The Dull Sword
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The Dull Sword | |
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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] |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Namakura-gatana_%281917%29_toy_movie_filmstrip.png)
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.
Plot
[edit]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.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "The Dull Sword [the longest, digitally restored version]". National Film Archive of Japan. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ "Japan finds films by early "anime" pioneers". Reuters. March 26, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Loo, Egan (March 27, 2008). "Two Nine-Decade-Old Anime Films Discovered (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- The Dull Sword (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- The Dull Sword at IMDb
- Culture articles needing translation from Japanese Wikipedia
- 1910s animated short films
- 1910s anime films
- 1910s rediscovered films
- 1917 animated films
- 1917 films
- 1917 short films
- Anime short films
- Historical anime and manga
- Japanese black-and-white films
- Japanese silent short films
- Rediscovered Japanese films
- Samurai in anime and manga
- Anime film stubs