I had to take a moment to say “thank you” to an author who truly inspired me to start writing when I was a teenager. Until I read “Kill the Shogun” by Dale Furutani…I never thought it was possible to write fight choreography.
When most people think of books, they usually think of the typical school classics. Hemingway, Dickens, Harper Lee, and Shakespeare. I remember having to read “Old Yeller” and “Charlotte’s Web” and “Moby Dick” and honestly…I didn’t enjoy them.
I liked the premise of the stories, but to actually have to read through the pages, it felt like work more so than entertainment. But when I was fifteen, a freshman in high school…I don’t remember how I stumbled onto “Kill the Shogun” by Dale Furutani. But I can tell you it definitely changed my life.
You see, ever since I was a kid, it’s like I was born for combat. Don’t get me wrong, I never liked hurting people. But martial arts and all skilled systems of fighting just spoke to me. From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to the Power Rangers, and Street Fighter…when I saw the moves, I was captivated and entranced.
I wasn’t a fan of gore and blood, but the choreography of it. I thought it was amazing, no different from a synchronized dance from Michael Jackson or crew of break dancers.
We open up to Bakumatsu era of Japan where the assassin Kawakami Gensai cuts down influential politician Sakuma Shozan. Without provocation or a given reason, Gensai steals a scroll that’s tucked in Shozan’s robe. Unbeknownst to Gensai, that simple act of theft will eventually bring a world of trouble upon his descendants.
This brings us to Tien Kaze. Our rebellious teen hero who gets kicked out of school for standing up for a girl who was being molested on the back of the bus. As if he didn’t already feel isolated and obscured by his peers and religious congregation, things escalate when his father jumps the gun and tries to ban Tien from seeing his grandfather, the accused source of his misbehavior. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Tien does the unthinkable. In the heat of the argument, Tien ends up throwing a regretful punch, flashing an ounce of the anger he’s held back for so long. But the disappointment written on his parent’s faces are too much to bear. Tien runs away from home.
In Episode 2…
We take a first-hand look at the so-called “expeditions” executed by the up and coming research and development company, Miro-Tech. In the Himalayas, Miro-Tech’s own private group of soldiers waste no time in seizing a remote village in pursuit of a pendant that is supposed to lead the way to one of Japan’s most sacred hidden treasures.
Amongst the main players, Silence, the femme fatale and majority shareholder of Miro-Tech shows multiple sides of herself. A brutish violent side towards anyone who stands in her way, a strong sense of superiority towards her race as a Japanese, yet a subtle sense of regret towards having to kill. Other than her protégé, Mellow, the only one who seems to understand her is her college lab partner and lead historian, the brilliant smartass Steven Alba. But even Alba can alleviate Silence’s voracious thirst for power. Even if Silence can’t already see that she has it.
Tien Kaze – Potentially staring Jay Kim of The Trax
Following up with the events in the states, Masatake Kaze comes home from a long overnight stocking shift at Home Depot to find his only grandson asleep on his couch. As you can probably guess from episode one, Tien’s bond with Masa is unbreakable. Tien opens up with how he’s felt for so long and makes up his mind that he wants to go to Japan, where he naively thinks that he’d be accepted. The two have a heart-to-heart conversation over a classic karate sparring match for old times sake and it ends with Tien finally convincing his grandfather that he isn’t just blowing smoke. His passion is real. His desire to visit the land of his ancestors is real.
So of course…Masa takes it one step further. Whilst packing a bag and giving Tien what little cash he had on him, Masa talks about a legendary school of swordsmanship. A family whose heirs and descendants have carried on with the school providing the best martial arts training exclusively to selected individuals from Japan’s elite class. These warriors range from the famous Minamoto Yoshitsune to the deadly Yagyu Jubei. A warrior trained by the Yagami family is said to equal the strength and speed of ten skilled samurai on the battlefield.
Over the centuries, the Yagami family has dwindled to damn near exile, but Masa knows where their only living descendents reside. Bound for Japan with a bus ticket and a plan to work as a sailor, Tien is filled with renewed vigor and excitement. Finally furnished with an attainable goal and instilled with a fulfilling sense of purpose, Tien grins…determined to find the Yagyu family and learn this so-called exclusive martial art.
Braden’s protégé and assistant. Age 16. Snow-white skin, long fluid black hair, petite figure with small dark eyes. Like Braden, Petty is a sword-fighting prodigy under the tutelage of Takizawa. Born and raised in the slums of east Ybor, Petty’s mother and father were druggies with the father acting as a low level pusher for a Black mob boss. Both parents treated her like crap, creating a sense of distain that was amplified to hatred the day they accidentally left her younger sister in an apartment with no heat. Petty was six years old and at school. She came home to find her younger sister dead of hypothermia.
Two years later, Petty’s disturbing behavior of violence and lack of empathy saw her expulsion from school. With no one to pick her up and in a fit of rage, Petty charged into the warehouse owned by her father’s boss. Moments later, that warehouse was hit by the syndicate in a raid for unpaid debts. Petty hid a closet as the boss and her father were viciously cut down by none other than a sixteen-year-old Braden Pierce.
When another syndicate enforcer saw Petty and felt a need to eliminate the witness, Braden stepped in refusing to have children murdered on his watch. Braden then gave Petty a smaller spare katana and the long white snowcoat on his back. Braden had no idea that this girl would one day grow up to be one of his most dependable assets and the syndicate’s future ace-in-the-hole.
After witnessing everything that went down, Petty never came back home. She never saw her mother again now did she ever want to. Petty traveled to the Pierce corporate offices, confronted the barrage of security personnel and demanded an audience with Braden Pierce. Instead, she got something better. The godfather, Isaac himself granted her his attention. Petty made her intentions known and presented the sword and coat as proof of what she witnessed.
Surprised and astonished that Braden had an ounce of compassion for someone who always appeared so vicious and disinterested, Isaac willingly took Petty in and sent her to Japan to study under Guile Takizawa.
Through six years of being one of Takizawa’s trainees, Petty turned out to be one of his favorites. Just like Braden, she never questioned anything. She just did as she was told and fearlessly committed herself to the training regardless of the pain or threat of injury. Petty returned with Guile back to the states, still carrying Braden’s short katana, her own long katana, and the long white snow coat that once belonged to Braden.
Initially filled with animosity upon setting her sights on Tampa for the first time in six years, the potential of running into Braden again was a thrill she couldn’t pass up. Again, impressed by her appearance and growth, Isaac suggests Petty to be Braden’s assistant. David takes the idea and runs with his own intentions of having Petty act as his spy against Braden. Petty deceives both of them, committing her loyalty to Braden and Braden alone. Braden’s enemies are Petty’s enemies. Braden’s ambitions become Petty’s ambitions.
Stage In The Sky 