Today's double feature: Zatoichi's Cane Sword and Samaritan Zatoichi. I must say, the second is a particularly clunky translation -- the Japanese title is Zatoichi kenka daiko and kenka daiko roughly translates as fighting drums and drums do show up as an element in the final showdown. Sure, Zatoichi, as usual, is trying to help someone down on their luck but since the Good Samaritan is not a Japanese story, it's a rather bad fit for the title. ...Cane Sword definitely takes the prize this time. It may be one of my fave Zatoichi movies so far. The plot's twisty but followable. Some in the series are so impenetrable we'll sit there watching going "now wait; who is that? why are they trying to kill Zatoichi?" Very low cute kid density. Few visits from Mr. Exposition. Lots of fun gambling action. Samaritan Zatoichi focused more on the gangster and less on the gambler side of Zatoichi, which I think makes it fairly unique in the series. They seem to have been trying to make things a bit grittier and darker. But it does include one outstanding sword move (not the usual trick but a nice maneuver nonetheless) and what may be my single favorite Zatoichi scene evah. I won't describe it here. for those still planning to watch the movie, but mostly because I just couldn't do it justice. One thing I've noticed watching several movies back to back is the way some things will repeat from movie to movie. Two movies will each open with scenes involving birds. One movie will end with a fight scene in the snow. The next movie will have a fight scene in the snow early on. I wonder if that was planned out or just coincidental