Plot: What’s it about?
Just before the start of a New Years festival arrives, Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) enters a town and discovers some underhanded deeds. But before he uncovers the town’s criminal traits, he meets two women and strikes up a friendship with each one. The first woman is named Miss Saki and like Zatoichi himself, has been forced to endure life with her father’s presence. He has been lost for some time and while he was the leader of a nearby village, his disappearance hasn’t garnered much attention. Saki hasn’t given up hope however, so she continues to look for her father and she finds some comfort with Zatoichi. Saki’s father vanished when he tried to report some criminal activities, ones perpetrated by the local gang leader, Boss Jubei. He was never able to reach his destination however, though Jubei’s men claim no involvement in the man’s disappearance. Jubei has raised taxes on the locals to extreme levels, which forces them to work twice as hard for half the money, while making Jubei’s pockets richer and richer. The other woman he meets has a connection to Saki also, as her brother was sent to assassinate Saki’s father and failed, but he has been saddled with the blame regardless. Can Zatoichi bring some justice to this oppressed village and help these women, all while exploring his own past?
This is the ninth feature film in the popular Zatoichi series, which follows the legendary blind swordsman through countless adventures. Other franchises have went the distance to nine movies, but as we all know, even the best premise can lose steam at some point. But can Zatoichi buck the trend to keep up the expected level of excellence? After all, with twenty-five total sequels and over one hundred television episodes, if the ninth installment in the cinema series falls short, there’s little hope for those further episodes, right? Adventures of Zatoichi is by no means a highlight of the series, but it is a solid installment and should please fans of the previous films. The plot is pretty standard stuff for Zatoichi’s hijinks, but has some nice touches and of course, the action is fun to watch. This one isn’t as action packed as some of Zatoichi’s movies, but it has more than a fair share of swordplay involved. I noticed more humor than usual in this episode also, which gives it a distinctive edge to some of the more serious installments. Shintaro Katsu is back of course, handing in his usual great effort in the lead role. I think Katsu really started to settle into the role by this ninth film, which allowed him to expand on some of the character’s various quirks. So while this isn’t a shining example of why Zatoichi is such a cultural icon, Adventures of Zatoichi is a cool movie and one fans of the series won’t want to miss.
Video: How does it look?
Adventures of Zatoichi is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Home Vision has done some terrific work with the movies in this series, especially if you’ve seen how worn and washed out previous releases have looked. In this case, the elements have signs of wear and age, but still look much better than ever before. The print has some marks and nicks, but no extreme instances of debris can be seen. I did notice some grain at times, including a few scenes that were quite grain laden, but again, the visuals remained solid. I found contrast to be good for the most part, though a few scenes come off as overly dark. No troubles with colors however, which remains bright and well balanced throughout. So while not a pristine, crisp presentation, this is a great treatment and a marked improvement over other releases.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original Japanese language track is preserved here, in a solid, but basic presentation. I have no real complaints to lodge here, especially given the age of the material, but the audio just isn’t that memorable. But the basic elements come across well, which is what counts, so I guess we shouldn’t complain much. The dialogue is clean and crisp, while music and sound effects also sound good. I didn’t detect much in the way of age related flaws, but a few minor defects pop up here and there. Not the kind of soundtrack to show off your home theater with, but for the materials involved, this is a more than acceptable audio treatment. This disc also includes optional English subtitles, which makes use of a new translation.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
