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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
#13: ZATOICHI, TO DRAW THE SWORD OR NOT! 5 out of 5 stars.
101 of 101 people found this review helpful.
The 13th entry of Zatoichi starring Shintaro Katsu is a truly excellent film. The title, ZATOICHI'S VENGEANCE, is also an apt title for this wonderful film. Zatoichi meets a travelling, blind priest who questions Zatoichi's life: By telling Ichi to put away his sword. And although the ending is predictable as far a the Zatoichi series goes, this one adds a little more depth to the character Ichi, and the character actors in the film as well.
One of the many highlights of the film is when the villians who take on Zatoichi, do so with more intelligence than one would expect. For example, they beat upon drums to confuse his heightened sense of awareness--knowing that his ears have become his eyes, so to speak. About time someone figured that out. He has definetly become a feared and respected opponent. His reputation has become too well known, and no longer is he some blind masseur who can be easily slain.
Also, when Ichi is being beaten up in the film by the villians, he does not act against his agressors. He is protecting the young boy in his charge with more than just physical abuse by not reacting: Ichi does not want to show violence in front of the child. Maybe to set an example for the young boy? The young boy in the film looks up to Ichi. Is Ichi trying to set an example by turning the other cheek? As with the end of the film, when Ichi leaves the child, he does so for the boys sake. He knows that he is not the example the boy needs in his life. And as such, he shows that he is truly an example of a decent and honorable swordsman, whom others should have emulated. Highly recommended. [Stars: 5+]
NOTICE: VOL.#14, ZATOICHI'S PILGRIMAGE [ZATOCIHI UMI O WATARU] has not been released to my knowledge in the USA. Hopefully it will. I don't know why it has not been released.
Editorial Review:
With 25 film sequels and upwards of 100 TV episodes, Shintaro Katsu is the legendary Zatoichi! He's a low-ranking blind masseur who lives by the Yakuza code and answers his foes with a deadly cane sword. By far one of Japan's most time-honored screen personas, Zatoichi is to this day the ultimate everyman anti-hero.
A fast moving entry in the Blind Swordsman series, Zatoichi's Vengeance is a tour de force of nonstop action. The blind swordsman meets a dying man who makes Zatoichi promise to deliver a large sum of money to his young son, Taichi. Zatoichi's skill with his sword results in the death of several of the men, and Taichi sees Zatoichi as a second father. But a blind monk forces Zatoichi to question the violence of his existence and his future as a swordsman.
