After starring in fifteen Zatoichi films, Shintaro Katsu formed the Katsu Production Company and began producing his own films beginning with Zatoichi the Outlaw in 1967. This production marks a slight stylistic change from previous efforts with a more complex story and the inclusion of montage sequences, one of which features Katsu himself singing on the soundtrack. More familiar staples of the series such as Ichi’s incredible feats of skill are present, along with some of the bloodiest action yet.

Ichi (Shintaro Katsu) enters a familiar situation of gambling thugs and corrupt officials exploiting the innocent peasants by cheating them into debt and taking away their land, but he also encounters two different champions of the people who are on opposite ends of the social spectrum. One is Shusai Ohara, a sword-less ronin modeled after a real-life, 18th-century agriculturalist named Yagaku Ohara. Ohara compels his followers to give up vice and adhere to more efficient farming practices. The other champion is Asagoro (Rentaro Mikuni), a seemingly benevolent gambler who offers to pay the farmers’ debts. This induces Ichi to cut down the gambler’s main rival, thus handing control of the town to Asagoro.

The story takes on a broader dynamic as Ichi continues on with his travels and finds work with a group of crass anmas (blind masseuses). Here, he is “adopted” by a pretty young woman, entertains a drunkard by playing a shamisen (banjo), and is solicited to become a yojimbo (bodyguard) by his boss. But a failed attempt by a farmer to kill Ichi and a woman’s hatred for him after being forced into prostitution makes him realize that his “friend” Asagoro had only used him. Ichi returns to the village he left to find the peasants even more oppressed and Ohara arrested and wrongly accused of plotting insurrection. Ichi confronts Asagoro and is literally carried away by the farmers in a desperate attempt to rescue Ohara before it’s too late.

Audiences familiar with the series up to this point know the standard formula. Blind swordsman walks into situation where bad people are doing bad things to good people and he in turn does bad things to bad people for the good of the… good people. Good, bad – Ichi’s the guy with the cane sword and the skills to use it and that’s all that really matters. Zatoichi the Outlaw presents a more complicated situation, a little too complicated in fact and this steals away some of the magic that usually makes the series so much fun. Part of the problem is that Ichi is less-connected than usual with the people he is trying to help. Instead of building tighter relationships, the film drops Ichi into situations that are entertaining, but have nothing to do with the main plot.

Despite the unfocused narrative, there are still plenty of memorable action and comedy scenes to maintain interest. A dice game has Ichi beating the house’s scam by slicing the dice in half without anyone noticing. The movement is actually a little sloppy, but the intent and follow through is what sells it. Another scene has Ichi spearing a moth with a toothpick while making vague comparisons between the creature and the nervous gambling boss who is entertaining him. The middle part of the film has a series of comedy bits that include Ichi ducking out of a free-for-all brawl between clowning anmas and Ichi entertaining an obnoxious drunkard. In a futile effort to get Ichi to crawl around like a dog, the man starts tossing gold coins at Ichi while our hero plays the shamisen. Without missing a beat, Ichi simply swaps his pick for the coins in a series of lightening-fast movements and keeps on playing.

Katsu is in good form with his swordplay as usual, while the gore level gets cranked up. This film contains graphic shots of arms getting lopped off and one beheading with goops of blood spurting out of a headless torso. Most of the action is near the end with Katsu making a spectacular entrance on the finale where in one fluid motion he slides off a platform carried by peasants and lays into several enemies with a spinning swipe of his cane sword. There is no arch-nemesis he must contend with, but he does nearly lose a leg thanks to a cowardly attack from ground level.

This film also reveals a little more about Ichi, the character and his abilities. There is brief discussion of being bullied as a blind child and open acknowledgement of his style of sword fighting which is known as lai (AKA laijutsu), the art of drawing a sword and striking a target in a single motion.

Zatoichi the Outlaw is a decent entry in the series, although the story seems unnecessarily complicated by too many characters and not enough interaction with Ichi. It’s great to see Katsu get more graphic with the violence, yet this may seem a little cartoony or excessive to some. The decision to have Ichi interact with a historical character like Ohara is a welcome one and presages even better meetings to come, specifically between Ichi and other heroes like Yojimbo and The One-Armed Swordsman.

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