Details
Title: 蝉しぐれ
Title (romaji): Semishigure
Also known as: Love and War of a Samurai / In Chorus of Cicadas / Bunshiro and Fuku
Episodes: 7 x 43 min. or 3 x 89 mins.
Genre: Jidaigeki renzoku
Broadcast network: NHK
Broadcast period: 2003
Theme song: Distant Love... by Futenma Kaori
Synopsis
Based on the jidaigeki novel, Semishigure, written by Fujisawa Shuhei. Duty and honor were the principles of the samurai, but just like others throughout history, greed and power motivated some while friendship, truth and love guided others. This is the story of Bunshiro, a true warrior who survives tragedy in his youth to become a great swordsman and defender of the weak, and Fuku, the love of his life. They first fall in love as teenagers, but her poverty and his tragedy separate them. After a corrupt official forces Bunshiro's father to commit suicide, he is treated like an outcast. Later, the same official tries to use Bunshiro in a plot to kill Fuku, who has become a wife of the local lord, but he turns the tables, saving Fuku and her child and uncovering the corruption. Many years later Bunshiro and Fuku meet again to reminisce about their lives, and the love that remains smoldering in their hearts. -- NHK
Cast
Uchino Masaaki as Maki Bunshiro
Moriwaki Fumito (森脇史登) as Bunshiro (as a boy)
Mizuno Maki as Fuku
Ito Miki (伊藤未希) as Fuku (as a girl)
Kudo Kankuro as Shimazaki Yonosuke
Katsuno Hiroshi as Maki Shukezaemon
Kudo Kankuro as Shimazaki Yonosuke
Suzuki Anju as Yada Yoshie
Arai Norihito as Inukai Hyoma
Ishibashi Renji as Owada Ippei
Murakami Hiroaki as Yada Sakunojo
Riju Go as Aoki Magozo
Shiomi Sansei as Isogai Kazue
Godai Michiko as Owada Michi
Kaibe Tsuyoshi as Fuse Tsurunosuke
Kobayashi Katsuya as Tojiro
Fuke Norimasa as Nose Ikunoshin
Itao Itsuji as Yamane Seijiro
Emoto Akira as Yokgama Matasuke
Onimaru as Murakami
Takeshita Keiko as Maki Toyo
Hira Mikijiro as Satomura Sanai
Uehara Makiko
Oshima Yoko
Tatsuyama Tomohiro
Matsuo Toshinobu
Hisa Ren
Hara Maria
Tsuneizumi Tadamichi
Arano Shoji
Nozaki Kaitaro
Ishibashi Tamotsu
Saito Yosuke
Otsuka Taishin
Kawasaki Kazuma
Ishihara Tatsumi
Matsunaga Noriko
Maki Toru
Oshio Takeshi
Sekiguchi Nobuhiko
Production Credits
Original writing: Fujisawa Shuhei
Screenwriter: Kurotsuchi Mitsuo
Producers: Sugano Takayuki, Akiyama Shigeki
Directors: Sato Mikio, Tanaka Kenji
Music: Komuro Hitoshi
Narrator: Kusabue Mitsuko
Awards
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Prizes 2004 - ABU Prize for Drama (TV)
44th Monte Carlo Television Festival - Gold Nymph for Best Mini-Series
44th Monte Carlo Television Festival - Gold Nymph for Best Performance by an Actor (Uchino Masaaki)
