Review: Baian is one of those special characters that, like fellow blade-hound Zatoichi, is as skilled in his particular trade as he is in the art of killing. In this instance, said trade is acupuncture, where Baian pretty much stands unrivaled. In the first moment of the series alone he corrects a potentially faulty birth with his needle, something that he wields as swiftly as if it were a simple extension of one of his fingers. Like other fictional assassins, that's the dichotomy of Baian; maintaining one career as a lifesaver and another as a life-taker. Assisted by his toothpick-manufacturing companion Hikojiro, Baian takes out people that are deemed unworthy of living amongst the rest of the populace; beasts of men and women that act only as detriments to society.

The first volume of this series of made-for-TV features (based on the short stories of Shotaro Ikenami that also brewed many other on-screen Baian adventures, television and beyond) spends a lot of time getting the audience acquainted with Baian in all respects. What this means is a healthy amount of exposition, some detailing his past and some setting up other characters and their positions in the world. A decent amount of this is done through narration, and although it can slow down the chapters, Baian's story is fitting of the moderate pace. Seeing the doctor in his non-assassin atmosphere for the majority of the duration lends a bit more excitement to his extracurricular activities.

This leads to the only real problem with BAIAN: the pacing. These feature length episodes (the second being the shorter of the two) may have been more succinctly structured at about an hour a piece. It almost seems like something that was expanded for an alloted time rather than the other way around. The aforementioned narrative tends to take the audience a little further away from Baian's tale, though admittedly, the episodes would be even longer without it.

Unfortunately, those with little patience and short attention spans won't appreciate the subtleties of BAIAN. The series relishes more than the kill. It's all about the build-up, and propping the pieces of each scenario carefully against the backdrop is a crucial aspect of Yoshida's final product. The second episode in this volume carries the same style as the first without making it seem too formulaic, and Ken Watanabe strums the lead with firm command, resisting the urge to be all too stoic and showing emotion when it counts, driving the theme of each individual story home.

If you're not hooked by the end of this volume, you probably won't be making any return trips for the assassin adventures that follow. Heck, if you're not feeling the Baian groove by the time the first episode closes, you may as well stop watching right then and there. Those that like a good, well-shot jidai-geki yarn with an emphasis on dramatics; one that tends to stray from graphic bloodshed in favor of capsulated character pieces, should slap BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN on their shelves post-haste.