(by bighouseaz on 21 January 2005)

For those of who have viewed and enjoyed the first 8 films in the series, this entry doesn't have many surprises. Yet, I still enjoyed Adventures of Zatoichi thoroughly.
The film's strength is in the fine ensemble of characters throughout. I especially enjoyed the two traditional comedians at the beginning of the film. In addition, the boss has two very interesting yojimbos. The newly hired yojimbo has to be one of the smartest in the complete series. After watching Zatoichi fight several times, he calmly informs Zatoichi that he has no desire to fight him because he isn't getting paid enough. He then amicably turns away and walks off into the mountains! The more senior yojimbo is unhappy with his prospects as a third son of a low ranking samurai. He shares this information over a few cups of sake that Zatoichi offers him. In the end, this is the big duel at the end of the film. The duel takes place at night, with swirling snow. It's a great scene.
If you have seen a few entries in the series and are looking for something different, keep looking! If you like the formula of the series and haven't seen this entry yet, you should find this film very enjoyable.