Comments on: Is Shingo Katori Right for Zatoichi?

By: Michaela

Michaela — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:47:31 +0000

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.

By: Haf

Haf — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:24:11 +0000

Reminds me of Jim Carey…

By: Fliss

Fliss — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:14:44 +0000

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

By: Durf

Durf — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:34:02 +0000

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.

By: LB

LB — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:21:19 +0000

“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.”
Indeed. How many people went “WHAT?!?” when Michael Keaton was cast as Batman, for example.

I myself went “HUH?!?” years ago when Takenaka Naoto was cast as Hideyoshi for a Taiga Drama. But he was great.

By: Montsan

Montsan — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:45:59 +0000

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.

By: Montsan

Montsan — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:37:26 +0000

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

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:51:44 +0000

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.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:43:42 +0000

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

Sounds like he stole your girlfriend. Why such animosity?

By: hl

hl — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:10:17 +0000

wow.

By: Rob A

Rob A — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:40:16 +0000

Wow, that Rolling Bomber Special is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on teh intarwebs.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:31:55 +0000

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

By: prb

prb — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:26:10 +0000

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

By: mortonsalt

mortonsalt — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:46:29 +0000

kinda like Michel Bolton

By: LB

LB — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:30:37 +0000

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.

By: yoga boy

yoga boy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:06:31 +0000

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.

By: feitclub

feitclub — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:34:51 +0000

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.