Nemuri Kyôshirô burai-hikae: Mashô no hada (1967)

Nemuri Kyôshirô burai-hikae: Mashô no hada: Directed by Kazuo Ikehiro. With Raizô Ichikawa, Nobuo Kaneko, Toshio Kimura, Haruko Wanibuchi. This film of the sleepy-eyed ronin series has the hero talked into escorting a precious religious artifact to Kyoto, Japan. A sect of Christian swordsmen are lying in wait to steal the statuette. What does it take for the reluctant man to accept the assignment? Why, enjoying the company of a virgin daughter of course.

“If youu0026#39;re a fan of Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman films, (Katsuu0026#39;s NOT Kitanou0026#39;s!), and the great Lone Wolf and Cub films with Wakayama-sama then youu0026#39;ll love Nemuri Kyoshiro! Done in A-1 DAIEI Studio style with their ichiban, Raizo Ichikawa, this long running series rivaled Zatoichiu0026#39;s popularity in Japan. Now, Iu0026#39;d seen the first seven films and loved them, but they had English subtitles, so this was a challenge. And finally, after having bought over one hundred Japanese films for my collection/addiction I decided to try one sub-free… and it was cool! Raizo is fantastic, as always, and the swift-paced action, DAIEIu0026#39;s always eye-popping colors, cool sets and perfect direction made it very easy to watch even if I didnu0026#39;t know exactly what was being said. Following the story wasnu0026#39;t as hard as Iu0026#39;d expected. For the neophyte I suggest the subtitled versions of #1-6, u0026quot;Sleepy Eyes of Deathu0026quot;. And after youu0026#39;ve become properly inducted/addicted to the u0026quot;SON OF THE BLACK MASSu0026quot; you will realize that RAIZO RULES! And soon you too will accept the daunting challenge of going totally sub-free, like me.”