Zatoichi 1962-1989 BOXSET

Zatoichi 1962-1989 BOXSET complete.
The original series of 26 films featured Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi. The first film was made in 1962 in black and white. The third film, in 1963, was the first to be filmed in color. The twenty-fifth film was made in 1973 followed by a hiatus of 16 years until Katsu's last film, which he wrote and directed himself in 1989.

The original series of movies features other popular fictional characters of the genre on two occasions. Zatoichi and the One Armed Swordsman (1971) connects with the Shaw Brothers series of Hong Kong produced movies directed by prolific director Chang Cheh. While Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970) features Toshirō Mifune as Imperial Shogunate Secret Agent Sassa Daisaka. This character resembles the title character of Akira Kurosawa's films Yojimbo and Sanjuro. The earlier films, in which Mifune's character used the pseudonym Sanjuro (thirty-year-old), are alluded to when Sassa is jokingly called Shijuro (forty-year-old).

1 The Tale of Zatoichi 1962
2 The Tale of Zatoichi Continues
3 New Tale of Zatoichi 1963
4 Zatoichi The Fugitive
5 Zatoichi on the Road
6 Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold 1964
7 Zatoichi's Flashing Sword
8 Fight, Zatoichi, Fight
9 Adventures of Zatoichi
10 Zatoichi's Revenge 1965
11 Zatoichi and the Doomed Man
12 Zatoichi and the Chess Expert
13 Zatoichi's Vengeance 1966
14 Zatoichi's Pilgrimage
15 Zatoichi's Cane Sword 1967
16 Zatoichi the Outlaw
17 Zatoichi Challenged
18 Zatoichi and the Fugitives 1968
19 Samaritan Zatoichi
20 Zatoichi and Yojimbo 1970
21 Zatoichi, The Festival Of Fire
22 Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman 1971
23 Zatoichi at Large 1972
24 Zatoichi in Desperation
25 Zatoichi's Conspiracy 1973
26 Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman 1989