Product Details

• Actors: Shintarô Katsu, Yaeko Mizutani, Masayo Banri, Tomisaburô Wakayama, Yutaka Nakamura
• Directors: Kazuo Mori
• Writers: Kan Shimosawa, Minoru Inuzuka
• Producers: Ikuo Kubodera
• Format: Black & White, Dubbed, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Home Vision Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 14, 2002
• Run Time: 72 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000063UQV
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,065 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 2 - The Tale of Zatoichi Continues" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Non-stop action, a deadly love triangle, and a mysterious one-armed samurai round out the second installment in the legendary Zatoichi series. When Zatoichi discovers the lord who has hired him suffers from a madness that -- if made public -- would bring ruin to his empire and the livelihood of the samurai warriors he employs, the blind masseur becomes a wanted man for the secret he now possesses. Attacked at every turn by the crazed lord’s samurais and hired yakuza thugs, Zatoichi manages to escape relatively unscathed. But in a final duel, masseur Ichi must face his old foe, the infamous one-armed samurai (played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, the brother of star Shintaro Katsu).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Series Gets Better and Better, May 28, 2002

By 

Mark vonSchlegell (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 2 - The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (DVD)

This is the second in a series of 20-plus films about traveling masseur, petty gangster, and deadly swordsman Zatoichi. This film looks a tad better than the first one. HVE is to be commended for putting these films out in a widescreen format as well as trying to restore them to their original luster. After all, this is a nearly 40 year old movie! This film builds on some of the characters and situations from the first one so it's advisable to get that one first. One thing about this series is that it relies on as much dialogue as it does action. Zatoichi is a likable rogue, but he's not turned into a total scoundrel. If you're serious about collecting Japanese cinema, as well as good martial arts films, then the Zatoichi films are a must buy. Trivia Note: the one armed samurai in this film is played by Shintaru Katsu's real life brother-Kenzaburo Jo, who later took the name Tomisaburo Wakayama and went on to play the character Itto Ogami in the "Lone Wolf and Cub/Shogun Assassin" series.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol 2, February 25, 2006

By 

Dennis Shields "Ancient Mariner" (Victorville, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 2 - The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (DVD)

In the early seventies, I was enamored of the Zatoichi and Sword of Vengence movies produced in Japan, and viewed at the Toho Brea Theatres in Los Angeles. When the Toho closed down, these movies were lost to me and others. Now, they are back, on DVD, with Japanese wording and good subtitles! Thank you for making these great works of Movie History available again! Everything about them is excellent!! 10 stars would be better!!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zatoichi's Best., October 20, 2004

By 

Bill Lee (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 2 - The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (DVD)

I've seen basically all of the 'Zatoichi' films and this is far and away the best. Although it's relatively short (75 minutes or so), it's got well-coreographed fight scenes, great acting (when he's not killing three people at a time, you'd think Shintaro Katsu was really blind), and all sorts of wonderful plot twists. In this film, Zatoichi develops more as a character rather than as a gimmick. Although the first film was superb, we really only got to see that he was this avenging angel from the yakuza, if such a thing is not a contradiction in terms. This time around, however, we get to see more of what motivates Ichi as well as some more insight into his past. We are introduced in this chapter to Ichi's law-breaking brother, played by Tomisaburo Wakayama (who was Shintaro Katsu's brother in real life as well). We learn that the two had previously feuded over the same woman to the point that Ichi cut off his brother's arm in a fit of rage. While all this is going on, Ichi is being pursued by Kanbei, an assassin sent to dispatch Ichi before he can tell of Kanbei's lord's insanity. In his pursuit of Ichi, Kanbei hooks up with Sukegoro, Ichi's employer from the previous installment who has a score to settle with the blind swordsman. These various groups all come into conflict with one another at various points and make for a film that is simultaneously action-packed and well thought out. Highest recommendations.