Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell

Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro travel on. Almost nobody is left of Retsudo's family on the other side; all were killed by Ogami. Retsudo makes one last plan. First he sends his daughter. Then he brings in a group who live underground: these men can move beneath the earth and are counted as dead. Making his way through the snow, Ogami has to deal with them and with the winter at once. Yoshiyuki Kuroda directs. Tomisaburō Wakayama plays Ogami. It is the sixth and last link in the series. The production was given to a different director from the others and the register shifts markedly toward the fantastical. The last section takes place in snow and ends in a large scale battle; that scene is among the most cited in the series. The film does not complete the story; the comic continued and the series stopped here. The idea of the underground warriors is an element not seen before in the series and pushes at the limits of the genre. Daigoro's position in the narrative is kept here too; the child is protected nowhere. Its limit is structure; the plot is weak and the sections are loosely joined. Who it is for: people following the series and viewers who like Japanese sword films. Who it is not for: the violence is explicit, the narrative does not conclude, and the fantastical elements do not suit the series.