User reviews

Set at the end of the Edo period, this film depicts an unusual Japanese family. The father is a notorious womaniser who has little interest in work or fatherhood, and the mother seems to share his laidback approach to life. In contrast, the children are smart and ambitious. This quirky dynamic is periodically interrupted by trouble with the local samurai, which the father occasionally engages with.

The tone of this film shifts frequently, from cute family scenes, to violent sword fights, to mildly explicit sexual encounters. Overall though, the film is funny and certainly never boring. The animation is not as polished as contemporary anime features, much more akin to 80s television cartoons, but that never really detracts from the experience. Different and entertaining.