Zatoichi the Outlaw 1967 follows pretty much the same route as all the films. Bad bosses, bent gambling dens, abused peasants. The plot becomes a bit muddled along the way and not everything Zatoichi does ends up for the best but in the end, peace reigns. Its probably down to the director but you get the impression that the film could have been better, leaving this as just an average Zatoichi film. The film does contain a unique point, a workers co-operative organised by a samurai who refuses to carry a sword, this group is seen very much as a threat to the bosses and local government and as such becomes a target for them to destroy. 

Guest star - Rentaro Mikuni star of the Miyamoto Musashi films which followed on from the original "The Samurai Trilogy"


Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire 1970, this time the head of the bad guys is blind like Zatoichi, which also means more dangerous. I found this more entertaining than Zatoichi the Outlaw, and with a few well known faces as well. A woman is sent to assassinate Zatoichi but because of his kindness she fails and falls for him instead, a very camp man tries to seduce him in order to kill him but he fails before hes even started. A lone samurai also has Zatoichis death in mind, in fact its the only thing giving him the will to live and on top of all that the blind boss knows that Zatoichi could bring down his empire so sends off his cannon fodder by the dozen to dispose of him. There is a bloody but humorous bath house fight and Zatoichi nearly ends up as toast but again in the end, everything is much happier for everyone (at least those who are still living). One of the better Zatoichi films.

Guest star - Tatsuya Nakadai from many films but star of Sword of Doom.
- Masayuki Mori previous films include Rashomon and Ugetsu Monogatori

Cheers Trev.

P.S. Just got hold of 3 more to check out.