New Tale of Zatoichi is the third entry in the franchise centered around the skilled blind swordsman with the strong moral compass. It's also the first movie of the franchise to be shot in color. However, it's also the weakest part of the franchise thus far but still an above average experience. Zatoichi is hunted down by the family of a yakuza he killed in the previous film when he is unexpectedly saved from trouble by his former master. He agrees to stay with his former master and his younger sister and also visits his solitary grandmother. What seems to be a joyous reunion soon turns sour when Zatoichi realizes how his master has changed for the worst. His former master tries to marry his sister to a man whom she doesn't love, kills unarmed people for unjustified reasons and cooperates with a ruthless gang of criminals by taking advantage of his pupils' rich parents. Zatoichi can't ignore the truth and ends up challenging his former master to a decisive duel.The third installment of the Zatoichi franchise must be separated into two parts. The first half of the movie is quite pointless and could also be told in five minutes or less. We follow Zatoichi traveling across rural Japan and meeting former friends and foes. The movie plods along and is only average at best because of an imprecisely meandering plot. Up to that point, the film could be considered an at best average slice of life or road movie. Things however improve by a few notches when his former master's sister proposes to Zatoichi. From then on, the characters are developed in depth, philosophical topics such as dishonor and honor are discussed and the movie skillfully mixes beautiful fight choreography with a tragic love story. The second half of the film is the most emotional passage of the franchise as we witness Zatoichi's desperate quest for love, peace of mind and renaissance which he simply cannot find as he is constantly challenged, judged and haunted by the demons of his past.In the end, despite being the least interesting part of the franchise thus far, New Tale of Zatoichi is still worth your attention because of an emotional second half that pardons for a plodding first half. The movie stands out with a sad, melancholy and gloomy touch and makes the viewer empathize with the haunted swordsman more than ever before. Fans of the franchise should definitely watch this film while occasional martial arts fans should rather try out the first installment, The Tale of Zatoichi.

Daiei's logo is impressively shown for the first time in colour, in this, the third Zatoichi adventure, released only five months after the second film, and eleven months after the original.Well photographed in full colour, it's another beautiful looking film, and the director, and cinematographer, both know how to effectively use bright, vivid colours, contrasted with subdued tones, as the second film's villain's brother tries to avenge his death, while Ichi is dealing with a ruthless gang of thugs, but I must admit that I did prefer the monochromatic photography of the first two installments.

In "Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman's Return" (a film that seems to have a bazillion alternate titles--like most of the films in the series), Zatôichi is back for a third film. Here we see a very tired man who is sick of his violent life and wants to make amends. Apparently, when he was younger and dumber, he was with the Yakuza (organized crime) and did much he is ashamed of doing. However, stupid people keep challenging him and he is forced to kill them again and again.In the midst of one of these fights, Zatôichi's old sensei (master) shows up and this becomes an eye opening experience (so to speak) for this blind swordsman. It has been four years since they last met and much has changed. While you would assume that the sensei would be a wonderful guy, you slowly see that he's a jerk. First, the sister of this sensei has a conversation with him about a marriage proposal--at which time the sensei throws his drink in her face because she doesn't want the man he picked for her--not exactly a chivalrous thing to do on his part. Later, this same lady tells Zatôichi that she loves him and wants him to marry her. However, when she asks this brother permission, he angrily refuses and curses Zatôichi--even though only moments earlier he had this blind guy put on a demonstration to his pupils to show off his talents! Eventually, it becomes obvious that the sensei is bought and paid for by the forces of evil and this puts him into conflict with the good guy, Zatôichi. So what is our beloved swordsman to do--show his loyalty and gratitude to his master or break with him--no matter the consequences? And, if he does break, what chances would Zatôichi have against the very man that taught him IF they come to blows? And what will happen with his lady love? Will he finally be able to settle down and stop this aimless wandering life? This film might just be the best in the original series. That's because although all his films feature wonderful swordplay and action, this one has a lot more depth. You learn much more about Zatôichi other than he's a nice guy. His past, his roots and his future all come into much sharper focus here than in the other films--giving the series greater context and richness.By the way, this third film is also noteworthy because it's the first color one in the series. Even after all these years, the color looks beautiful. The rich musical accompaniment sure helped as well to make this an exceptional film in every way.

The third installment of the Zatoichi series is the best one I have ever seen. While not as exciting as some of the other action packed entries (Chest of Gold, Zatoichi's Revenge) in terms of character development this film had the most impact on me. The stakes just seem to be higher in this entry than in most. Make no mistake, Ichi's life is on the line in EVERY other installment, but this centers on how Ichi really wants to quit his swordsman lifestyle and take a wife. To live the rest of his days in peace is all he wants and that is taken away from him. Ichi is forced to not only see how terrible the people he trusts can be, but how much he brings upon himself. This film really drives home how much Ichi loses each time he takes a life. A new friend, a new aquaintence or a new lover is almost always instantly taken away from him, either by an enemies hands or by his own. But the single greatest scene in this film is not any of the sword fights, like in other entries, the best scene is the evens/odds scene in this film. If you're a fan of this series at all please see this entry.