Zatoichi

[Drunk Monk]

This is the first one that I know I've seen. I didn't realize that going into it. It's been so long since I've seen so many of these, it's all a blur. But then I'll hit a scene and think 'oh yea, I remember this.' Ironically, with Hanzo #2, it was the scene where the two assistants were eating watermelon. Of all the outrageous scenes in Hanzo, that was what stuck in my mind? I still can't figure why that was. For Zatoichi's Flashing Sword, it was the finale fight, which makes a heck of a lot more sense. There's this great hallway scene where Ichi does his signature slashing and steps back, then a moment later, all the candles fall apart one by one, and he makes a comment about how fighting in the dark evens the playing field (it totally doesn't as Ichi can kick ass no matter what). It's a great sword fight. Katsu delivers several long complex sequences of yakuza dicing.

The plots of Zatoichi are all more or less the same so afr, but there's some comfort in that.