Azumi (2003) DVD

In war-torn Shogunate Japan, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is a beautiful young girl who has been trained from childhood with nine other orphans to become a fearless assassin. Martial arts master Gessai (Yoshio Harada) has raised the ten children in complete seclusion in the hope that his protégés will one day defeat the merciless warlords and restore peace to the land. To test that they are the ruthless killers they will need to be for the mission, Gessai orders them to pair off and fight to the death. Burdened with the cruel mission to kill friends and enemies alike, and sacrifice innocent lives Azumi begins to question her fate but Gessai leaves them neither room nor time for self-doubt as his trap ensnares them. Azumi and her remaining friends forge ahead, unaware of the terrible bloodshed that awaits them...

'Azumi' is a frantic CG-assisted Japanese 'Jidai Geki' (period drama) from cult director Ryuhei Kitamura starring Jpop siren Aya Ueto as teenage assassin Azumi leading a band of 5 warriors on a mission to restore peace to the land.

Serialised since 1994, the manga 'Azumi' from Yu Koyama has developed an avid following, at once shocking and seizing readers with its audacious scale and extreme depictions of violence and cruelty, selling over 8.5 million copies!