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Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
type
TVTItem
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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ZatoichiMeetsYojimbo
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is a 1970 jidaigeki movie directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The 20th movie in the Zatoichi series, it stars Shintaro Katsu as the eponymous blind swordsman and Toshiro Mifune as the titular bodyguard.Of note, this is the first movie in the Zatoichi franchise to have Toho involved as Toho owns the rights to the Yojimbo movies. Because of this, it had to work with its rival Daiei to produce this crossover. In particular, Toho handpicked Kihachi Okamoto as this movie's director, which is why Okamoto has the Toho label in parenthesis next to his name in the opening credits. Eventually, Toho would acquire the rights to this movie (and many other Zatoichi sequels) after Daiei's bankruptcy in 1971.In this installment of Zatoichi's adventures, the blind swordsman returns to his home village and finds that it has been overrun by the local yakuza. After killing some thugs, Ichi runs into the yakuza boss's one and only Yojimbo. Both warriors are unsure what to make of the other, and things get more complicated as more and more questionable characters enter the mix.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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2024-04-25T07:01:05Z
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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2024-04-25T07:01:05Z
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Dropped link to Foil: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Dropped link to ReVision: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Sanjuro: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Yojimbo: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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DBTropes
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_178ca149
type
The Worf Effect
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_178ca149
comment
Daisaku beats down Kuzuryu very easily, receiving no injuries at all, whereas Ichi has some difficulty putting down Kuzuryu's minions and takes some damage as a result.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_178ca149
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_197a0651
type
Evasive Fight-Thread Episode
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_197a0651
comment
Evasive Fight-Thread Episode: Downplayed. When Daisaku fights Ichi, the fight is mostly one-sided in favor of Daisaku, who cuts the latter's Cane Sword into three pieces and slices Ichi's back after the first exchange. Ichi retaliates by stabbing Daisaku's leg with his broken sword, but Daisaku breaks off the rest of Ichi's blade, leaving Ichi weaponless. The fight ends immediately after because a bystander then informs Daisaku that Umeno is still alive, leading both men to wordlessly call a truce. That said, Ichi was injured before the climatic showdown against Daisaku, so things could have gone differently had he been healthy.
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_22cf536c
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Chekhov's Gun
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: Daisaku carries a daish� sword pairing consisting of a katana and a tant�. While the katana sees the most use, the tant� comes in handy for killing Kuzuryu when Daisaku locks blades with him.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_22cf536c
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_25803f9c
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Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_25803f9c
comment
Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: Daisaku is a samurai for most of the movie but decides to become a ronin at the very end, setting up his Sanjuro identity in the Kurosawa movies.
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_48078a7
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Cool Versus Awesome
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_48078a7
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Cool Versus Awesome: The original trailer plays up the cool factor of the blind swordsman going up against the nameless ronin.
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StealthPrequel
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_6d023e90
comment
Stealth Prequel: While not obvious at first, there are multiple plot elements that indicate that the crossover is a prequel to the Yojimbo duology rather than a sequel. Notably, Sanjuro is a samurai rather than a ronin in this movie and hasn't adapted the Sanjuro alias yet. Moreover, in this movie, Sanjuro wields the daish� sword pairing, the same weapons that he loses in Yojimbo. This is justified as the Zatoichi series takes place in an earlier Edo period in which samurai were more common whereas the Yojimbo duology is set during the 1860s Edo period when the samurai were becoming obsolete.
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_7bc8c453
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Origins Episode
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_7bc8c453
comment
Origins Episode: For Sanjuro. It shows his final mission as a samurai and reveals his original name. In addition, Ichi is the one who teaches Sanjuro his now infamous tactic of playing both sides.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_7bc8c453
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_7f6c8e4f
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Reverse Grip
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_7f6c8e4f
comment
The final duel parallels Daisaku's future battle with Hanbei, only in the opposite direction. In Sanjuro, Hanbei challenges Daisaku to a fight after Daisaku helps defeat his political superior Kikui, a challenge that Daisaku reluctantly accepts. Likewise, Daisaku here decides to attack Ichi after Umeno gets hurt, with Ichi only fighting back out of self-defense. Ironically, while Daisaku defeats Hanbei by drawing his sword with an unorthodox Reverse Grip, Ichi has less success with the same technique as Daisaku quickly disarms Ichi after the first exchange.
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Beat Them at Their Own Game
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_8a6d2168
comment
Later, Daisaku kills multiple gangsters while the wind forces his eyes shut, replicating Ichi's blind fighting style.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_8a6d2168
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_9d12bbc1
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Foreshadowing
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: Some early scenes hint that Daisaku, unlike most of Ichi's final opponents in the previous movies, will prove to be a challenging opponent for Ichi when both men fight for real. When a drunk Daisaku meets Ichi for the first time, he outspeeds Ichi and almost stabs him. It's initially played off as a joke since Ichi pretends that Daisaku mortally wounded him, but Ichi then nervously wipes off his face sweat, implying that it was a close shave. Later, Daisaku kills multiple gangsters while the wind forces his eyes shut, replicating Ichi's blind fighting style. Daisaku beats down Kuzuryu very easily, receiving no injuries at all, whereas Ichi has some difficulty putting down Kuzuryu's minions and takes some damage as a result.
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_9edbda07
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Elite Mooks
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_9edbda07
comment
Elite Mooks: Unlike most of the mooks in the other Zatoichi movies, Kuzuryu's underlings aren't mere fodder and manage to wound Ichi multiple times. In the final fight against Daisaku, Ichi loses the sword fight against Daisaku partially because of the injuries accumulated in the bout against Kuzuryu's mooks.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_9edbda07
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_a1e5faab
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Doomed by Canon
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_a1e5faab
comment
Doomed by Canon: Downplayed. The ending has Daisaku and Umeno confessing their love for each other, but the following movie in the chronology Yojimbo establishes Daisaku as a wandering loner. This means that Daisaku separated from Umeno during the time skip with Umeno's status remaining unknown as Daisaku never talks about her during his adventures as Sanjuro.
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ad97c3a0
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Samurai Cowboy
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ad97c3a0
comment
Samurai Cowboy: Kuzuryu is a historically accurate version as he is a samurai equipped with both a katana and a percussion pistol, the latter of which was the most advanced gun model available in 1850s Japan.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ad97c3a0
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_c2d5b652
type
Playing Both Sides
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_c2d5b652
comment
When Daisaku and Ichi discuss their plans for finding Eboshiya's gold, Ichi comes up with the idea to play both sides by manipulating Eboshiya against his son Masagoro. Daisaku will later use the same strategy in Yojimbo.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_c2d5b652
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And You Thought It Was Real
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_c340ed70
comment
When a drunk Daisaku meets Ichi for the first time, he outspeeds Ichi and almost stabs him. It's initially played off as a joke since Ichi pretends that Daisaku mortally wounded him, but Ichi then nervously wipes off his face sweat, implying that it was a close shave.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_c340ed70
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ca87e3ec
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No Name Given
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ca87e3ec
comment
No Name Given: Subverted. Initially, the no-name samurai is referred to as "yojimbo" or "sensei" rather than his real name. However, when Kuzuryu arrives, he refers to the samurai by his surname Sasa. Later, the nameless samurai discloses his full name to be Daisaku Sasa when he arrests Eboshiya.
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_ca87e3ec
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_e3c36782
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Call-Forward
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo / int_e3c36782
comment
Call-Forward: Since this movie is a prequel to the Akira Kurosawa duology, there are plenty of references to Daisaku's later adventures as "Sanjuro". Yojimbo: Daisaku serves as the bodyguard or yojimbo of the yakuza boss Masagoro, but he has no intent of loyally serving Masagoro as he continuously demands money from the yakuza boss every time Masagoro orders him to do something. When Daisaku and Ichi discuss their plans for finding Eboshiya's gold, Ichi comes up with the idea to play both sides by manipulating Eboshiya against his son Masagoro. Daisaku will later use the same strategy in Yojimbo. Like Unosuke, Kuzuryu is a Samurai Cowboy who shows up late to the party and creates trouble for Daisaku. Sanjuro: At first, Daisaku is hesitant to kill Ichi because he doesn't want Ichi's death to haunt him. This trait is developed further in Sanjuro where Daisaku acquires an aversion to killing. Like in the aforementioned movie, Daisaku lies down in the same lazy pose when talking to someone he doesn't respect. The final duel parallels Daisaku's future battle with Hanbei, only in the opposite direction. In Sanjuro, Hanbei challenges Daisaku to a fight after Daisaku helps defeat his political superior Kikui, a challenge that Daisaku reluctantly accepts. Likewise, Daisaku here decides to attack Ichi after Umeno gets hurt, with Ichi only fighting back out of self-defense. Ironically, while Daisaku defeats Hanbei by drawing his sword with an unorthodox Reverse Grip, Ichi has less success with the same technique as Daisaku quickly disarms Ichi after the first exchange.
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Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Zatoichi (Franchise)
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Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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Action Genre / int_5090ed70
 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
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