#Hanzo the Razor: Who’s Got the Gold?

[cinemajunkie70]

A very happy birthday in the afterlife to Shintaro Katsu!

[chernobog13]

Shintaro Katsu as Hanzo the Razor.

Hanzo was the star of a trilogy of films - Hanzo the Razor (1972); Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973); and Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got The Gold? (1974) - based on a manga created by Koike Kazuo, creator of Lone Wolf and Cub (among many others).

Hanzo was an Edo period Dirty Harry-style constable, who was incorruptible and had a strong sense of justice. He was endowed with what could be referred to as a fifth limb, which he utilized when "interrrogating" female suspects and criminals. Invariably, those women then fell deeply in love with Hanzo.

These are very much exploitation films, with the requisite bloodshed, violence, and misogyny. Hanzo is NOT cut from the same cloth as Zatoichi, Katsushin's most famous character, so Zatoichi fans should be aware of that if they wish to watch this trilogy. Definitely not for everyone, but definitely have to be seen to be believed.

[justfilms]

Hanzo the Razor: Who’s Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[brody75]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold? (1974)

[cultfaction]

Sonny Chiba passes away aged 82

Sonny Chiba passes away aged 82

It is Cult Faction’s sad duty to report that Hanzo the Razor himself, Sonny Chiba, has passed away at the age of 82 years old from a Covid-related illness. The sad news was broken by his agent. Chiba garnered world-wide fame for his role as Hanzo the Razor in Sword of Justice (1972), The Snare (1973), and Who’s Got the Gold? (1974).  Decades later he appeared as Hanzo the Razor’s descendent…

[batkatbrown]

Beyond the Sea C21

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13837683/chapters/34053087

Thank you Joseph on my Patreon for this chapter!

[[ Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven| Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen | Part Twenty ]]

Sweat dripped down Hanzo’s face as he hiked down the long, rocky trail to the beach. The sun burned against his back but it was worth it to hear Jesse getting more and more excited. The tiny merman wriggled in the makeshift sling over Hanzo’s chest.

“I can’t wait to be back in the ocean.”

“It is close to where you came from?” Hanzo huffed out as he jumped from rock to rock down a steep hill.

“Not too far from here, i think at least?” Jesse’s tail slapped against Hanzo’s chest, right over his heart. “Things got kinda… weird when the curse happened. I’ve seen this shore before. I know I have.”

“Maybe things will be clearer once you are in the saltwater?” Hanzo cupped Jesse tighter to his chest before leaping into the open air. His stomach swooped and his heart fluttered before he landed with a bounce on the warm sand.

Tall grass waved gently in the breeze on the dunes. The sand shifted under his feet and he took to the more stabilized land. The ocean was a silver of silvery green spreading out forever towards the horizon.

“We’re almost there.” Hanzo adjusted Jesse so that he was high enough to see out.

“It’s… beautiful.” Jesse’s voice cracked and tumbled to a rocky landing. “I can hear the song, i can feel it.”

“We’re almost there,” Hanzo picked up his feet and ran for the shore. The water splashed and danced with sparkling light. It welcomed them closer. The tide was out and a myriad of pools shimmered safe from the wild current of the open ocean.

Hanzo fell to his knees in front of the closest one. Sea life wriggled through the clear water from delicate plants to the scuttling of tiny creatures. There was nothing big enough to hurt Jesse, at least not that he could sense and he lowered the merman into the water.

-

Jesse hollered wild and free as he dove into the water with barely a splash. A sharp wave of his tail and he zoomed down to the bottom of the pool. Wings of sand burst around him as he dipped his finger tips into the bottom of the pool. It stirred up the scents and he took a greedy breath. His gills fluttered and expanded to take it all in.

Diving to the bottom, he raced through the water. Each little cave he darted into to explore and taste the fresh sea water. He nabbed a minnow and crunched through it with a satisfied smile. He darted down a tunnel and popped out in another tidal pool. He dove to rub his belly and tail against the sand.

Dead scales and bits of artificial sand slide off. Jesse wriggled into the bed, almost covering himself. It was filled with the minerals and salt of the sea. Of a place near his birth that he had been missing for so long.

He could taste the far off waves that lapped against coral reefs and spiralling palaces carved from the bones of the ancient sea gods. His own little cave tucked away in a remote outcropping of stone where the predators wouldn’t bother to look.

The call reverberated in Jesse’s bones and he turned to stare. His gaze went passed the tidal pools walls and through the hundreds of connecting tunnels and caves to the wide open ocean. Swirling passed wrecked ships and schools of fish to where he had once made his home.

A shadow flashed across him and Jesse dove for the cover of a rock overhang. A razor sharp beak cut through the water where he had been and darted away with only sand for its efforts.

That was different than before. He had once been enough to scare off most creatures and patrol his territory with ease. Pain lanced through his left hand and up his arm. He clutched at the missing limb and curled forward around the pain.

The witch had taken this from him too.

His jaw throbbed as he clenched his teeth and he lashed out. The end of his arm caught on the rock and blood flowed, he ripped into the stump with his teeth. It taste was foul like sulfur and greasy as black either. He was not made to be left unwhole. He was part of the sea. Part of the waves and a the being birthed in the heat of the underwater volcanoes.

Jesse roared and the water around him churned. He sucked in the song of his home and it bellowed from inside him out. Scales burst out of the bloody stump and raced down over a framework of magic. It seared and burned the water. Blinding light turned the tidal pool into a shimmering haze but Jesse watched, chest thundering in time to the beat of life.

Thousands of tiny scales built upon themselves, thickening as his arm was created of the magic his people all controlled. Red and gold, they flashed and swirled as his wrist was created and then his hand. It burned as nerves connected and white energy slashed across him. He bucked and rolled, clutching at the water, the sand, the seaweed.

It ended with a flash of golden light and Jesse collapsed on the bottom of the tidal pool. Chest heaving, Jesse blinked spots out of his eyes. They formed strange patterns, like veins branching out and the willowy billow of soft fins.

Jesse raised his left hand up to his face. It was not like his right. It was different. Heavy claws extended from his fingertips and armored plating of thick wide scales fanned around his forearm. He scratched it with a nearby shard of rock and laughed as it bounced off. He flexed his new hand before slashing at the coral next to him.

Chunks fell to the floor, perfectly sliced from the formation. He hummed to the sea’s tune as he picked up the pieces and ran his real hand over it. The slight kerf marks confirmed that it had been sliced and he shifted to touch the new claws.

He was whole again.

Tiny.

But fully himself for the first time in… he wasn’t sure how long he had been this way. Now that he was in the sea, everything was fresh and clear and real in a way that cast the past in muted tones.

The scent of a hermit crab caught his attention and he veered to hunt into the dense vegetation. The thrill of the hunt burned in his lungs and he charged after the new freedom. He could balance and turn easily, no longer slowed down and twisted by unequal power. The crab was near. In another pool and he darted into a narrow tunnel. He reveled in the speed. Nothing was like the water’s embrace as it slide past his powerful shoulders and tail.

Fins expanded to slow him as he circled for the spot where a tasty little treat had disappeared. His fangs pushed out further and his jaw unhinged in preparation. He would feast and reclaim his position of power in this tiny terrain.

“Jesse?”

The merman looked up, through the waving green fronds and through the bubbling water to the surface. Hanzo’s distorted face hovered near the edge of the tidal pool. Eyebrows bunched and drawn over his nose, mouth a sharp frown and hand in the water.

His darling Hanzo was worried. He couldn’t let that stand.

He kicked off the bottom with his tail and launched himself to fresh air. “Hanzo!” he laughed, waving his arms. “Hanzo, I’m right here.”

Hanzo cursed sharply in japanese and all the tension went out of his companion’s face and the man crumpled to rest both hands inside the water. The sprig of his bangs floated over the surface and a shaky laugh bubbled out.

“Are you… Hanzo, are you okay?” Jesse kept himself up with his tail and reached out to touch Hanzo’s forearm. He pet over the dragon tattoo there, looking up at the man who had done so much for him. The bloodlust fell away and was replaced with concern.

“I couldn’t find you and I saw the heron dive--”

A tear splashed into the water and ripples flooded out to knock gently on Jesse’s side. “I am just… i feared this would be too dangerous.”

Jesse cooed softly, humming aimlessly as he stroked Hanzo’s forearm. He was careful of his new armored hand. “I’m not gonna get caught by some bird. Definitely not with this.” He held up his arm, spreading his hand to show off the shimmering red.

“How?”

“This is my type of magic, darlin’. And the Witch had better watch her back.”

[[ Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven| Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen | Part Twenty ]]

Fund the Next part on Ko-fi.com HERE

[fourstarvideocoop]

4/13

Action U.S.A Ammonite A Better Tomorrow 2 Scream Blacula Scream Hanzo The Razor: The Snare Hanzo The Razor: Who's Got The Gold? History Is Made At Night (Criterion) I Blame Society My Little Sister Robolove Oliver Sacks: His Own Life Willy's Wonderland

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[may8chan]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

[justfilms]

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?