Many people I otherwise respect believe this is among the best Zatoichi movies: I have yet to see one I didn't like, but somehow this one is just not as pleasing to me as many of the others. (Possibly my DVD is not the very best.) In any case, the behavior of Zatoichi is quite a bit more foolish and bloodthirsty than usual, and the skill level and intelligence of the one armed swordsman (Jimmy Wang Yu) are reduced from that in his own films, so that his fate is perhaps other than what it would be in a film made by and for the Chinese. To my taste, Jimmy Wang Yu's charisma is invisible.
All this being said, this is a reasonably good film, and should not disappoint greatly.
All this being said, this is a reasonably good film, and should not disappoint greatly.