It is 1862 and many young rebellious samurai oppose the Tokugawa Shogunate, strongest among them is Kurama Tengu with his friends Kichibei and Sugisaku, but facing them is the powerful Isamo Kondo and the Shinsengumi

The action doesn't stay still for a moment and though the acting is very self consciously hammed up it carries the light-hearted slapstick tone just fine, the supporting cast do the majority of the dramatic work as the title character spends the bulk of the story hidden behind bars, when we finally see him within seconds shogunate samurai “maggots” are getting slapped about good and proper in long well executed takes and the final battle is a classic with probably the first dual sword defence display on film