Thief and the Expelled Master (1987)

Thief and the Expelled Master | The original novel is by Shugoro Yamamoto. It depicts a friendship that transcends social status and age, featuring the captivating monologue by Kunie Tanaka and moving expressions of the soul. When the thief Denkuro (Tanaka Kunie) sneaks into a dilapidated mansion, he finds a young samurai (Furuoya Masato) sleeping there. Despite being threatened, the young samurai remains unfazed and helps Denkuro when he falls into a hole in the floor. Denkuro receives a pair of straw sandals from the young samurai who says he hasn’t eaten anything for three days, and the next morning Denkuro goes out to buy food and prepare breakfast. From that day on, Denkuro takes care of the naive and helpless young samurai, nicknamed “Nobusan.” One day, a young girl named Chigusa (Asano Yuko) appears before the young samurai and informs him of the lord’s death at the castle. In reality, the true identity of the young samurai is Narunobu, the second son of the Umezu Clan’s lord, who had been confined due to a succession dispute.