The following review is an extract from the book "Shintaro Katsu´s Zatoichi: Complete guide to all movies", which is now available on Amazon. Highly recommended for all Zatoichi fans!
"Ichi tries to help a dying man named Shotaro, who dies soon
after due to the seriousness of his wounds. Before he dies, he is
able to say that he comes from the city of Ashikaga. A little
later, the masseur is picked up in the caravan of a singer, who
takes him precisely to the neighboring Ashikaga, where an event
is about to take place...
Fifteenth film of the adventures of Zatoichi directed by
Kimiyoshi Yasuda, a habitual director of jidaigeki who has
already been behind the cameras on other occasions to direct
more films of the saga of the blind masseur.
Zato means "masseur" (or rather a specific class of masseurs,
that class of vagabonds to which the main character belongs)
and Ichi, his first name, is also equivalent to the name for "one".
For this reason, throughout the films, many times the people he
meets are surprised that he presents himself only as "Ichi",
believing that it is the abbreviation of a longer name (such as
"Senkichi" or "Tadekichi"...).
Once again we observe that Ichi is tired of leading a life full of
violence, and that he must always kill his enemies in spite of
himself, because he is pushed to do so by circumstances. If it
were up to him, he would simply devote himself to his work as a
masseur... without forgetting his passion for the dice game. In
any case, belonging to the guild of blind masseurs, he is
predestined to wander all over Yamato, wandering from one side
to the other, never being able to settle in a fixed place. The
women he meets along his journeys as well as the friendships he
makes during his constant travels are always ephemeral
relationships.
Although we know that Ichi wishes from the depths of his being
to abandon the path of blood, it is surprising that he gives his
sword so easily to the blacksmith when he tells him that "it will
no longer be possible" to repair it... How then will Ichi defend
himself from now on, from all the enemies waiting for him?
