Zatoichi the Outlaw

The first film in the series produced by Katsu himself, this one seems to go the extra mile to entertain. The story is darker and more complex than usual, there's plenty of enjoyable music, and the direction is fantastic. The swordplay is violent and bloody, and limbs and heads go flying everywhere. There's even a healthy dollop of humor, including a hilarious scene with a bunch of blind dudes having a bitch slapping fight, and another with Ichi busting out a rockin' shamisen solo.

A-grade pulp. The narrative is a bit rambling & inconsistent but holds together nonetheless. An abundance of fun or memorable or odd scenes that nicely jump between various tones. Ichi is such an interesting & compelling character & Katsu consistently nails it. As a lowly wandering outcast he does well in highlighting various moral contradictions inside characters & society along his travels. He is never short on great lines & impressive iaido displays but his shamisen skills take the cake here.

#16 splashes onto the screen with more bright ho red bloodiness than the series has yet seen. The zatoichi staples of corrupt lords and oppressed peasants and women, and ichis own guilt over not knowing a better way than lethal violence to bring peace are given new depth and intensity in more intricate plpt threads. Perhaps a drawback bc it ambitiously bites off more than its runtime can handle but its a fresh breath of life into the series.

Add "shamisen virtuoso" to the long list of Ichi's superhuman abilities. This is a darker episode, very violent, and with a few beautiful passages thanks in large part to Miyagawa's cinematography. The pacifist ronin and the two-faced yakuza boss are each good supporting characters, but I feel that they are separate subplots not integrated very organically.

Darker and more "adult" than most Zatoichis, the screenplay is perhaps not as smooth as it could be but this is one of the best stories in the series so far. Blood is back, this time with a couple of amputations to boot. Ichi's rivals know he's a badass in this one and his very presence around them inspires unease.