A Boy And His Samurai

A Boy And His Samurai by Yoshihiro Nakamura is a charming little film perfect for a quiet afternoon. Single mother Hiroko and her son Tomoya find a time-travelling samurai from 1826 outside their local supermarket and take him in. The time-travelling element is only lightly touched upon after the initial confusion and the film concerns itself more with finding your true purpose in life. Samurai Yasube tries his hand at being a stay-at-home father and through this discovers his real passion: baking. A baking competition for fathers and a clever use of his samurai skills in it set Yasube up for a career as a pastry chef, but he has to deal with the impact it has on his little adoptive family.

Ryo Nishikido plays the confused Yasube, who is trying to reconcile his world view with the situation he finds himself thrown into. His performance is refreshingly simple and calm; he makes Yasube's struggle believable despite the sci fi element. Rie Tomosaka carries the film as Hiroko, a woman who tries to do her very best in every aspect of her life and sometimes finds the pressure to be just too much. She juggles work in a software company with caring for her son and Yasube's help is a welcome respite. When he starts working as a pastry chef, Hiroko has to reassess what is really important in her life and make sure she does not let it slip away.

Tomosaka is funny and relatable as Hiroko and her chemistry with Nishikido really benefits the film. Fuku Suzuki is adorable as little Tomoya and works as the glue that binds the two adults' performances together. A Boy And His Samurai is an unassuming, funny family film with an unexpected ending that is well worth seeing; just make sure you have some cake at hand, because you will want it.