AllMovie

Yushiro and Miharu's visions of the past continue as their namesakes and the rest of the Kugutsu march toward the capital in Kyoto. The Emperor's men are girded for battle, but the first encounter between the two forces isn't violent; the head of the Kugutsu, flanked by the monstrous kugai, declares to the Emperor's men that they will not give up the kugai without a battle. As they leave, he exhorts Yushiro and Miharu to look around at the reality of the capital. Beneath the veneer of prosperity, people are dying of disease while ambitious and selfish men have taken hold of the court. The time has come, he says, to fight the corruption that has infected the nation. Later that night, the battle is underway. Everything goes as planned, and the kugai are lured to a particular spot for their stand. As they lay waste to the Emperor's men, the gateway opens for the Gasaraki to appear. Sickened by the slaughter, Yushiro leaps out of his kugai, causing the Gasaraki to retreat -- an act of defiance which does not go unpunished. (American release in 2001.)