Chanbara… chambara… chunbara… whatever. The sadness of watching a loved one chopped in half, the fear that you are next, the drama of paperwork that must be submitted if you survive, or should you treat it like a silly dream and walk through life a tortured soul, or perhaps become a demon of vengeance until your blood-lust is quelled?

Basically, chanbara is Japanese for sword fighting movies.  This genre was originally applied to period samurai dramas.  Of course, those of us very specific nerds that enjoy the classics such as Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai or Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba generally also enjoy a broader range and natural evolution of these movies… movies like samurai comedy dramas (like the Zatoichi blind swordsman series) or even those reaching into the realm of fantastic (Lone Wolf and Cub) and Asian fantasy (like Spirited Away and Onmyoji).

It is therefore natural to take one more tiny hop across the sea into kung fu/martial arts flicks.  Movies like Kill Bill give a nod to the collective natures and themes of these movies.  It applies to this Otaku as well.  Chanbara-fu is my collective category.

– Otaku Dave