Kai Doh Maru on AllMovie

It is the Heinan period of Japan's history: battle is erupting for control of the city of Kyo and evil spirits inhabit the natural world. This is where we find Kentoki, a little girl whose father is disguising her as a boy to protect her from her own family. Hungry for power, her uncle kills the rest of her family and Kentoki flees to the forest where she is rescued by a samurai, Lord Raiko. This marks the beginning of a new world for Kentoki. Raised as a boy, she joins a faction of the Ministry of Defense called the Four Horsemen and begins to earn the title Kai Doh Maru. Her path seems clear until a figure from her past, her once beloved cousin Ohni Hime, reappears under the poisonous manipulation of Kentoki's uncle. Kentoki must struggle with her own feelings about her gender, her cousin, and Lord Raiko if she is to find her clear path once more.