Zatoichi's Flashing Sword

Zatoichi befriends the daughter of a yakuza boss, and becomes an unwitting pawn in a territorial dispute between the boss and one of his rivals. It's a lot of fun watching Ichi instantly switch from his hapless, smiling persona into a cold badass when he realizes how he's been played...he's actually a pretty dark character under the surface. It's got plenty of bloody action, and uses some interesting overhead shots during the fight scenes.

On paper these movies are all the same but each has its own flair that keeps the series amazing(at least thus far 7 films in). This one has a focus on humor and it works really well. It also makes the abrupt turn from well lit scenes with a light hearted attitude to dark scenes of killing in the shadows one of the most gripping badass finales since the first film of the series. Zatoichi moves through the darkness like a cold blooded murderous batman

A lighter installment, but it's quality is consistent with the 6 before it. It's quite impressive how each film manages to be unique, despite being relatively formulaic (Ichi finding himself in the middle of gang wars, usually a small love interest, badass samurai shit, etc.)

Top notch direction. Its sense of humor is well woven, allowing Ichi to humanize himself. A solid plot with an excellent climax and atmospheric revenge fueled finale.

A pretty routine Zatoichi outing that's livened up by some comedy in the early scenes. It's serviceable, but fun in the way any random Zatoichi film is.

A middling chapter finally becomes memorable in the second half by essentially turning Zatoichi into a horror killer, starting with a memorable moment where he turns into Jaws. From there on he assassinates people out of the darkness instead of dueling them head-on, which is an interesting character development but also followed by a dialogue of him talking about never killing anyone who hasn't drawn their sword on him -- right after killing ten people who didn't even know he was there.

2nd viewing

Once again Ichi finds himself in the middle of a yakuza turf war, and once again the film overcomes its familiar plot with style, characterization, impressive swordplay, and charming comedic relief. This time there's an interesting turn, when Ichi's sense of justice gives way to sheer vengeance.

By now, the audience has become quite familiar with a certain pattern in Zatoichi's life, and it seems Zatoichi himself is getting a bit sick of it too. This episode seems to be playing out as a formulaic affair, until Zatoichi gets pushed too far, and for the first time gets really pissed. This time the climax is not about chivalry but revenge. Remember Ms. Kuni? She's suddenly completely irrelevant. Fittingly, I think this is the first Zatoichi movie where sword strikes visibly draw blood.

Good film.