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I watched it this week too and then discovered that same video essay which I think is the only way to fully appreciate it! I've never known a film as subtle as this where the full story is hidden away in blink and you'll miss it shots. Still not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not, but it's incredibly brave filmmaking. From what I can gather, there's a TV series that contains the prequel and sequel to this (along with some unconnected episodes). I think some of them are available but haven't been subtitled. I think the only reason this one is fully subtitled is to fit in with the awkward western NHK World presentation (which they absolutely nail).

Yeah they had one day off early on in the run but otherwise it was every day. 11 shows in 11 days with just the semis filmed together.

The two semis were the only ones filmed together in one day (so they did both episodes worth of each event in one go), so at least those two Sabre Edge's would have been swapped over. A couple of earlier shows have been shown out of filming order though.