any one seen this?

This is actually one of Kenji's more down to earth samruai movies in terms of violence and style. Dont get me wrong though. There is plenty of sword fighting to be had but the action does take a back seat to the story which is kinda sad since it is essentially about the end of the samurai (hence the alternate title of the Last Samurai). However, it does make a nice final film for the director since the film ultimatly ends on an anti-violent note (i dont want to go into specifics since I might risk ruining the film)and the film istelf has a rather anti-violence message. Even the one scene of extreme violence doesn;t really make you cheer in delight since the main character was never really a vengful person and the fact that even he was brought to this point is kinda tragic. It is a great film though.

Instead of a hitlist, I have a Do NOt Kill List . . . . . so far no one is on it.

It's probably not for you, gypsy-catcher, it's not an extreme bloodfest. Unusually for a film set in the turmoil at the end of the Edo period, it doesn't really take sides - there are sympathetic characters from various factions and they do make some effort to reach agreements and avoid bloodshed. A long film, rather episodic, thoughtful. I like it a lot.