Zatoichi the Outlaw [VHS]

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Zatoichi the Outlaw [VHS] Review

"Zatoichi the Outlaw" is the sixteenth in the fantastic Zatoichi series. It is a little different in tone from previous entries, as it is the first installment co-produced by star Katsu Shintaro's production company, Katsu Productions, and also the first in the series released by Toho studios. (In truth the movie was filmed under the previous Daiei Studios before they went bankrupt, and was only released by Toho. This confusion gave me a little chuckle as the first image on the DVD is the Daiei logo, but the English subtitle reads "the Toho Company.")

More intrigue and altruism than action, "Zatoichi the Outlaw" (Japanese title "Zatoichi ryoyaburi" or "Zatoichi's Jailbreak") pits a group of peasants trying to create a utopian, agrarian culture (singing songs of "no drinking and no gambling, no fighting and whoring!") against a group of yakuza gangsters who want the peasants to fail in order to drive up the profits at their dens of vice. The peasants are supported by a honorable samurai lord who wants to see them succeed, and by Asagoro, a wandering samurai like Zatoichi who believes in their dream. Zatoichi takes sides, and with his flashing cane sword sets up Asagoro as the new village leader. Content with his actions, Zatoichi wanders off to his next adventure, but has reason to regret as he finds that Asagoro played him for a pawn, and all is not what it seems.

Directed by Yamamoto Satsuo (The Haunted Lantern), "Zatoichi the Outlaw" is far denser in storyline than previous entries, and lighter on action. Also, it represents a turning point in the level of violence and blood. When Zatoichi slices, limbs and heads come flying off, rather than just people falling over dead. When Katsu Productions took over, they upped the gore value on the series, as well as allowed Zatoichi to take advantage of some of the offers the ladies so often through his way. The character is still the lovable rogue from the previous fifteen films, but he becomes more of a rounded human being and less of a perfect hero. This Zatoichi makes mistakes, kills the wrong people, and has to set right wrongs of his own making.

Animeigo's release of "Zatoichi the Outlaw" is beautiful, as expected. That company really takes care of their films, and makes sure that nothing less than perfection carries their logo. Separate color-coding is sometimes used for the subtitles, which really helps when multiple characters speak at the same time. For extras the DVD nine pages of liner notes discussing the series and this particular episode, as well as translator notes explaining the title change! That level of detail is really appreciated. I always feel that with an Animeigo DVD you can actually study the movie as well as watch it.

"Zatoichi the Outlaw" is also included as part of the Zatoichi - The Blind Swordsman DVD Collector's Edition Box also released by Animeigo.

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