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Is Shingo Katori Right for Zatoichi?

Word is that there will be one last Zatoichi movie soon. And Shingo Katori is up for the role. But does his face really convey Zatoichi to you?

I mean, I can accept him as a goofy ninja:

From Ninxnin

Or as a monkey king:

As Goku in Monkey Magic

But as the baddest of all J-cinema badasses? Well, there have been other surprising actors in the role, such as this man and this woman.

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BTW, this is not to say I think he is a bad actor; he was brilliant in this short film:

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Contributor Bio: Claytonian studies the Nihongoes in Saitama and blogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic.
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17 comments - What do you think? Posted by Claytonian - March 18, 2009 at 7:40 pm

Categories: General Japan Tags:

http://www.feitclub.com feitclub

I didn’t think Takeshi Kitano would make a good Zatoichi (as an actor, not as a director) but he did a great job by being quiet and only talking when he had to.
yoga boy

I have met Katori Shingo twice, the guy is a no talent ass clown. I have video of him singing at a personal party…what an idiot.

mortonsalt

kinda like Michel Bolton
hl

wow.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

“I have met Katori Shingo twice, the guy is a no talent ass clown.”

Sounds like he stole your girlfriend. Why such animosity?

LB

After his performance as Kondo Isami, I would say that Shingo would be a very good Zatoichi. He does tend to be cast in more “goofy” roles than serious ones, but he has proven himself to be very versatile.

http://www.punkrockbitch.com prb

dont forget Rutger Hauer played in the american version of Zatoichi, Blind Fury (1989)

Montsan

Whoa. I saw that movie years ago when it first came to cable TV and I had never made the connection. Dammit!

http://weblog.ceicher.com Charles

Sorry, nobody will ever replace Katsu-shin, especially not Beat Takeshi. There can only be one Ichi.

http://durf.org Durf

At least Takeshi attempted to do something fresh with the material, with the dance scenes and so on. The formulaic rehashes with Ayase and Katori and whatever other pop stars of the week they feel like plugging in don’t add anything that makes them worth watching.

Rob A

Wow, that Rolling Bomber Special is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on teh intarwebs.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Katori Shingo has been slowly breaking out of his typecasting with projects like 薔薇のない花屋 and SSF (Rolling Bomber linked to above), so he has the potential to pull it off.
Montsan

I would not have expected this but I’ve also never seen the man in any decently serious roles. I have also learned to be wary of being too quick to judge apparent miscasts over the past few years as there have been some exceptional cases.

I kind of picture the Zatoichi role as a Japanese James Bond in that it’s a character in a well-known franchise played by numerous actors over the years and no one will EVER agree on who did the best job. Let’s just hope Shingo doesn’t end up as the equivalent of George Lazenby.

http://maidjapan.blogspot.com/ Fliss

I love Shingo he is just tooo cute and funny. That being said, he is a terrible actor. Monkey was a huge letdown.
Michaela

He’s amazing! Every actor has one or two roles in their repertoire that they’re a bit ashamed of. So, I wouldn’t be too quick to judge.

I think he has a great look, with a smile that will draw in many female viewers. I’m excited to see him in this role.

I will always love HIS performances in 3 peace, Bara no nai hanaya, as well as his part in the Rolling Bomber Special short film.

He’s proven to me in these 3 performances, that he can be strong, sensitive, gentle, violent, funny, charming, flirty, and sexy.

I’m sure he can do that again and more.