Man, Zatoichi is just going through it in this one. Must revisit this one in particular, because the story and themes were kinda making more anxious at a moment when I'm already quite anxious.

Man, Zatoichi is just going through it in this one. Must revisit this one in particular, because the story and themes were kinda making more anxious at a moment when I'm already quite anxious.

While Zatoichi struggles to begin a new future away from the yakuza, an important figure from his past re-emerges. Such is the setup for the third Zatoichi film, perhaps the first in the series to truly capture the spirit that would carry the rest of the movies in this long-running series, full of amazing swordplay, humor, and the always riveting performances of lead Shintaro Katsu. There are better movies in this series; funnier, more action-packed, with higher stakes, but this is the one where all the elements of the blind swordsman first came together, and, for the first time, in glorious color no less.

While Zatoichi struggles to begin a new future away from the yakuza, an important figure from his past re-emerges. Such is the setup for the third Zatoichi film, perhaps the first in the series to truly capture the spirit that would carry the rest of the movies in this long-running series, full of amazing swordplay, humor, and the always riveting performances of lead Shintaro Katsu. There are better movies in this series; funnier, more action-packed, with higher stakes, but this is the one where all the elements of the blind swordsman first came together, and, for the first time, in glorious color no less.

What really stands out about New Tale of Zatoichi in comparison to the previous two films is not the use of colour film, but rather the vulnerability that Zatoichi shows as a character as the film progresses. He feels a lot more central to the events, even if surrounding happenings may or may not be directly tied to him. Establishing ongoing bonds between Zatoichi and others around him gives the blind gambler more emotional weight, weirdly enough trading out a lot of the melodramatic stings for pieces that feel a lot more heartfelt

What really stands out about New Tale of Zatoichi in comparison to the previous two films is not the use of colour film, but rather the vulnerability that Zatoichi shows as a character as the film progresses. He feels a lot more central to the events, even if surrounding happenings may or may not be directly tied to him. Establishing ongoing bonds between Zatoichi and others around him gives the blind gambler more emotional weight, weirdly enough trading out a lot of the melodramatic stings for pieces that feel a lot more heartfelt

I won’t ever get tired of this format !!
Started off super strong then a weird tonal shift that makes sense mostly looking back, but definitely felt weird given it sort of steered the whole story in a slightly different direction for a bit, then wound it back and it all came together really nicely 
And also looks brilliant in colour it really fits the vibe well and they fixed the odd lack of noise with the action sequences 
Nothing crazy but helps with suspension of belief 10000% I really like the minimalist sword swinging tho it’s really fun and fits the atmosphere well

I won’t ever get tired of this format !!
Started off super strong then a weird tonal shift that makes sense mostly looking back, but definitely felt weird given it sort of steered the whole story in a slightly different direction for a bit, then wound it back and it all came together really nicely 
And also looks brilliant in colour it really fits the vibe well and they fixed the odd lack of noise with the action sequences 
Nothing crazy but helps with suspension of belief 10000% I really like the minimalist sword swinging tho it’s really fun and fits the atmosphere well

Still the 2 things that have been consistent throughout this series (so far) have been the performances and the music, which in this film might have been the best use of both yet. The main problem is I found this film to be very dull and uninteresting, save for the finale. It didn't have that memorable of a story and I'll probably forget about it if you asked me a month from now. I like that they're now in color but I'm hoping something more epic is on the way. There's only so many ways you can film Zatoichi's quick sword fights without them becoming stale.

Still the 2 things that have been consistent throughout this series (so far) have been the performances and the music, which in this film might have been the best use of both yet. The main problem is I found this film to be very dull and uninteresting, save for the finale. It didn't have that memorable of a story and I'll probably forget about it if you asked me a month from now. I like that they're now in color but I'm hoping something more epic is on the way. There's only so many ways you can film Zatoichi's quick sword fights without them becoming stale.