04-12-2014, 08:22 AM
Ok, I saw #8 Fight Zatoichi Fight in my visionquest to see them all in order already. I just forgot to review it here. It's a good study of Zatoichi's character, especially his camaraderie with other blind men and then his subsequent reclusiveness around them (due to guilt). Ichi tries to be charitable by offering a young woman and her baby a ride in a carriage, but assassins kill her by mistake. The baby survives and feeling guilty, Ichi tries to return the baby to its father, only to be drawn into more intrigue. Of course, the samurai-saddled-with-baby motif is reminiscent of his brother Tomisaburo's epic saga of Lone Wolf and cub, and I wonder which was first (a quick visit to IMDB would surely answer this but I'm not going to bother right now).
I started #9 Adventures of Zatoichi and already recognized a few scenes as this is one I remember seeing before. In particular, I remember the fight when rogues try to chase a women up a staircase and Ichi blocks their path, pretending to stumble about in a very Jackie-Chan-esque manner, then cutting a railing so fast and pushing one of the rogues through it. This film has several scenes where all that is shown is the noto, and then a moment later, something splits in half, like a that railing or a go board. Unfortunately Hulu+ quit on my about halfway through.
I started #9 Adventures of Zatoichi and already recognized a few scenes as this is one I remember seeing before. In particular, I remember the fight when rogues try to chase a women up a staircase and Ichi blocks their path, pretending to stumble about in a very Jackie-Chan-esque manner, then cutting a railing so fast and pushing one of the rogues through it. This film has several scenes where all that is shown is the noto, and then a moment later, something splits in half, like a that railing or a go board. Unfortunately Hulu+ quit on my about halfway through.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse