This Zatoichi film starts off in an unusual way. The camera is mounted on the ceiling looking straight down on the people in the room! The scene itself is fine, but the way they filmed it was nice as a change of pace. Interestingly enough, the final shots of the film were also done in much the same way, but in a darkened hallway.
Immediately after this, a guy is yelling because he apparently shot Zatoichi. However, they can't find a body because Ichi swam away and was cared for by an old woman until he could go back on his journey. Oddly, some unnamed benefactor paid her for her nursing him to health. Who this is and why, we don't yet know.
In the next scene, a group of punks invade a kendo dojo. Looking to hurt someone, they pull Ichi inside and proceed to get their butts kicked. I was actually more impressed with actor Shintaro Katsu's work with the bamboo kendo sword than his usual swordplay--it was very fast and impressive.
While not as impressive technically, there also was a very unusual underwater fight. Five thugs attacked Ichi while he was bathing in the river. He led them to deeper water and then dove under--and one by one the bad guys were gutted as if Zatoichi were a shark! There was also a bit more humor in the film than usual. One routine is a cute one involving a guy who makes money carrying people across the river on his shoulders, but the one I really liked was Zatoichi and the guys peeping at the lady taking a bath.
The main story is pretty typical of a Zatoichi film. One big boss is trying to muscle in on the territory of another lesser one. The big boss is a nasty, laughing, obese stuttering guy and again and again he tries a variety of tricks to try to hurt the other boss. Fortunately, Zatoichi is on hand to help out when things start to spin out of control. And, as fireworks begin to go off, so do arms, legs, etc. as Ichi takes the battle to the evil warlord. Yay, Ichi!
