Muromachi Outsiders

Muromachi Outsiders (室町無頼, Muromachi Burai), released in North America as Samurai Fury, is a 2025 Japanese period epic film directed by Yu Irie, starring Yo Oizumi, Kento Nagao, Wakana Matsumoto, Akira Emoto, Kazuki Kitamura and Shinichi Tsutsumi. Set in early 1460s Kyoto amidst the Kanshō famine, it follows rōnin Hasuda Hyoe as he leads an uprising against the shogunate. The film is an adaptation of the Ryôsuke Kakine novel Muromachi Bakufu.

In the year 1461, western Japan is stricken by the Kanshō famine, with 82,000 people dying from the resulting epidemics while Nawa, the shōgun of Kyoto, raises taxes to fund his lavish lifestyle and corrupt monks ravage villagers who cannot repay their loans. Hasuda Hyoe, a rōnin, is hired by Honekawa Doken, the chief of security in Kyoto and Hasuda's former comrade, to prevent an uprising in Yoshizaka, Kawachi Province. He is given 600 mon and Saizo, a peasant boy who was captured by Honekawa's forces during a recent raid on a monastery.

After burning down one of Honekawa's customs stations, Hasuda and Saizo save Yoshizaka from a group of bandits. Hasuda later warns the villagers that the shōgunate is aware of their plans of staging an uprising, and they must be patient while he finds the right means to aid in their cause. Saizo is offered his freedom, but he chooses to follow the same path as Hasuda. The duo travels to Imazu, where Hasuda leaves Saizo to become an apprentice to Master Karasaki for a year.

Saizo spends the year mastering the bō and his combat skills. Hasuda reunites with Saizo and reveals that he has assembled an army to lead the insurgency against the shōgunate in Kyoto, planning their attack within a month. Honekawa confronts Hasuda over his decision to lead the uprising, but Hasuda explains all the suffering and hardships he witnessed under the shōgunate, and that he only needs one hour to destroy the promissory notes and retrieve the women taken by the monasteries. As word spreads out about the uprising, more and more rōnin side with Hasuda and Saizo. Hasuda sends a letter to Honekawa informing him the attack on Kyoto will be on 12 September at sunrise. In response, Nawa orders his army to massacre Yoshizaka as a warning to the insurgents. On 11 September, Saizo sends a message to Ho-ōji, a courtesan who is Hasuda's former lover, to leave Sanjō to safety before the attack begins.

The insurgency catches the city off-guard by attacking at midnight instead of the falsely announced sunrise time, with an army of 10,000 storming through the customs stations and arming every villager on their way to Nijō. Using directions relayed by Hasuda at the great pagoda, the insurgents weave their way around the city to avoid the samurai armies. Upon reaching Nijō, the insurgents set the monasteries ablaze and destroy the promissory notes before they are surrounded by the samurai and Honekawa. Hasuda and Saizo arrive at the scene to aid their comrades in the battle. As the insurgents celebrate in song and dance, Honekawa orders Hasuda and his army to leave the city.

By sunrise, Hasuda, Saizo, and their followers march to Nawa's palace, where they are confronted by Honekawa and a drunk Nawa. The insurgents are initially overwhelmed by Honekawa's army, but they immediately fight back as Saizo takes down the army and Nawa's bodyguards before a wounded Hasuda kills Nawa to avenge the villagers of Yoshizaka. Hasuda and Saizo reach the palace's main gate to place a sign, marking it as an "outsider" territory.

Later that day, Honekawa locates Hasuda and Saizo by the river and kills Hasuda in a duel. He spares Saizo's life, banishing him from Kyoto for 10 years. Five years later, during the Ōnin War, Honekawa is captured and executed by the Hosokawa clan. Some time after his exile, Saizo reunites with Ho-ōji.

In 2017, it was announced that Yo Oizumi and Shinichi Tsutsumi had been cast in a live-action film adaptation of Kakine Ryosuke's novel Muromachi Bakufu, which had been published the year prior. However, filming was delayed first by the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and then by director Yu Irie's schedule.^[1] The film was largely shot at various locations within Shiga Prefecture, including the Banshū Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple,^[2] though some scenes were filmed at Toei Studios Kyoto at the end of November 2023 on a set which took a month and a half to construct.^[1]

Muromachi Outsiders was released by Toei nationwide in Japan on 17 January 2025,^[1] though it was released in IMAX a week before on 10 January, becoming the first live-action film produced by Toei to be shown in IMAX.^[3] It screened at the New York Asian Film Festival on 22 July.^[4]

The film was released in North America by Well Go USA Entertainment on 7 October 2025 under the title Samurai Fury.^[5]

The film received positive reviews from critics at Movie Walker Press.^[6] James Hadfield of The Japan Times rated the film 3 stars out of 5 and opined that while it "never quite settles on a consistent tone", it is "easier to follow" than 11 Rebels and is "one of [Irei's] better efforts to date", with Oizumi being in "commanding form."^[7] Peter Glagowski of Flixist considered it a "fairly run-of-the-mill" action film which, like 11 Rebels, fails at "honing in on any specific style."^[4]

• Official website
• Muromachi Outsiders at IMDb
• Muromachi Outsiders at Rotten Tomatoes