Critical response Thomas Raven, in a review for
freakengine, wrote that "[t]his film represents another major step forward for the series. Director Kazuo Ikehiro's touch is exactly what Ichi's stories need and since this was his third Zatoichi picture, he'd honed his skills to a fine point. It certainly helps that the script is so crisp, as is the inventive cinematography and art direction. This is certainly one of the best looking of the first fourteen films." ==References==