A year has passed since the events of Zatôichi monogatari, and the blind masseur/swordsman (Shintarô Katsu) is on a journey back to the locale to pay his respects at the grave of a friend. First, however, he learns of a yakuza leader’s secret and is pursued by the man’s minions to silence him, though he has a brief idyll, and then he must contend with hired killers and an unexpected foe from the past. Again, this is a drama tinged with sadness, with the on-screen battles actually taking rather little time and most of the movie given over to character development and elegiac reflections.

  Recommended. Otto finds this one pleasing enough to relax.

Movie 474 for 2021.