Synopsis
A flock of young assassins that were raised for the sole purpose of becoming killers for the Layasu clan of Japan, are sent on their first mission by their master Gessai. However, they must first prove their ruthlessness by killing a fellow assassin, one of their own brothers.

Azumi is one of the assassins in this group. Although she is a girl and extremely cute, she is the strongest fighter among all of them. Throughout the movie, each character will face tough decisions and many adversaries.

Review
The movie incredibly unrealistic (can one girl really kill thousands of warriors? I don't care how cute she is) and a little bit too over-the-top. Although it is an action movie, you'll find that the fighting is not filmed too well, and the killing looks incredibly fake. I mean, it's Aya Ueto, she isn't Jackie Chan. The other assassins also seemed very fake.

The redeeming factors to this movie is the fact that the plot was pretty interesting and Aya Ueto is just too cute not to be watched. If you were looking for intense action, look away from this movie. Azumi was very much like a Kill Bill clone except with a budget that is 90 million dollars less.

There's plenty of blood and gore if you enjoy that, but I hardly think that you will. I was pretty dissapointed with this movie because I was hoping for an anime-style action adventure flick but I ended up watching an incredibly overexagerrated b-rated film.

I've seen much worse so don't think that this movie is completely worthless. There are some parts that are interesting, some parts that are funny, and some parts that are exciting, but as a whole the film fails to deliver.

it's one of great traditional Japanese Movies that tell us if woman can be a killing machine (as samurai)

i liked this movie =] it's lyk one ofthe onli olden dai moviez that i've considered waching.. i don't usualli bother waching olden dai moviez.. man... it'll b freakii if a gurl lyk azumi existed though

yeh... it's basically about these young people that were brought up to kill people that they are appointed to kill... they face a few obstacles on the way... all in all... i lyked it =] alot of blood and dead people... could hav been better though i gess

yeah... A Lot of japanese evil guys look like Sephiroth.... there is proof in azumi and some other titles (not including FF7) I can not remember.  Also as u said very unrealistic.  and Aya Ueto is HOT!!

I have to agree about the evil guys and yeah she is pretty.......

Did not check out the Japanese arena for some time now...this thread certainly spark my interest to watch them

lol... are u here to insult the movie or review ?? ppl have their own thing about movies but yea i agree u in one thing Aya Ueto IS cute and pretty =)

Azumi is a great movie.
The Story : After the Battle of Sekigahara, a samurai is tasked by the Ieyasu shogunate to raise a band of assassins to finish off Toyotomi's allies and other ambitious warlords, to prevent another civil war.

Azumi, played by Aya Ueto, is discovered as a 7-8 year old girl weeping next to the body of her dead mother by the samurai master Gessai, played by Yoshio Harada, and his entourage of young students. Azumi is raised in the martial skills of samurai and shinobi sword fighting, and the art of assassination. Azumi and her fellow classmates, now at young adult age, are constantly being told about a "mission" they must accomplish, though they have no idea what this mission is yet.

Prior to setting out on their mission, their master orders his students to "pair up" with each others' best friend and proceed to kill each other, thus out of 10 students only five will remain to proceed with the mission. Questions and internal conflicts begin to arise amongst Azumi and her comrades as it seems their mission even prevents them from saving a village of mostly women and children from being masacred at the hands of a group of bandits, as their primary mission is to kill the warlords Asano Nagamasa, Masayuki Sanada and Kiyomasa Kato. Aside from the warlords, Azumi must also deal with a narcissistic mercenary, Bijomaru Mogami, whose sword has no handguards as he claims to never have had to defend against attacks. He is very feminine in appereance, seen wearing makeup, having long hair and always carries around a rose. He kills one of Azumi's friends and is the final villian that Azumi has to fight in the movie. Azumi and Bijomaru fight to a standstill when Bijomaru, already insane, snaps. He becomes reckless and Azumi decapitates him.

hmmm.... I love this movie...although part 2 is abit of a disappointment.....but none the less I think Ueto Aya is one of the most adorable idols around

hmmm.... I haven seen this movie.