Mifune Toshiro previously played Japanese naval hero Togo Heihachiro in Maruyama Seiji's "Battle of the Japan Sea" (Nihonkai daikasen, 1969), a large-scale production, that offered a general outlook of the Russo-Japanese War (1904 - 1905). Mifune reprises the role in "Battle Anthem" (Nihonkai daikasen: Umi yukaba, 1983). The film has a different perspective. Instead of depicting the diplomatic players, as the previous film did, this gives the central attention to the young soldiers, who fought in the war, as well as Japan's decisive victory in Tsushima Strait.
Though neither of these films really clicked for myself, I found this to be the better one, despite it being nowhere near as famous as the predecessor. At least this film paints characters that the audience comes to know, and shows what it was like to be a Japanese soldier at time. Then again, if you come to watch this film without any historical background about that particular war, you may get a little lost, as this film is not going for a thorough contextualization as "Battle of the Japan Sea" did.
Unlike the previous film, this one has a romance. I did not care for it, as it starts as pure harassment, and then turns into melodrama. Also, if you are a Mifune fan, you are probably are going to enjoy "Battle of the Japan Sea" much more, since he doesn't have nearly as much screen-time in "Battle Anthem". Togo is also a character so widely admired, that Mifune's two performances as this man are one-dimensional, and even stale. Mifune does not get to show his versatility as an actor, but instead just reads his lines like a good boy.
If you are not terribly interested in Japanese war films, I wouldn't really recommend either of these films. The Japanese have made so much better films about World War II and other conflicts in the country's long history.
