The story of Musashi Miyamoto is one of the most famous and often filmed sagas in Japanese film and television history. Almost every production is based upon Eiji Yoshikawa's monumental MUSASHI novel and starts with Musashi fighting in the famous Battle of Sekigara in 1600 and ends with the equally famous duel at Ganryu Island in 1612. SOREKARA NO MUSASHI (literally "And Then...Musashi") basically picks up where Eiji Yoshikawa's novel ends and tells the story of what happened afterwards.

There are some differences between the world created by Eiji Yoshikawa and the one created in SOREKARA NO MUSASHI, especially in the names of the characters that surround Musashi. It is unclear as to why the names of the characters were changed (perhaps Eiji Yoshikawa "owned" these characters), but it is not difficult to tell who is who. Musashi's long suffering love Otsu in "MUSASHI" is called Oko in "SOREKARA NO MUSASHI". Similarly, Kojiro's lover Omitsu becomes Orin and Musashi's pupil Jotaro becomes Genta.

Kinya KitaojiIt starred Kinya Kitaoji and like it's predecessor originally aired as a mini-series. This latest production differed slightly from the 1981 production in that it incorported the Yagyu clan into the proceedings, something which added greater excitement and drama to the story. With an perfect blend of drama and action, this 1996 SOREKARA NO MUSASHI mini-series makes an EXCELLENT sequel to Eiji Yoshikawa's magnificent saga. One of the best samurai TV-series out there!