Nemuri Kyoshiro: Full Moon Killing (1989)

This is the first special drama reviving the character of Nemuri Kyoshiro, played by Masakazu Tamura, who gained popularity in the TV series. The simple Engetsu style without CG is perfectly suited to the cold Kyoshiro's swordsmanship. One rainy night, Kyoshiro (Masakazu Tamura) passes the son of a samurai with a broken sandal lace and hears the words "the house will be destroyed." When he goes to the house the son's mother is about to be impaled on a spear by her husband. Kyoshiro brushes the spear away with his sword, but the tip of the spear pierces her husband's throat. Kyoshiro stops the mother, Shizu (Hiromi Takikawa), from committing suicide, and is asked by her son to take Shizu into custody. The next day, Kyoshiro is targeted by official secrets and is shot while defending Shizu. At a temple where he has fled, Kyoshiro learns that Shizu has been humiliated by Ieyoshi, the heir to the Shogun's family. Kyoshiro learns from Senjuro Takebe, a close servant of the old shogun Mizuno Echizennomori, that Ieyoshi began to be disturbed six months ago and that a young man named Sano Higo-mori (Kei Sato) is behind it. Kyoshiro heads to Kyoto to retrieve the real Ieyoshi.