Does anime count?
I never asked.
But last night a first episode of what I see as to be a great anime this season came out. Ao no Miburo, or "The Wolves of Mibu" It is a story set in the Meji period, 1863, towards the twilight of the Shogunate. It centers around a group of Ronin who were left in a village, and bad rumors spread around them, but the main character is an odd boy, born with pure white hair and shockingly blue eyes, an orphan working at a restaurant for an old lady, when two very handsome men, probably Samurai enter, eat, and keep coming back. Then one night, the two samurai were enjoying tea after their meal at the restaurant and it was time for the boy and his "sister" who was younger to go home. Rumors were hot about kidnappings of young children were all around. The boy walks with the girl Iroha and the boy who is almost unnaturally perceptive notices a figure in the shadows, so he hurries the girl up, which is hard to run in Kimono's or Yukata's. The boy snuffs out the lantern he was carrying, because this is feudal Japan, Kyoto, and there are no street lights, to hide in an alley, but to his dismay, the moon is full and bright, giving no shadow to hide in. So they become surrounded and the boy tries to protect the girl, gets kicked around and knocked to the ground.
The two samurai show up, and kick ass. And when the dark haired samurai was about to cut down a kidnapper who drawn a sword, as the rule and almost law was that if you draw steel, you must be ready to die by it, the boy, Nio, stops him by saying the man was not acting like he was going to use the sword seriously. The samurai learn where the kidnapped kids are, and though you do not see them rescue the kids, it is mentioned the next day.
Up to this point it was an interesting take on the street level life of the first capital of Japan. But after making an offer to the boy, the boy's reaction was what sealed this show to me as genuinely good. The boy starts crying, and then gives a speech about children being the first to be sacrificed in the world as weak and easy pawns for the unjust and cruel unfairness of the world they know. But the climax of his speech was him lamenting his own weakness and powerlessness in the fact that he could not protect his "sister." The reactions of the room was deep.
Normally anime would gloss this over, or break the tension with a gag or something to divert the mood. No. There was no bullshit upskirt shot, nor clumsy goofy person to break this heartbreaking scene. Just a boy who ate the entire apple of knowledge, no more innocent days. He ate an entire bowl of self loathing and bitterness and had to grow to survive it. But what happened next made me and the wife cry for this boy. The dark haired samurai who looked mean and vicious, got on his knees and hugged the boy. Not just as an adult trying to soothe a child, but what I felt was a man who is watching a boy sadly trudge the same path as he had, and it is very bitter. But even after accusing the pair of using them as bait (which the samurai did) the boy chose to take them up on their offer to work for them, and train with them to get stronger.
I am not well versed in the lives of the people of Feudal Japan, but it seems to be similar as almost anywhere else in the world. It was a harsh look at it, and I believe the boy's speech hit it spot on.
Not many anime shows or movies hit with gut punches to the heart like this, but I found it refreshing.
So if you find yourself interested, it might be on Crunchyroll, or on some less than legit places. It is worth the watch, but it also might offend with the male centered narrative. But it can be forgiven, because it is a period piece and honestly the only women to carry weapons were either the imperial Kuonichi's (female ninjas) or bandits. But It is still worth the watch.