Hana (2006)

What happens when those charged with taking life begin to cherish it? The year is 1702. Peace has settled over the squalor of Edo and the swords of the once-mighty samurai have been sheathed across Japan. In an era when dogs are more esteemed than the colourful peasants that inhabit the slums Soza (Jun'ichi Okada) a young warrior better with books than blades is on a quest to avenge his murdered father and restore honer to his family name. As the blood debt looms sensitive Soza must decide: to kill or not to kill? Amidst growing love shattered honer and the simple beauty of the cherry blossom Hana celebrates the joys of even the most difficult of lives.