The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962) (2024)

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• Review by matt lynch ★★★★

  Remember, his name is just Ichi. The Zato denotes a social rank amongst other sightless people. It literally means "lowest blind man". His condition is almost novel in that it isn't a metaphor here for karmic justice or the Grim Specter of Death (tm). It doesn't offer him a measure of moral objectivity. It's just the fact of his existence. He's ostracized, discriminated against, and underestimated. People see it before his skill with a blade, and it's the cause of all of his pain and the catalyst for a lot of violence. It's telling that he seems only to forge transitory relationships with the oppressed (often women) and the sick or malformed.

  This packs a lot of fighting into a…

• Review by sakana1 ★★★★ 9

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Spoilers ahead.

  The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is an action movie about a blind swordsman's triumph, but it's also a film that's unrelentingly mournful. A year has passed since the events of The Tale of Zatoichi, and this sequel finds Ichi making a pilgrimage back to the same town where so many deaths occurred, driven by a need to pray at the grave of Hirate, the samurai he killed as that film drew to a close.

  As he travels, Ichi unearths other regrets and losses, too, many from deep in his past. He encounters a geisha who smells and, he later discovers, looks like a girl he loved long ago, a girl who married a man he hated. The sensation…

• Review by Blaze the Action Junkie ★★★★

  Where Zatoichi 1 built the character of Ichi for us, Zatoichi 2 built his legend. Most of Zatoichi 1 was spent showing us who Ichi is. Zatoichi 2 is filled with encounters between Ichi and groups of hostile Yakuza after his life as he returns one year later to the shrine of his dead Samurai friend whom he killed at the end of Zatoichi 1. On top of being hunted by groups of Yakuza, Ichi also has to deal with his murdering brother in this one, a one-armed samurai (not THE one-armed swordsman, that encounter happens in Zatoichi 22). This is a fantastic action packed Zatoichi episode, one I consider better than the first.

  'Ichi! What makes you so brave?'
  'You know the saying. A blind man does not fear snakes.'

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• Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★½

  Cinematic Time Capsule1962 Marathon - Film #66

  ”Master swordsmen or not, we still outnumber him”

  Oh, those silly yakusa, will they never learn? Especially, those last couple of guys who just watched all 15 of their fellow gang members slaughtered by this one blind man, and yet they still run at him like they might have a chance??? 🤣

  Yep, Zatoichi’s back for a second set of adventures and this time Shintarō Katsu is joined by his real-life brother Tomisaburō Wakayama who would later go on to star in the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' series as the outlaw Ogami Itto.

  This second outing is faster paced with bigger action, but a slightly less interesting story. However, it’s still a great adventure, even if you’re the last delusional henchmen left standing…

  ”Remember I’m blind, so you’ll have to make the first move”

  
  Long Live Physical Media

  Cinematic Time Capsule - 1962 Ranked

• Review by threepenny ★★★★ 2

  The second Zatoichi movie is a direct continuation of the first, in which he returns to the scene of the gang battle one year later to pay tribute to his fallen friend. Also, there were a lot of assholes still alive at the end of the first one and they all needed killing, so the trip was really a two birds/one stone kind of thing. In the later movies he cleans house a lot more thoroughly, no need for a follow-up movie for loose ends.

  We learn more about Zatoichi: There was a girl, Ochiyo, the love of his life, who ran away with the man they both hated most: his brother. He runs into a prostitute who reminds him…

• Review by comrade_yui ★★★

  zatoichi goes out of his way to respect sex workers, what a nice fellow!

• Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★★

  You know the saying: "A blind man does not fear snakes."
  -Zatôichi

  I loved the first Tale of Zatôichi and thought this huge series was off to one hell of a start. I had no idea how well the second film would play off of it. It's not just the second film in a series but a direct sequel that builds on what's already been established by adding to it's past, present and future of Zatôichi's mythos... and just making everything more kick ass.

  The directing duties go from Kenji Misumi to Kazuo Mori, but the tone and atmosphere survive. What seems to start out as "just another adventure" quickly comes full circle with very direct ties to the first…

• Review by Austin Langdon ★★★ 4

  A worthy successor but lacking in the tonal brilliance and subtlety of the first one. The best parts of this movie are those moments of guilt, remorse, and reminiscence which carry on from the first. Those tend to resonate quite well.

  It feels hurried and sloppy at times, largely because of how quickly it was made following the success of the first. But it’s a good enough sequel to maintain ones interest in the character and his story. A solid enough entry.

• Review by Robert Franco 1

  in an ideal world there would be an american version of the zatoichi series starring steven seagal as the blind swordsman.

• Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★★

  In true sequel mode, this time it is personal with Ichi getting pitted against his brother. This is leaner (more than 20 minutes shorter), more action packed and with a stronger B movie feel. Kazuo Mori, who was making samurai films since the silent days, takes over the direction. Despite more action (the final twenty minutes are amazing), I’m impressed by how this can still find time to stop for grace notes, to just feel nature and past regret.

• Review by Cinema_Strikes ★★★ 9

  Zatoichi Mega-Rewatch 2

  Quickie sequel is solid but has a hasty end and an unsatisfying plot involving Zatoichi massaging a Daimyo whose underlings are trying to conceal his mental incapacity. Boss Sukegoro and Otane reappear from the first film in glorified cameos - what will be an increasingly rare bit of continuity - and there’s some clumsy flashback narration/exposition. The black and white photography is pretty, but not on the level of the previous film.

  Katsu’s Zatoichi is feeling more familiar, he’s a bit less hostile, but still not as self-effacing as he’ll become. He hasn’t yet started to play the buffoon to make his opponents underestimate him. But we get the first big battle finale where Zat must face…

• Review by Tao A ★★★½ 5

  It only took two movies for Zatoichi to become my favorite movie (or perhaps even fiction in general) character of all time, he’s a total badass but there’s a kindness and innocence to him that you don’t see in most "action" (very liberal use of the term here) heroes especially western ones and Shintaro Katsu’s facial expressions and body language just sells his performance as this iconic character 100%. He’s not just macho man #15,427 and in both of these movies so far he’s either caught in a conflict that he didn’t want to be a part of, or dealing with the aftermaths of the actions from his past. He’s very much a hero by circumstance, not by choice which…