ZATOICHI #20
Directed by Kihachi Okamoto • 1970 • Japan
After a two-year absence from screens, the blind swordsman returns in one of his best adventures. Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, Toshiro Mifune’s scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend. This is the sole ZATOICHI effort from celebrated director Kihachi Okamoto, who supplies satirical vision and stylistic panache worthy of the two iconic characters at the film’s center.
Up Next in Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
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Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival
ZATOICHI #21
Directed by Kenji Misumi • 1970 • JapanCowritten by star Shintaro Katsu, this adventure pits Zatoichi against one of his most diabolical foes: a blind yakuza boss whose reign of terror and exploitation has made him nearly mythic. Guest starring the legendary Tatsuya Nakadai as a ro...
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Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
ZATOICHI #22
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda • 1971 • JapanIt's East meets East when one of Japan’s action idols crosses paths with an iconic kung-fu hero from Hong Kong. While traveling the countryside, Zatoichi comes across Wang Kang (Jimmy Wang Yu), a Chinese swordsman protecting a brutally orp...
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Zatoichi at Large
ZATOICHI #23
Directed by Kazuo Mori • 1972 • JapanZatoichi comes across a pregnant woman dying from sword wounds and helps deliver her baby. Her final request to him: take the boy to see his father. From here, the film evolves into one of the wilder rides in the ZATOICHI series, including such ...
