The first half is OK, but chapters in Japan are purely awful. Judging from the high rating of this film, I must conclude that non-Japanese audience didn't find absurdity in Uma's and Lucy's Japanese or unrealistic sword fighting scenes. My 3-year-old nephew speaks much better Japanese than those two actresses. Their pronunciation was so bad that they sounded like mentally ill.<br /><br />In Japan, TV is showing much more authentic sword fight scenes almost everyday. Uma looks quite weak. No authenticity in her.<br /><br />All in all, worse than Pearl Harbor. There's nothing wrong with an American who doesn't know enough about Japanese culture or language. But it's different when he makes a movie about it. I'm sure American people will find it offensive when a foreign filmmaker who doesn't know much about western or cowboy makes a non-authentic western film.