Zatoichi Goes To The Fire Festival

It seems that the 21st installment of the Zatoichi series, Zatoichi Goes To The Fire Festival (1970) is considered a fan favorite. The film is in the capable hands of veteran Zatoichi director Kenji Misumi (The Tale of Zatoichi, etc.) and cinematographer extraordinaire, Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon). Furthermore, it features some big stars of the cinema in Tatsuya Nakadai (Yojimbo and Harakiri) as the vengeful wandering ronin looking to avenge his wife's ex-lovers for honor and the blind evil yakuza boss, Yamikubo (Masayuki Mori famed for Ugetsu and Rashomon) who Zaotoichi must (Shintaro Katsu) must defeat. It wouldn't be a Zatoichi film if there wasn't a love interest-Okiyo (Reiko Ohara). There's a curious side story involving an androgynous transvestite, Peter, who tries to seduce Zatoichi in order to kill him after he tried to get him to help him join the yakuza and was duped. It seems to be a little bit from left field for the series, which usually plays it straight. As usual the cinematography is top notch with several scenes that were filmed on location outdoors during the summer in the mountains and near streams and in post town sets. Apparently the bath house fight scene is much loved, however, I found it a bit gimmicky and over the top. The body count seems to be ratcheted up a bit in this film as well (I guess his has been a constant since Katsu productions took over-got make the star look good). There isn't a fire festival per se, but the climax takes place on a lake of fire that Zatoichi escapes from and exacts his revenge. But I guess despite those short comings, I too, would consider this one of the better films in the entertaining series.