What do Love, Justice, and FUNimation’s Latest Acquisition All Have in Common?

ichiThey’re all blind.  Yeah, corny – I know.  But regardless, check out our latest addition to FUNi Films.

ICHI (released in Japan in 2008) is a live action drama directed by Fumihiko Sori whose last work, the cg-animated VEXILLE, was released to critical acclaim in the U.S. in 2008.

Haruka Ayase stars as the blind musician Ichi who leads a life of solitude as she wanders from town to town.  Sori’s film pays tribute to the long-running and immensely popular ZATOICHI franchise, but by making the main character a blind swordswoman instead of a blind swordsman, Sori adds his own intriguing twist to the ever popular franchise.

Have you seen any of the other Zatoichi films?  The baddies in these movies MUST feel embarrassed getting the snot beat out of them by a blind dude (if they’re still breathing), but this time it’s also a girl… not that an ass-kicking girl isn’t commonplace around here with shows like Witchblade and Claymore.

But are there any other blind female badasses?

12 Responses to “What do Love, Justice, and FUNimation’s Latest Acquisition All Have in Common?”

  • 1
    chrisc1978 on says:

    I am going to say it for him so hopefully he will not repeat it. Tyrenol does not like female badasses that picks on guys, and since she is blind its even worse.


  • 2
    jackuon on says:

    haha i sincerely doubt that is going to stop him. XD

    the movie looks cool. the only other blind female badasses i can think of are Sara from “Samurai Champloo” and Toph from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. ^_^


  • 3
    Rojas on says:

    Forgot about them. I felt bad about the Champloo girl – sad episode.


  • 4
    Tyrenol on says:

    And since you guys are going to turn me into a punchline of a bad joke, I’m going to defend myself.

    The problem here is “benevolence.”

    I don’t really have a problem with women kicking ass. I’m a fan of Claymore. I saw the film Ultraviolet and thought the female lead’s “Oedipus Complex” was a nice balance to her badassery.

    I have a problem with women kicking the ass of those who can’t fight back. Or, more precisely; women who can dish it out but aren’t taking it (usually by the hack writing, script immunity, dues ex machina, or a combination of the three).

    A bully is a bully; no matter what they have between the legs. And to say that they should do what they want isn’t right at all.


  • 5
    Aaron H. Bynum on says:

    The original Zatoichi film/series was incredible. Even though Katsu gained a fair bit of weight and was a little off balance in the later episodes — due in large part to his work-hard party-hard lifestyle — the series is still a classic in many regards.

    Some of the stories were inspiring… where Ichi’s humility and perseverance outshines the contrived brutality of a somewhat lawless era. Others are more tragic… where mayhem reigns, and no matter how much Ichi tries to help innocent women, protect village children, and keep away from gambling districts, crap happens.


  • 6
    FungManHin on says:

    Will you guys be releasing this on blu-ray?


  • 7
    Rojas on says:

    I don’t have a definite answer on release Ichi on Blu-ray. It is definitely a possibility.


  • 8
    Ryan King on says:

    the guy’s name from D.Gray-Man is Alen Walker.


  • 9
    animefan23 on says:

    the guy’s name from D.Gray Man is Alen Walker


  • 10
    RiceKrispy on says:

    will this be English dubbed ??


  • 11
    RiceKrispy on says:

    and i forgot is there an expected release date yet ??

    really want to see this movie because i seen nearly every zatoichi film ever remastered and made


  • 12
    Benny Goodler on says:

    Does this site work in IE 6? If it does, could you tell me how you got it to work? I have a similar template that just isn’t working right. Some margins are off.


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