Zatoichi Challenged

Synopsis

Zatoichi (Katsu) checks into an inn where he shares a room with an ill woman and her young son named Ryota. Before the woman dies, she requests that Zatoichi take her son to his father, an artist living in the nearby town of Maebara. As they travel together, they hitch a ride with a traveling performance troupe.

Cast

Critical response

J. Doyle Wallis, in a review for DVD Talk, wrote that "[w]hile it had the great Kenji Misumi, one of samurai cinema's greats and a personal favorite director of mine, behind the camera, not every film in such a long film cycle can be perfect. Unfortunately this is one of the weaker films. Misumi's direction is still quite good and his signature perfect framing is as fantastic as it ever was, particularly in the great finale which features one of Ichi's longest duels. Katsu is also, as he always was, great. The man could act with any part of his body (insert dirty joke here) and he displays some of the finest ear and foot acting you're likely to see. But, while entertaining enough for Katsu and Misum's inherent skill, the film suffers form a slapdash script and that damn annoying kid factor. The series' one major fault was its lack of development and reliance on formula. While usually that formula is a winner, here it just feels a tad tired."

Adaptation

The 1989 American samurai-action film Blind Fury (starring Rutger Hauer) is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged.