Ichi (2008)

Cast: Haruka Ayase, Takao Osawa, Shidou Nakamura, Yôsuke Kubozuka, Ryosuke Shima

Director: Fumihiko Sori, Hiroshi Kuze

Rating: R

Running Time: 120 min.

Synopsis: Director Fumihiko Sori simultaneously reinvents and continues the Zatoichi legend with this tale of a blind, wandering musician who was trained in the art of one-handed sword fighting as a young girl. Ichi (Haruka Ayase) learned how to wield a sword with the help of a blind masseuse. These days she keeps her sword concealed in her cane, only drawing it when the situation necessitates. She's searching for the man who trained her, the man she believes to be her father. When Ichi is ambushed by a group of vicious gangsters, a sympathetic samurai rushes to the rescue. But Ichi can fend for herself, and before long she's saving his life. Traveling together to a nearby village, the duo later encounters a young orphan, who becomes their guide. It seems that a disfigured gangster named Banky (Shidou Nakamura) has the village in his iron grip. Even the local yakuza head has failed to end Banky's reign, a fact that the crime boss' ambitious son doesn't take lightly. When Ichi gets drawn into the fray, swords start swinging.