Though he is not widely known abroad, Shotaro Ikenami (1923-90) was a prolific writer of samurai novels that became fodder for a long list of hit TV series and films in Japan. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth, a consortium of media companies has produced two films based on the author’s series about Baian Fujieda, an acupuncturist-slash-assassin in Edo (present-day Tokyo).
Published from 1972 to 1990, the novels inspired multiple TV and film adaptations, including a 1990s TV series starring a young Ken Watanabe as Baian. The first of the two latest film iterations, “Baian the Assassin M.D.,” is more lavishly produced than the average television period drama, with lushly atmospheric visuals by cinematographer Yasuhiko Minamino and skilled, though not inspired, direction by Shunsaku Kawake. But the blackhearted villains and the hero who is dirty only on the surface make the story a good fit for the small screen, the audience for which has long preferred broad-stroke entertainment over knotty character drama. Also, the film is squarely pitched at graying Ikenami fans, with 60-year-old Etsushi Toyokawa bringing an “angel of death” gravitas to his role as Baian.
While in demand for his life-saving skills as an acupuncturist, Baian works an unusual side hustle killing strangers at the behest of an agent, called a “tsuru” (“vine”) in underworld jargon, who is in turn contacted by a client, called an “okori.” Other than the agent, the only one who knows about his secret life is Hikojiro (Ainosuke Kataoka), a toothpick maker who is both a close friend and a wily fellow killer.