Shintaro Katsu first portrayed the blind swordsman Zatoichi in 1962 in the film The Tale of Zatoichi.  Over the next 10 years, Katsu would star in 24 more Zatoichi films and become one of the biggest stars in Japan.  After being off the silver screen for a decade and a half, Zatoichi returned in the final film of the series, 1989's Zatoichi (Also known as Zatoichi 26.)  Tokyo Shock has released this movie on DVD under the title Zatoichi:  Darkness is his Ally.
 
After being released from jail for a minor offense, Zatoichi continues his wanderings.  He meets up with an old friend who returns some money that he had left the last time they had met.  With his newfound wealth, the bind masseuse visits the local gambling parlor and has a good streak of luck.  But when he manages to trick the establishment into losing a large sum of money, a price is put on his head.

If that wasn't enough, Zatoichi finds himself caught between two rival factions of Yakuza vying for dominance in a region.  A crooked government official has been selling guns to the gangsters, and the whole area is ready to erupt in violence.   Add to this mix an unemployed samurai who befriends Zatoichi before being hired by the Yakuza, and you have the formula for an action packed film.

While I enjoyed this movie, I couldn't help thinking that it was an amalgam of all the Zatoichi movies that had come before it.  It was almost as if Katsu (who wrote and directed the film in addition to staring in it) had selected the best scenes from the previous movies and strung them together for one 'best of' movie.  There are scenes with Zatoichi blowing out his lantern and fighting a group of Yakuza in the dark, Zatoichi befriending a wandering samurai who is later charged with killing the blind masseuse, and Zatoichi protecting children at the risk of his life.  These are all good scenes, but when taken together, it makes the film seem formulistic, something that the other 25 films (at least the ones that I have seen) managed to avoid.

This entry in the series was also much bloodier then the earliest films, which was disappointing to me a bit.  A lot of the gore seemed rather gratuitous.  In one scene a nose that Zatoichi has severed flies across the room and sticks to the wall.  There are rivers of blood as arterial sprays splash across the screen.  While the Zatoichi films had always had a large amount of violence, I thought the gore content went beyond realistic and became almost a joke.

It was also hard to suspend my disbelief during the climactic battle at the end.  I have always liked the scenes where Zatoichi, surrounded and outnumbered, slays half a dozen assailants with his sword, but this scene goes way beyond that.  He takes on a small army single-handedly, running through the village, and ducking down side streets when he starts to feel overwhelmed.  Have they forgotten that he's blind?

Even with these criticisms, the movie was enjoyable.  Katsu was a good director, and there were many powerful scenes in the film.  The opening scene where the imprisoned Zatoichi has his food stolen and soup poured onto the ground is an excellent example.  The hero has no choice but to kneel down and suck up what he can off the filthy floor.  Even being a master swordsman won't prevent you from going hungry.

Shintaro Katsu did an excellent job in this film, as he did in the previous installments.  He was able to project Zatoichi's loneliness and isolation with just his facial expression.  But Zatoichi isn't a pitiful person.  Katsu instills a lot of humor into his character too, but the most amazing thing to me was his physical ability.  Katsu was surprisingly spry for someone approaching 60 when the film was made.  He is still able to pull off all the stunts and swordplay that he didn't twenty years earlier, with it looking very natural.  Zatoichi's upside-down sword grip and lighting fast draws are still as exciting as they were in the earlier films.

There is not a lot in this film that adds much to the story of Zatoichi, and this movie doesn't bring closure to the whole series.  While I would have like to have seen the final fate of this wandering blind man, this last movie is a solid entry into the series, if for no other reason than to see an aging Shintaro Katsu play his most famous character in the later part of his life.
 

This movie is presented in the original Japanese with optional English subtitles.  The stereo soundtrack was not as dynamic as I was hoping it would be, but it still had a good deal of punch.  The high-pitched song of the traditional Japanese singer came through well, as did the lower sounds in the battle scenes.  A good sounding, if not outstanding DVD.

Video:

The widescreen anamorphic picture is slightly dark, with some details being lost in the shadows.  There are instances of slight print imperfections, a few specks and an errant scratch or two, but these don't distract from the movie.  A nice looking transfer otherwise.

The Extras:

In addition to the movie, this DVD has a selection of trailers, and a nearly 12 minute reel of the history of Zatoichi as told through lobby cards, movie posters, record covers and an occasional production still.  It was neat to see all the posters and merchandise that Zaotichi had spawned.

Final Thoughts:

With this movie the series came to an end.  I have to admit that I was a little bit sad as the ending credits rolled, knowing that Katsu would never more portray his blind swordsman (he died in 1997.)  Though this wasn't my favorite Zatoichi movie, it was still an entertaining film.  Fans of the series will want to pick it up for sure, and it comes recommended to more casual viewers of the genre.