Nemuri Kyôshirô burai-hikae: Mashô no hada

If you're a fan of Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman films, (Katsu's NOT Kitano's!), and the great Lone Wolf and Cub films with Wakayama-sama then you'll love Nemuri Kyoshiro! Done in A-1 DAIEI Studio style with their ichiban, Raizo Ichikawa, this long running series rivaled Zatoichi's popularity in Japan. Now, I'd seen the first seven films and loved them, but they had English subtitles, so this was a challenge. And finally, after having bought over one hundred Japanese films for my collection/addiction I decided to try one sub-free... and it was cool! Raizo is fantastic, as always, and the swift-paced action, DAIEI's always eye-popping colors, cool sets and perfect direction made it very easy to watch even if I didn't know exactly what was being said. Following the story wasn't as hard as I'd expected. For the neophyte I suggest the subtitled versions of #1-6, "Sleepy Eyes of Death". And after you've become properly inducted/addicted to the "SON OF THE BLACK MASS" you will realize that RAIZO RULES! And soon you too will accept the daunting challenge of going totally sub-free, like me.