassing all the needed emotions just enough to keep the samurai pride in them. Takako Matsu also played well enough as the servant. This movie is quite entertaining although I think the duration can be shortened a little bit to excluding all those unimportant parts.
Review of The Hidden Blade
