I enjoyed the first film while finding it no great shakes, a little too long-winded for its own good and very much an origin tale so awkward and clumsy at times. KYOTO INFERNO, the sequel, is much better and a real step-up, the first half of a filmic duo that offers everything you'd want from a modern samurai adventure film. The plot is similar to the first in many respects, but you don't watch action films for their stories anyway. This one's all about the visuals and they're glorious throughout, with great use of colours and particularly fire that look stunning in high definition. The action is better choreographed too and the sword fights often top tier. Tatsuya Fujiwara is one of my favourite Japanese actors and it was great to see him in a very different kind of role in this one.
