In this made-for-television movie, director Kazuyoshi Yoshikawa brought together Fujita Makoto and Masahiro Takashima for the remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Red Beard! A physician and his assistant work desperately to save lives in the face of budget cutbacks at their clinic.

In the city of Edo, when recession started creeping into society, a bandit named Dark Boy appears in the streets and gains the people's appreciation. The shogunate, however, is unable to leave him alone, and order their forces to capture him.

Sazen is tasked with uncovering the killers of a mysterious spirit regularly seen on the Okawa River.