While Ichikawa who was devoted to aestheticism and taste, was sometimes criticized as a 'director without theme,' Okamoto had advocated the opposition against war and against the Meiji Restoration as his life theme.
また、耽美と趣味性に徹し「テーマなき作家」と批判されることのあった市川に比べ、戦争批判と明治維新批判をライフテーマとして掲げ続けた。