I really enjoyed this film directed by Takashi Koizumi and written by Akira Kurosawa. It portraits lhei Misawa (Akira Terao), a samurai without a master - ronin. lhei is a masterless samurai who is amazingly skilled and wise but on the other hand he is very generous and warm too. These traits make him different from other samurais that are usually cold blooded and mercyless. lhei Misawa is always smiling and being polite even when he is in a serious combat and this puts him in conflict with other samurais that can't really understand him.
lhei Misawa (Akira Terao)

lhei in combat with another samurai.

Even in the bloodiest combat lhei had in the film this was his angriest expression.