Benkei tai Ushiwaka (1939)

Original title

べんけい対ウシワカ

Directed by

Kenzō Masaoka

Genre

action, animation, comedy

Country

Japan

Runtime

15 min

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a short anime film about two legendary figures from Japanese history. A young warrior named Ushiwaka uses skills learned from mythical creatures to defeat a monk named Benkei who is trying to take his sword. After their fight on a bridge, Benkei becomes Ushiwaka's follower.

historicalswordplaymonochromefast-pacedmythicenergeticwhimsicaldramatic

What happens

Benkei tai Ushiwaka (べんけい対ウシワカ; trans. Benkei and Ushiwaka) is a 1939 Japanese short anime film made by Kenzō Masaoka. It is based on the legendary encounter between Saitō Musashibō Benkei, who was collecting swords for the Buddha, and Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who was called Ushiwaka in his youth. After training under the tengu of Mt. Kurama, Ushiwaka foils Benkei's attempt to take his sword in a battle on Gojo Bridge in Kyoto and makes Benkei his vassal. Masaoka was known for helping introduce sound and cel animation to anime, and here he tried the American practice of animating after recording some of the sound (instead of dubbing after the animation was finished). Masaoka did the voice of Benkei, and his wife Ushiwaka. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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