Fang Kang the One-Armed Swordsman, the iconic wuxia character from the Shaw Brothers studios, travels to Japan and crosses swords with the blind masseur in this 22nd chapter of the long-running Zatoichi film series. However, this is a different character even though he too has only one arm; his name is Wang Kang and he's played by Jimmy Wang Yu nevertheless.
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Since this is very much a Zatoichi movie, again starring Shintaro Katsu, we see him dispatch three unfortunate samurai effortlessly just before the opening credits. Next up, we meet the new arrival to Japan, Wang Kang (Jimmy Wang Yu) who's on his way to the Fukuryuji temple near Mamada. While on the road, he comes across a Chinese roadside performer, Li Xiang Rong (Chang Yi), his wife Yu Mei (Wan Ling), and their young son Xiao Rong. The Li family decides to take him there since they're going that way.
However, an incident involving a convoy of high ranking samurai ends in tragedy for Xiao Rong. Apparently, during such a procession, no one is to cross path with them. Li and his wife are only trying to protect their son from being cut down as he tries to get back his kite which has landed in front of the men. Accordingly, Wang Kang comes to their rescue and kills a few samurai, while in the meantime, the little boy runs off and they get separated. Unfairly blamed for this roadside carnage, he now becomes a wanted man with a price on his head.
Zatoichi runs into the frightened Xiao Rong first and Wang Kang eventually catches up with them. Although they have a language barrier between them, a friendship begins to develop just the same. As they continue their journey towards Mamada, they constantly come under attack which leads to Wang Kang being suspicious and thinking that his blind friend has sold him out. Moreover, this unfortunate misunderstanding plus communications breakdown ends up in a fatal showdown between them and leaves only one swordsman standing.
Although Wang Kang, the one-armed swordsman character is a guest star in this crossover, he's still presented with respect and he shares a good amount of screen time. Jimmy Wang Yu's in great form here and charismatic; it looks like he's having fun chopping down those samurai. It's refreshing to see him using the Chinese wuxia sword fighting style against them, jumping and spinning around or above his enemies before cutting them down. A style we don't usually see in the more grounded and swift combat of the samurai chanbara.
Having said that, the fights between the samurai and Zatoichi are elegant and fast but they're more violent, with masses of blood spraying from sword cuts, and even an ear can be seen being sliced off. The sequence in the village where he's trapped in a big wooden barrow is stunning and Shintaro Katsu is charming as ever. Needless to say the highlight is his final fight with the one-armed swordsman. But don't expect to see the slicker choreography which is the trademark of wuxia films from Hong Kong here.
Shaw Brothers veteran Chang Yi (“The Bells of Death”) who shows up as the traveling performer is a welcome addition even though it's only a brief appearance. A trio of sake drinking spineless gamblers with their fart jokes further provides comedy relief, thus toning down the many violent fight sequences throughout the movie.
Overall, this is a sophisticated production, visually beautiful to behold especially the outdoor locations and some night scenes. Aside from its dark and grime atmosphere, it's highly entertaining and the combination of Chinese and Japanese cinema works well too.
