The Tale Of Zatoichi Continues

Due to the success of the first Zatoichi installment, The Tale of Zatoichi, a sequel, The Tale Of Zatoichi Continues (1962), was quickly filmed by Daei with Kazuo Mori at the helm. This story, that clocks in at a lean 71 minutes, sees Zatoichi returning home to deal with some issues from the past as well as trouble from his more recent past. Zatoichi is hired to massage to a powerful official who, he discovers, is mentally ill. This is a secret that the his retinue will not allow to get out. This second Zatoichi has a much higher body count in the killing department and lots more action. It also stars a one-armed swordsman played by star Shintaro Katsu’s brother Tomisaburo Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub), who also plays Zatoichi's rival and outlaw whom he will have to fight in a duel-as established in the first installment. Once again there is a potential love interest that go unrequited. Apparently this is one of the best loved film in the series-I haven't seen enough of the films to make a definitive statement about that yet, however, I found the violence some what gratuitous compared to the first film which meted out the violence conservatively. The film ends unconventionally with a sword fight in progress.