By | Published March 8, 2010

Toho has released the first trailer for ZATOICHI THE LAST, a chambara movie starring SMAP pop star Shingo Katori as long-enduring fictional hero Zatoichi the blind swordsman. Ichi was first adapted into a screen character and made famous by the late, great Shintaro Katsu over the course of 26 films beginning in 1962, and a continuing TV series that began airing in 1974. More recently there have been revivals of the character with new actors. Takeski Kitano portrayed the blind swordsman in ZATOICHI (2003) and Haruka Ayase played a female version in ICHI (2008). Producer Toshiaki Nakazawa has stated this latest attempt will be the final appearance for Ichi in any media form.(We’ll see how long that lasts.) ZATOICHI THE LAST is scheduled for theatrical release in Japan on May 29, 2010.

To see what else pop star and actor Shingo Katori has been up to of late, here he is in a bizarre TV ad for Dole bananas.

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  • Antihero

    Seems to be gone now. :

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    What do you mean? Both videos should be loading properly.

  • MasatoTheSilverWolf

    ARATA AND ZEEBRA ARE IN THI SCRAZY 2 OF THE BEST JAPANESE EMCEES ARE IN THIS MOVIE AWESOME

  • Antihero

    It's working now.

  • arapper?

    Wait, ARATA does rap? Is he the same ARATA that used to perform with Living Legends crew in the 90's? I thought I'd dug into this and confirmed that this ARATA was not a rapper.

  • http://goldenpigsy.blogspot.com GoldenPigsy

    Not sure about the costuming or cinematography in this. I'm also a bit worried that Shingo Katori's performance will just devolve into an imitation of Shintaro Katsu.

    I think I'd actually be happier with Miike doing this like he said he wanted to way back when. Give me something vile and weird before a toothless retread, please.