#ZATOICHI

[lanada]

Zatoichi meets Yojimbo | Kihachi Okamoto 1970

[spaceshiprocket]

Zatoichi by Paul Pope

[chernobog13]

Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) duels the samurai Akazuka (Jushiro Konoe) in the climax of Zatoichi Challenged (1967), the seventeenth film of the 26-film series.

This duel was one of the longest of the longest one-on-one fights in the series. Zatoichi and Akazuka were good friends and had great respect for each other, but - as usual in the Zatoichi films - circumstances forced them to opposing sides.

What also makes this duel so outstanding is that both actors were excellent swordsmen themselves.

The Rutger Hauer film, Blind Fury (1989), is loosely based on Zatoichi Challenged, albeit set in modern times.

[theactioneer]

Blind Fury chirashi (Phillip Noyce, 1990)

[bowelfly]

it took like 7 months but @salavante and i finally finished watching all 26 of shintarō katsu's zatoichi movies plus the 1989 american adaptation of #17 starring rutger hauer, blind fury. i might eventually get around to watching the 2003 takeshi kitano adaptation but i hear all the blood in that one is digital and i only truck with real squibs.

i do honestly think that in a just world the zatoichi series would occupy the same contemporary online pop cultural niche as columbo, since both series are formulaic in a real cozy way and both hit the same pleasure centers of watching a fucked up little goblin man bumble around and ruin the lives of rich and powerful assholes. there's just a lot more stabbing in zatoichi.

anyway to commemorate i made a zatoichi themed greenbrier mouse and you have no idea how much it kills me that i cant call it Ratoichi.

[redsamuraiii]

Do you know the "Zatochi" technique introduced in Star Wars : Ahsoka, is inspired by a blind swordsman from a classic Japanese film called Zatoichi?

In episode 3 of Ahsoka, Ahsoka trained Sabine Wren in the "Zatochi" technique to rely on senses beyond sight, which is similar to Zatoichi who defeated his enemies with his sword even when he is blind.

The technique is used by Kanan Jarrus when he was blinded by the former Sith Lord, Maul in Star Wars Rebels, by Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One and later by Obi Wan to teach Luke in A New Hope.

It highlights the significance in the franchise's canon and honour George Lucas original inspirations from classic Japanese Samurai films, which continues to influence the Star Wars Universe.

[skeletonfumes]

Zatoichi Challenged [座頭市血煙り街道] (1967) Kenji Misumi

[sneakygauntlet-blog]

When you think you've got this life thing down.

[okosen]

[nezumikozo6th]

Pulptober 2024 Day 29-Justice at Gunpoint-Zatoichi

Zatoichi is a typical grassroots hero.He wanders around and makes a living by giving massages,often fights against villains for the oppressed based on kindness and mortality,and makes friends or enemies with many underground person.Like the heroes of the American West,he often quickly drew his weapon and defeated his enemies with one blow,but instead of a gun,he used a sword hidden in his white cane.

He didn't always decide to kill his opponent the first time,and in more gentle situations,he could intimidate his enemies with his amazing iaido feats,however,Japan in the Edo period was just like the 19th American West,you couldn't always expect to find law enforcers when violence and oppression occurred,so a large number of villains died under Zatoichi's sword.In some cases that he will be attacked by gangsters for reasons such as "Killing Zatoichi will make a man famous",so he also eliminates those bad guys when he defends himself.

In addition to the extraordinary hearing that is difficult for blind people to achieve in reality,the most amazing ability of Zatoichi is the iaido skills that is beyond common sense in terms of speed and accuracy.Iaido is a martial art in reality,but Zatoichi is undoubtedly the landmark character who made that swordsmanship popular in pop culture.His image as a blind swordsman with a preparation sword(仕込み刀) also influenced many works of later.

The earliest manga character I know of that was inspired by him was Ichi from "Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae",a blind anma masseur who is also a master swordsman,the Zatoichi in this work.The image of Goemon Ishikawa in real folklore is more like a ninja than a samurai or swordsman,but his fictional thirteenth-generation descendant with the same name from Lupin III is a iaido master like Zatoichi,and has the same unique posture of holding the sword by backhand that Japanese swordsmanship doesn't possess in reality(Note that his sword is shirasaya but not preparation sword)."Syura Yuki" Oyuki from Lady Snowblood also has the same posture and a preparation sword.Issho aka Fujitora from One Piece was inspired by Zatoichi and his appearance is based on Shintaro Katsu,who played Zatoichi.Mamoru Hizikata from Until Death Do Us Part is a bit like a combination of Zatoichi and Goemon Ishikawa Xiii,since he is a blind swordsman who relies on high-tech glasses and extraordinary hearing,and has a sword of extraordinary construction and sharpness.Takamura from the more recent manga Sakamoto Days also clearly pays homage to Zatoichi.Don’t forget there’s also an American movie Blind Fury which is a modernized remake of a Zatoichi movie,the protagonist Nick Parker is a veteran who was blinded by war,and that background can't prevent him from using his other senses to fight with a sword but not gun.

Blind Fury,1989 movie

Issho aka Fujitora,the Zatoichi/Shintaro Katsu of One Piece

"Zatoichi",2003 film,Takeshi Kitano is the director, screenwriter and actor of Zatoichi

[bjorkshandy]

[twilightronin]

Zatoichi Challenged - Kenji Misumi 1967

[zatoichishintarokatsu]

[chernobog13]

Zatoichi showing a bunch of yakuza the error of their ways in The New Tale of Zatoichi (1963).

This is the third film in the 26-film series, and the first filmed in color.

[curatorofthisdigitalmorass]

Tony Stella

[razzek]

inspired by your tags on that gifset about blue eyed samurai: please tell me about the best and worst blind representation in media according to you

Had to wait until I was at a keyboard and had the energy for this one haha.

Honestly, most blind rep is bad, to the extent that I avoid anything touting a blind character on instinct. Unless another blind person is recommending it, I prep myself to endure, at best, a lot of tedious stereotyping, and at worst something that will genuinely make me angry. I'm always surprised when I can unclench a bit over a blind character and be able to say just "eh he's alright".

But! There are a few blind characters I do like! While they are not perfect and somewhat fall into the realm of "blind in name only" (where magic or something else makes them function more like a sighted person), Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender and Terezi Pyrope of Homestuck get my nod of approval. While they both have some abilities that make them seem more sighted (Toph's earthbending, Terezi's super smelling/tasting), I find they get at some of the heart of what it's like to be blind. Toph has a viciously sharp sense of humor and leans into peoples' low expectations to tear them apart and the show isn't afraid to crack a few genuinely funny jokes about blindness. Similarly, Terezi is a delightful smartass who actually uses a white cane correctly (woohoo!) while taking advantage of peoples' ignorances. And both of them have friends who treat them as people first, which is incredibly rare in any media we're in. Terezi also has a very powerful moment in which she undoes a magical cure for blindness, something I have never seen anywhere else, which makes her stronger but also strikes at something the able bodied community always takes for granted: maybe we don't want to live in your world. That moment by itself was enough to have me make an homage to Terezi in my legal name when I changed it.

I have only seen the one movie so far but I like what I've encountered of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. The stereotypes he falls into are not western ones so that kind of helps, and he has a fantastic confidence which he masks by playing up being a helpless blind man. It's very satisfying to watch him kick ass endlessly. :D

Also Gareth or whatever his name is from Quest for Camelot; it's a dumb movie but I will always give extra points for a character using a cane like we actually use them! The movie gets points for not curing his blindness and for a joke I quote to this day ("What are you doing?!" "I'm driving!"). XD Points lost for face touching though, GOD. Stop doing that, sighted people! It's weird and gross and the only time I ever want to touch anyone's face is with my fist!

In terms of the worst, if I ever meet the author of this one book I read which featured a totally helpless, whining blinded knight who becomes a total asshole when he's magically healed (also fuck magically curing disabilities), I will beat them over the head with their own shitty book and then make them eat it one page at a time. I didn't even finish that pile of trash, it made me so angry. Oh, and the entire book/movie titled Blindness. I'm glad that motherfucker is dead because fuck that guy. Not only is it a massive insult to the blind, it shits on what people are really like in a crisis. Honorable mention to that one very dumb movie where the blind war veteran is the movie monster, but it is at least good for a ton of laughs right up until it just veers off a cliff into "what the fuck?!" canyon, after which it is just a singularity of stupid.