Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai

The Shinsengumi were a feared and elite samurai unit that fought on the side of the Shogun against the revolutionaries during the chaos of the fall of the shogunate. Baragaki is a fictionalized story of the start and rise of this unit through its founders and the bonds of brotherhood they found. Otherwise nicknamed the Mitu Wolves for their daring raids. 

Especially Hijikata Toshizo who came from the countryside and vowed to obey the Shogun to the end. It’s filled with bloody fights and battles, it was a war after all. Spoiler alert, like all samurai movies, everyone dies violent deaths. But they are samurai so they die fighting. 

Fighting to uphold their honor and code of Bushido. A rather strict version too: failure to cut down an enemy after showing a blade, Seppuku, ritual suicide where one cuts open their stomach with a blade. Fleeing a battle: seppuku. Leaving the unit: seppuku. Basically seppuku for everything. Why? “The shinsengumi is a motley crew, it falls apart if we relax the rules even a little.”

Hijitaka is told: “You are writing your only poem with your life.” And that is exemplified by their banner “True Heart.” So few of us live this way of giving your all in life and in a cause. I suspect that is why so many people feel so empty inside. The only places I see this contentment is in religious communities. 

I think this is why so many of us love these old samurai movies. Yes, these men lived violent and chaotic lives. But they were governed by a code of conduct and honor. Bonded in brotherhood in a fight for a larger cause. They may have lived short lives but they lived full ones. I take this as a reminder to try to live a full and honorable life.