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The Dull Sword | |
なまくら刀 (Namakura Gatana) | |
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Genre | Jidaigeki [1] |
Created by | Jun'ichi Kōuchi |
Anime film | |
Studio | Kobayashi Shokai Ltd. [1] |
Released | June 30, 1917 |
Runtime | 4 minutes [1] |
The Dull Sword ( Japanese: なまくら刀, Hepburn: Namakura Gatana) is a Japanese animated short film produced by Jun'ichi Kōuchi in 1917. It was rediscovered by an antique shop employee in Osaka in March 2008. [2] [3] This film is a 4-minute silent short that tells a story about a foolish rōnin's purchase of a dull-edged sword and subsequent attempts at tsujigiri. It was released on June 30, 1917, and is among the very earliest examples of anime.
Namakura Gatana ( lit. 'dull-edged sword'; gatana is rendaku of katana) is a short comedic jidaigeki about a dim-witted self-appointed samurai. He gets fooled and buys a dull sword from a merchant. The samurai, trying to figure out why his new sword cannot cut anyone he strikes, tries desperately to attack random townspeople who defend themselves and knock him out.