Shintaro Katsu´s Zatoichi: Complete guide to all movies

Zatoichi is a Japanese literary and cinematographic character whose adventures are set in the 19th century (around 1830-1840). He is a wandering swordsman who has the particularity of being blind. Despite his blindness, he is capable of facing numerous enemies (who sometimes attack him simultaneously) and of being victorious in numerous battles. He always travels walking with his cane stick, which also serves as a sword –
Inside there is a sharp blade. Zatoichi is shrewd and cunning, as well as wise and compassionate at the same time; he feels a strong responsibility to protect the humble. His auditory faculties are highly developed, and he also possesses a "sixth sense" that helps to get him out of more than one trouble.

The character was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa (1892-1968), who published a series of books starring Zatoichi. Later the adaptations to the big screen would come, starring Shintaro Katsu (1931-1997). This great actor belonged to a dynasty of traditional Kabuki theater performers. In cinema he would specialize in the typically Japanese genre of chanbara or jidaigeki ("samurai" films, which used to be set in the Tokugawa era).

As a guide, this book compiles critiques and analyses of each and every one of Zatoichi's 26 films shot between 1962 and 1989. They were already published, in Spanish, in my blog "Alucine Cinéfago". These films, based on Shimozawa's stories, were directed by different filmmakers, but the protagonist is always Shintaro Katsu.

The purpose of this compilation is to offer chanbara fans a review of the blind swordsman's film career. Zatoichi is very popular in his country of origin (in recent years the famous Takeshi Kitano returned to the character for one of his productions), but also in the West he has a huge community of fans.