After two and a half years, I've finally been able to complete the original Zatoichi saga! Zatoichi's Conspiracy (he doesn't actually partake in the conspiracy here), directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda, is the final movie of the original Zatoichi theatrical run (but not the final Zatoichi film with Shintaro Katsu). His adventures continued in the form of a television series, which I'm not interested in so I'm going to skip on that.
The plot here is, as you'd expect, similar to other entries. Zatoichi goes to a town and fights criminals. In this film, however, the place he visits is his home town and we get to find out a bit or two about his past. It's one of the more elegant and melancholic films of the series, partly because the music returns to the orchestral form after the funky experimentations in the earlier few films. One interesting thing is that, despite saying he hasn't been in his home town for 20 years, he already visited his home town and the old lady who raised him back in the third movie, so either his memory is fuzzy or the Zatoichi series aren't meant to be too consistent in canon, and are more like tall tales whose details are lost in re-telling (to borrow the theory from The Jidai-Geki Knights).
Also, this is one of my favorites of the saga. The fights are very well done and the final ten minutes are very exciting, for sure one of the best Zatoichi finales. The coffee palette color scheme that Kimiyoshi Yasuda's Zatoichi films are known for is improved by most of the scenes here being shrouded in darkness, and the story is pretty interesting to follow. The fact that the enemies here aren't just the yakuza thugs but pretty much the establishment itself also makes it stand out. However, some of the characters here just aren't necessary; the obligatory black- clad mystery ronin (who barely even appears here), and a small band of thugs whom the film could've done without.
Highlight of the film: the final battle, in this case.
The plot here is, as you'd expect, similar to other entries. Zatoichi goes to a town and fights criminals. In this film, however, the place he visits is his home town and we get to find out a bit or two about his past. It's one of the more elegant and melancholic films of the series, partly because the music returns to the orchestral form after the funky experimentations in the earlier few films. One interesting thing is that, despite saying he hasn't been in his home town for 20 years, he already visited his home town and the old lady who raised him back in the third movie, so either his memory is fuzzy or the Zatoichi series aren't meant to be too consistent in canon, and are more like tall tales whose details are lost in re-telling (to borrow the theory from The Jidai-Geki Knights).
Also, this is one of my favorites of the saga. The fights are very well done and the final ten minutes are very exciting, for sure one of the best Zatoichi finales. The coffee palette color scheme that Kimiyoshi Yasuda's Zatoichi films are known for is improved by most of the scenes here being shrouded in darkness, and the story is pretty interesting to follow. The fact that the enemies here aren't just the yakuza thugs but pretty much the establishment itself also makes it stand out. However, some of the characters here just aren't necessary; the obligatory black- clad mystery ronin (who barely even appears here), and a small band of thugs whom the film could've done without.
Highlight of the film: the final battle, in this case.