The Tale of Zatoichi Continues 1962 Kazuo Mori

If you couldn't tell from the title, this is the 2nd Zatoichi movie.  Why aren't I reviewing the 1st Zatoichi movie, you ask?  Because I've already seen it.  I just saw this one.  If you don't know what a Zatoichi movie is, here you go - Zatoichi is the main character in one of the longest running Japanese movie series of all time.  There's somewhere around 18-20 movies and a few seasons of a TV show.  The star of the Zatoichi movies and TV show is Shintaro Katsu.  He's dead now, but he was arguably one of the biggest movie stars in Japan in the '60's and '70's.  In fact, he was originally cast as the lead in Kurosawa's Kagemusha, but he was such a bastard that Kurosawa fired him and replaced him with Tatsuya Nakadai.

But enough about Japanese cinema history.  What you need to know when you watch any Zatoichi movie is that Zatoichi is a badass.  A blind masseur who is also an expert with a samurai sword, he's someone you don't want to mess with.  He's nice enough, but if you challenge him, you're gonna be dead quick.  Most of his sword fights last about 2 strokes, then you're dead.

This one's called Tale of Zatoichi Continues, so at least you know it comes after The Tale of Zatoichi.  Later on, when it got really popular no effort was made to number or easily order the series.  There were even famous guest stars and matchups, like Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, with Toshiro Mifune and Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman, with Jimmy Wang Yu.

...but I digress.  In this movie, Zatoichi goes back to the town where he kicked ass and took names in the first movie and checks up on everyone.  He stops by the grave of his enemy, pays his respects, and starts to go on his way.

Not so fast!

It seems that everyone who was left from the first movie (the bad guys, anyway) is itching for revenge.  They also have a psychotic one-armed swordsman of their own that they need to get rid of.  It's not Jimmy Wang Yu, though.  He wouldn't get his arm chopped off for another 5 years.  It's Tomisaburo Wakayama.  What?  Who?  Give Tomisaburo Wakayama a toddler and he's the Lone Wolf & Cub, or Shogun Assassin!  He's also Shintaro Katsu's real life brother, so score one for nepotism!

The villians from the first movie proceed to send the villian from this movie after Zatoichi.  They seem to be familiar to each other....hmmm.  Anyway, these two real life brothers manage to turn feudal Japan into one big basement rec room where they can fight to see which one their parents really did like best.  It's all very entertaining, but if the thought of an almost 50 year old samurai movie doesn't float your boat like it does mine, you should definitely check out Blind Fury with Rutger Hauer. It's basically an American Zatoichi nmovie. Hauer is a blind Vietnam vet who becomes an expert swordsman, goes back to America, and doesn't like what he can't see.  He has no choice but to open his last can of whupass, but he does it in English, and in color, so it's not so foreign!  But he's Danish, so it still kinda is!  Watch either one, they're both great.