Onimusha (2023) follows a seasoned samurai who takes on a mission to combat a supernatural evil, and he is armed with a mythical gauntlet to help. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Musashi Miyamoto takes on several fighters at once while two monks watch for the outcome. Musashi triumphs over the fighters and then recounts that he has defeated 33 fighters over three days.
Musashi wishes to borrow a powerful artifact and the head of the temple lets him keep it for 33 days since that was the deal. He also sends his apprentice, Kaizen, to ensure that the item is returned by the deadline.
Musashi rejoins a band of Samurai, who are on a mission to eliminate their rebellious brother as ordered by their Lord. Musashi is a renowned swordsman who agrees to accompany Matsuki Kensuke and his disciples.
The rebellious samurai, Lemon was sent to a village in the mountains to resolve a dispute but went rogue instead and when a spy was sent to check on him, Lemon tortured the spy and sent him back.
They travel through the forest but during one of their breaks, Musashi claims that there are 3 bad men amongst them, two of them being traitors. Matsuki himself turns out to be one of the traitors, convinced by whatever cause Lemon is peddling.
After defeating Matsuki, Musashi targets the other traitor, Gensai. Gensai is revealed as a monster possessed by Lemon and the Genma, and Musashi has to use the artifact, the “Oni Gauntlet” to defeat him.
The souls of the Oni lie within the gauntlet and they want the wearer to kill every last Genma, the ones responsible for their clan’s demise. Musashi removes the gauntlet after realizing that if he wears it for too long, it will consume him.
They continue on their journey and eventually reach the village which has been abandoned. They find a young girl named Sayo, who is the sole survivor. A horde of zombies and the samurai fight them off, with Goromaru showing that he’s a hawker with two hawks to aid him.
After using gunpowder to defeat the zombies, they question Sayo about what happened. She tells them that they found gold in a mine and that started a conflict. When Lemon arrived, he was overcome with greed and took over the villagers, turning many of them into monsters.
They decide to go back and gather an army but when their route is blocked, they press on forward to the mountains. Sayo insists on going with them because she wants revenge on the man who killed her grandparents and took her parents.
They stop near a stream to drink some water but are attacked by more zombies. They defeat them but Goromaru is killed by a spear while a masked figure speeds by and grabs Sayo.
Multiple voices call out to Musashi and tell him that if he wants to rescue the girl, he must meet them at a temple in the mountains the next day. Kaizen doesn’t care about Sayo but the remaining samurai, Sahei and Heikuro, want to rescue her along with Musashi.
When they arrive at the temple, the three masked figures reveal themselves to be the Yoshioka brothers of Kyoto, three swordsmen who were defeated and killed by Musashi 20 years ago.
They trap Sayo under a bell and set fire to it while they take on Musashi. Kaizen, Sahei, and Heikuro attempt to overturn the bell while Musashi dons the gauntlet to fight the deformed Yoshioka monsters.
He defeats them and Sayo is saved, but only after Kaizen sacrifices himself to push the bell over. He makes Musashi promise that he will return the gauntlet as promised and tells Sayo that his death is not her fault.
They also encounter the Yoshioka sisters but Musashi deals with them very swiftly. Sayo admits that she was the one who found the gold and blames herself for everything that happened. Heikuro questions his existence and why he has survived when his brothers have fallen.
They finally reach the mine and are greeted by Alfred, Lemon’s butler. He gives them a tour of the golden palace, the mansion where Lemon resides, and the mines where villagers work. He tells them about Lemon’s plan and asks them if they would like to join.
When they disagree, Alfred calls out a centaur-like soldier pulling a chariot and gets on. He pulls out a rifle and together with the soldier armed with a bow and arrow, begins firing at Musashi and the others.
Heikuro realizes that this is his moment to justify his existence and avenge his fallen brothers. He releases a powdered hallucinogenic into the air and intentionally gets hit with an arrow so that his blood can intensify the effects of the smoke.
He gives the others a bag filled with pellets that counteract the poison and then sacrifices himself so that Musashi can end the job. Sayo’s parents arrive and she runs to them.
They begin choking her and Lemon finally reveals himself, explaining that he’s controlling the parents’ limbs and putting Musashi in a difficult position. While her parents beg for him to end their lives, Sayo begs for him not to.
In the end, Musashi beheads Sayo’s parents to rid them of their misery. Lemon makes another plea to Musashi to join his cause and then calls out another one of Musashi’s rivals, Sasaki Kojiro.
Onimusha (2023) ending explained in detail:
What happens to Lemon?
Lemon tells Sasaki to rid Musashi of his arms and legs, but Sasaki slices Lemon’s limbs instead because he doesn’t truly believe in his cause. Lemon’s goal was to kill all the samurai that were trained during peace time and raise an army powered by the Genma.
Despite not having any limbs, he drags himself to his office. When Sahei arrives, he asks Sahei to help turn him into a Genma in exchange for dominion over half the world.
Sahei carries Lemon to the lab and then smothers him till he’s dead. He admits that he was given a mission to ensure no one knew about the gold mine, which meant killing everyone there.
What happens in the fight between Musashi and Kojiro?
Musashi and Kojiri fight each other with several zombies trying to attack them. They move deeper into the mine where Musashi sees the modern weapons and tanks that Lemon was developing.
Kojiro convinces Musashi to let go of his humanity and become an Oni so that they can truly settle their battle. Musashi gives into the gauntlet and turns into a powerful Oni whose only goal is to kill the Genma.
Sayo arrives in the middle of the battle and reminds Musashi of his humanity. He drops the gauntlet and decides to fight Kojiro with just an oar, which is how he defeated him the first time.
What happens to Sayo?
Sayo is trying to escape with Sahei when they run into Lemon. After killing Lemon, Sahei tells Sayo that he’s supposed to kill her as well, but he chooses to let her live.
She goes deeper into the mine to remind Musashi of his promise, and he shows her the way outside. She manages to escape and goes to the nearest town.
She finds a place to stay and when they ask for payment, she drops a piece of the gold that she brought back. The monks at the temple find the gauntlet at the entrance with no one else in sight.
The leader notes that it is much heavier than it was when it left as they look out into the sky and wonder.
Also Read: All seven AI robots in Pluto explained