Ichi + Za Toichi

A couple of recent updates on Twitch on Zatoichi-related film projects. The first is Ichi, a retelling of the blind swordsman tale with a woman in the lead. Helmed by Ping Pong's Fumihiko Sori, the film stars Haruka Ayase as the wandering bad-ass. See the teaser trailer here. Check out this older post with a news clip on the casting of Haruka Ayase.

In related news, Sonny Chiba has announced his debut project as a director. Called Za Toichi, it tells the tale of a blind money lender, as played by actor Ginji Yoshikawa, last seen in the Steven Seagal vehicle Into the Sun. Za Toichi is both a pun on the famous film and television series and "the toichi," "za" being the Japanese pronunciation of the English "the" and "toichi" being an abbreviation of "tooka de ichiwari," or usury parlance for a loan that charges 10% interest for every 10 days. Oh, and it should be mentioned that Sonny Chiba will not be using his new moniker JJ Sonny Chiba for this project, nor his established Japanese name Shin'ichi Chiba, but Rindo Wachinaga. Hey, the man can call himself whatever the hell he wants as far as I'm concerned. He's... well, whatever name he goes by he's still a bad-ass.