Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman | Blu-ray

Simply put, Zatoichi is one of fiction's all time great characters, alongside the likes of Columbo and Tony Soprano. A kindhearted and cheerful man, whose disability has relegated him to a second class life in a feudal Japanese society with a rigorous caste system, but whose remarkable skill with a sword constantly gives him the potential to exceed those boundaries.

Between 1962-1973, Shintaro Katsu starred in 25 Zatoichi films (and a 26th in 1989), each its own unique narrative tale of yakuza gangsters, petty lords, and devious bureaucrats. There are regular touches of comedy and romance, but the baseline is always the cycle of violence that our tragic hero seems entirely unable to escape.

While the whole collection can start to blend together a bit just for the sheer volume of work done over such a short period, my favorite entries are Zatoichi's Flashing Sword and Zatoichi's Vengeance. But there are highlights all throughout, even up to the last entries in the series. A wonderful collection of movies featuring one of the most fascinating character constructions ever put on film.