Awesome flick. I have nothing to add to the other reviewers comments, except that with 40 years of studying Goju Ryu Karate (the martial art depicted in the film) - I LOVE IT! No, the ending fight scene isn't the most realistic, but I think we're dealing here with an artistic representation. This I a piece of cinema, not MMA. Kuroobi joined After the Rain as one of my favorite Japanese films, and favorite films, overall. Great spirit in the film and it poses a number of philosophical questions that we, as karateka, daily struggle with as we try to make karate an integral part of our lives. Karate is life, life is karate. This is part of the struggle depicted in the film. While this definitely isn't a kid's night movie (the themes are a bit too mature for that), it does lend itself to peer discussion or use as a teaching tool with adult students.

If you like a decent story line with realistic fight scenes like in Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honour you might like this movie as well. But if you like lots of wire work and long fighting scenes with lots of unrealistic moves then watch your typical mainstream HK movies such as Legend of the Fist, Once Upon a Time in China and Iron Monkey.Simple. Just because it's a martial arts films doesn't mean we have to throw them all into one category. They are completely different types of movies. It all depends what you prefer or what you're in the mood of. Personally, I wish they made more movies like this.

A Karate Sensei dies leaving his only black belt to his two students, one whom believes that he should use his Karate to become the best...while the other prefers to practise alone. The story ultimately reveals their paths and were it leads.I thought the opening was magnificent, you truly felt the rich history of Karate through the scenery and the shots of the students practising; you were immersed in the beauty of the art of Karate and then the film took a surprising twist, one character chooses the wrong path and the other is thought to have perished...But then came the middle, while Tatsuya Naka gave a fantastic performance as 'Taikan' the rouge student, his counterpart Akhito Yagi known in the film as Giryu seemed completely lost..his acting was quite weak and the character's sudden realisation of his Karate is tarnished by the fact that he does not stand up for the girl who saved his life..I just found it odd and confusing.But the fight scenes are brilliantly choreographed, the fights are very realistic and show Karate at its best in terms of film. It's also ironic that Tatsuya Naka who played the wayward student would go on to star in a film called 'High Kick Girl' in which he is the sensei trying to reign in a wayward student.

I'll say right off the bat, that I enjoy martial arts period pieces set in turn of the century China or Japan, so Kuro Obi was in favour from the off.By the same token, the film starts with lots of kata practice and other kihon that is completely as it is practiced in modern dojo, so the sense of connection with my art also won my approval.But things quickly took a turn for the worse with the whole "do not attack first or strike at all" theme. The idea of non-aggression is one thing, but no martial artist of note ever recommended being beaten up and never fighting back. The fact that this theme is so pivotal just indicates that the film was conceptualised by someone who never really understood the art. That this is finally revealed to mean that one is most vulnerable during attack, is another misunderstanding of the nature of combat. One is only vulnerable during attack if one's attack is ineffectual, and one is not aware of the potential for counter-attack, but I prefer the axiom "action is faster than reaction".I really liked the example of one-hit one kill throughout the film, and although it was just window dressing, scenes of the fighters practicing is beautiful locations were both enjoyable and served to establish a little credibility. The acting was very much in the oriental style, which is so over the top as to be almost operatic. Don't criticise the style - it's cultural.Ultimately, what massively let this film down was the ridiculous final fight scene, and the glib, pointless, vomit-inducing ending.The whole idea of the belt and the martial ethics portrayed in the film, simply demonstrated how little the writer truly understood the spirit and value of karate.The great tragedy is that this is one of the most karate-sensitive films ever released, but ultimately it took the easy route, instead of looking at the deeper ethics of balancing martial skill with human needs and weaknesses.If you want to see a better karate film watch "Fighter in the Wind", the semi-fictional biography of Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushin.