On to the conclusion of Crimson Bat trilogy. Unless there are more Crimson Bat movies.
Crimson Bat 2- Trapped, the Crimson Bat, ended Oichi defeating Bunzo and Oen. There was no establishing where Oichi went after that
This is the exact same title screen as Crimson Bat 2, except for the number.
This is new for the series- a gun. And no rainstorm. He shoots a man on horseback. The horse gallops with him dragging on the ground. Oichi slashes the stirrups/and manages to free him. I hate it when characters become overpowered as the series goes on. I mean, Oichi turns around as the horse gallops towards her, grabs her sword, and slashes the stirrup, missing the man and the horse. This movie is goingto ruin the franchise.
The man gives Oichi a McGuffin, I mean a scroll. he tells her to take it to Nassogahara. Four men in wide brim hats surround her. Wide brim hats meant evil in the first movie, but Oichi wore one in the second movie. Now they are evil again. This series is ruining the continuity of hat-based morality.
Didn't do the catchphrase.
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| It's funny because she's blind |
Oichi stops to wash a cloth in a river and someone tries to take the scroll with a stick.
There are two children trying to take the scroll, Hanshi and a girl, presumably his sister. when Oichi confronts them, they say they were trying to steal something to eat. Because they are orphans.
Can't have a Crimson Bat movie without orphans.
The children say they haven't eaten since yesterday and their parents died in "the" explosion. They had to make gunpowder.
They aren't siblings actually. The girl is 15 and Hanshi is 17.. They have been on the road for about a year.
The girl said after Hanshi's father died in the accident, his mother committed suicide and Hanshi "went all to pieces."
Her name is Omyjo
They said they are from Nassagohara and are headed that way now. Convenient.
That was about six minutes of pure exposition. This is what happens when a series goes on for too long. The writers get fatigued.
They are crossing a bridge and Hanshi says Oichi is lucky they are with her because blind people can't cross bridges by themselves.
Guy with an evil hat comes up from behind them. Omyjo says it's just some priest. Another comes from the other side.
Oichi kills them and they fall into the water. She says "This is getting to be quite an interesting trip"
The boy just says "Lets hurry," No reaction to the blind woman slashing two people and watching them fall into the river. Some other evil people in hats follow them.
I'd complain about the movie indicating the evil people with hats , but it's not like this series has ever been subtle with the villains.
They go to some hut on the mountain to get away from the rainstorm. Oichi sees a man in the hut.
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| That lightning reveal |
The man takes out his sword and slashes a tarantula. The lighting is awful. He is a samurai and he saw Oichi fight on the bridge. You can tell that he is good because he isn't wearing a hat. I know it's supposed to to build atmosphere, but when you have the picture quality of the Crimson Bat series, you don't have much leeway with lighting.
For example, this scene is supposed to be suspenseful. At night, Oichi and the man are asleep. Henshi wakes up and tries to grab a candle, but falls asleep. When he wakes up, Oichi and the samurai are gone. I had to go back and rewatch that three times to figure it out because the lighting was so poor. When they wake up in the morning, it is a dark as it was at night
Oichi is standing by a field with the samurai. Of all people, I would think Ochi would know not to leave two orphans alone. Just saying.
The samurai asks for a match, but Oichi thinks he is joking. Then he asks where Oichi learned to swordfight, and she tells him to watch Crimson Bat 1:Crimson Bat- The Blind Swordwoman.
I mean, she says a samurai taught her for self-defense. This samurai doubts that it was for self-defense because she has killed so many.
They duel. This is the first duel since Crimson Bat 1: Crimson Bat- The Blind Swordswoman. They exchange names: his is Ganosoka. Hers is Oichi.
Gonosoka throws his hat:
What is it with hats in the movie? Do they indicate morality?
They fight for a while. Honestly, the fighting gets better with each movie. You see everything clearly, and the music is great.
Gonosaka starts aiming for the bag with scroll. When Oichi drops it, evil hat people come, so Gonosoka says "We'll leave it", and runs away.
Oichi finds her bag, sans scroll, and tells the audience that Gonsaka has it.
Gonosaka opens the scroll while the evil hat people approach. Good. I was worried that the scroll was just a cheap McGuffin that wouldn't have significance until the end. I hope this third entry brings some more convoluted Crimson Bat plot.
After Gonosaka opens the scroll, we see that it is blank.
Just kidding, the plot isn't that bad. The scroll is a formula for some explosives. You know, like the ones that killed the orphans' parents,
People walk down the mountain while singing. Including Oichi. Why did the Crimson Bat turn into a musical? This series has really gone downhill. Literally The singing isn't dubbed, nor are there Dutch subtitles.
There is no transition either. The last we saw Oichi, she realized that Gonosaka stole the scroll. Now she is walking down the mountain with everyone else. What happened in between? This is the sort of thing that would have been explained if it were in the first two movies.
Hanshei and Omygo are at a festival. Oichi is in a tent thanking a man for rescuing her. Then we see a woman in the back complaining about "the fuss [the boss]'s making over that blind woman"
I would say she is the obvious villain, but she isn't wearing a hat.
A gang leader comes in and finds them drinking. He says she is a knife-thrower, and that if she keeps drinking, she will kill half the audience. That's actually funny. And better than the blind knife-thrower from Blind Woman's Curse.
Also, she has to pay off her gambling debt. Oh come on, the third movie is skipping over the best part of any Crimson Bat movie. Not to mention stealing a plot point from Crimson Bat 2: Trapped, the Crimson Bat.
The gang leader says Oichi is a "good-looker". Ha ha. The gang leader says that they raised protection money from 20% to 30%. The boss says he can't pay that much. Gang members attack and Oichi responds rationally by throwing hats on all of them.
Remember the hat-based morality in this movie? Oichi can't kill people without hats, because they are intrinsically good. so she puts hats on them and then it is okay to kill them. Then Oichi causes a net to fall on them. A net that was conveniently over her.. Oichi beats them up. and they leave.
Everyone laughs. I wouldn't laugh about beating up a gang boss that has control over your area.
Someone comes in and says the knife-throwing target has left. Don't drink and knife, kids.
Oichi volunteers. The boss says no, because she is blind. That's ableist.
So a drunk knife-thrower is going to have a blind target. Probably better than a blind knife-thrower and a drunk target. Oh wait, that was half of Blind Woman's Curse.
Oichi asks Hotani (the knife-thrower) if she can stop her knife with her fan. What? I actually had to go back a few times to make sure I hear right. Hotani says sure, but she won't make allowance because she is blind. That's not ableist.
The boss announces that the show is special for three reasons: Oichi is blind, has never performed this act before, and she will try to stop the daggers with a paper fan. I find it hard to believe that the boss would be okay with the fan thing.
Hanshei and Omyjo are in the audience and ask why Oichi would volunteer. I wonder how they got back from the hut. This sort of thing would never have been overlooked back in Crimson Bat 1: Crimson Bat, The Blind Swordswoman, when the series had integrity
Hotani throws the knives at Oichi. She does not look intoxicated. Oichi deflects all of the knives.
The gang leader gives Hotani a letter and tells her that, if she "carries out the plan", he will forgive her gambling debt. Gambling Debt: Instant Character Motivation, No Effort Required
Hotani delivers the letter to Oichi, but Oichi obviously can't read it and asks Hotani to read it for her. It says
"We are holding Hanshi and Omyjo captive. Late tonight, come to the shrine by the waterfall. And bring the scroll with you. Do not fail. if you don't come, we shall kill the boy and the girl"
They really should have translated the letter into Braille. Keep that in mind the next time you have to send a ransom not to a blind woman.
Oichi goes to the shrine by the waterfall. The lighting is awful. Even when the scenes were dark in the first two movies, you could see what was going on
Hanshei and Omyjo are tied to a tree. Oichi asks whether they wIll free the children after she gives them the scroll, and the gang boss replies "A samurai doesn't lie."
Oichi says "I'm afraid blind people are rather suspicious." Whatever happened to blind faith? Also, this is very similar to the situation with Okyo in Crimson Bat 2: Trapped, The Crimson Bat.
Wait, I thought Gonosoka took the scroll.
The men release Hanshi and Omyjo. Oichi tosses the scroll over to one of them he unrolls it and reads the script from one of the actors. This is why I shouldn't point out plot holes until after I watch for the justification.
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| It's more dangerous than explosives; the script for Crimson Bat 4 |
The men attack and Oichi fights them. Since it's dark, Oichi kind of has the advantage. Because she's used to fighting without seeing, but the men aren't.
The men regain the advantage when they throw torches at her feet. I'd complain, but it is less silly than the snakes from Crimson Bat 2: Trapped, the Crimson Bat.
An important samarui comes out from the trees. At first I thought it was Gonosaka, but no scar. He was waiting for a dramatically convenient opening. He joins the fight. Oichi is doing well, until we see these shots of feet stepping on mud.
At first I thought that this was to indicate that she couldn't hear the footsteps, but that seems too subtle. Instead, it "foreshadows" Oichi slipping and falling down the cliff into the river. Does five seconds before the event qualify as foreshadowing?
Gonosoka picks up Oichi's sheath and sword and carries her away, but the scroll falls out into the river. When he lays her down at a hut, he searches his pockets for the scroll and can't find it.
Oichi asks whether Gonosoka found a scroll when they fought at the palace. Gonosoka says "sorry," which is a very non-answer answer.
Gonosoka asks how much Oichi expects to collect for the scroll. Oichi accuses samurai of living in their own world and thinking that only they have a sense of honor. Stop trying to be philosophical, Crimson Bat 3: Watch out, Crimson Bat!
Gonosoka claims that he was trying to take the scroll back the owner, Marobosi, but he dropped it in a river.
Oichi asks who Gonosoka is and he gives some exposition. He was a gunnery student under Marobosi. The man from whom Oichi took the scroll at the beginning was another student. Gonosoka killed a man and they expelled him. He drifted around and started drinking and killing people in swordfights. Don't drink and slice, kids.
Flashback to a battle. Then he met Kazume, from whom Oichi took the scroll. Gonosoka tried to join up with him, but couldn't get back to her old life.
Oichi says she often goes back to people to try and return to her old life before the sword, but found they are gone. I must have missed those scenes in this series.
The gang members try to find Oichi. The boss tells them not to mention the scroll. In exchange, he will give them a better position.
Two gang members argue about who will find Oichi. They fight and one of them falls into the river. Does Crimson Bat 3: Watch out, Crimson Bat! really need slapstick?
I think these guys are supposed to be comic relief. Why? They find a hut and look through the window. Oichi is taking bath and her clothes with the scroll are by the side.
The two comic relief characters talk loudly. Oichi throws a needle and cloth at them and they run away. Good. The comic relief was getting the way of the humor.
The scroll continues downstream. Omyjo and Hanshi walk along the river trying to get the find the scroll. It washes onto the beach and a group of children find it.
Hanshi grabs the scroll and the children chase them. Remember when this series had swordfighting and bullwhips? Now it is just children playing tag with a Macguffin
The gang wanders by because this series is all about people finding other people at exactly the right time. One of the gang members snatches the scroll, but Gonosoka comes out of nowhere because this series is all about people finding other people at exactly the right time. He fights and defeats the gang
Gonosoka asks the children what they thing the scroll is. Hanshei replies that he has no idea because he can't read.
Gonosoka reunites Oichi with Hanshei and Omijo
Cut to the mines, where the gang is testing the explosives. Two gang members spout some painfully explicit exposition. They have been testing explosive that they have manufactured themselves, but they aren't as effective as the foreign explosive. I'm guessing that the scroll had the instructions for a more effective explosive. Their leader is a thirteen year old boy, but only in name. The real leader is this guy
Also, it's a clan, not a gang. sorry. Thanks for the convenient exposition.
The miners are carrying out some bloody bodies, understandably upset about the whole explosives thing. They decide to "do something about it". This means vaguely trying to get past guards into the temple.
A women and her father are talking. Her father says Kazume should be back. Kazume was the man on the horse at the beginning of the movie. He was an artillery expert and went to go get a formula for an explosive.
The woman tells us that Mantenasho is the villian. He has been forcing people to work in the mines. A lot of them have been killed in "accidents" We know this already. The woman also talks about Gonosoka. The man is the teacher, Marobosi, who refuses to teach Gonosoka, because he is a killer.
Omyjo asks Hanshei about the Gonosoka, and whether he is married. Hanshei thinks Omyjo has "fallen" for Gonosoka, but Omyjo is obviously talking about Oichi. We need a romance subplot too?
Oichi has turned evil in the time we have have been away. She is now wearing a hat. Hanshei says that Oichi and Gonosoka look like newlyweds. Clearly, he has not seen Crimson Bat 2; Trapped, the Crimson Bat.
As Oichi and Gonosaka pass, an evil person come out. We know he is evil because he has a hat on
Oichi and Gonosaka part ways with Omyjo and Henshi as they approach Dionangi Temple. Oichi says they might meet again, as there is half an hour left. The music tells me this is sad.
The evil clan checks in with the leaders. They say that Marobosi sent a pupil to get the scroll with the instructions foe explosives. This clan needs that information. So they intercepted Kazume at the beginning on the horse and now are trying to get the scroll. Thanks for the Crimson Bat 3:Watch out, Crimson Bat! Cliffnotes
Did I make a Cliffnotes joke in the second movie review?
Matanashi goes to Marobosi and asks for help developing a new explosive. Marobosi goes on a speech about how he won't keep developing explosives if they are going to test them on innocent workers and sell to warlords. Neither are wearing hats, so I'm not sure who is morally correct.
Oichi and Gonosaka enter the temple. Gonosaka embraces a woman named Katai. He tells her that Kazume was killed on horseback at the beginning of the film, but Oichi got it. How much of this movie is people summarizing the plot to other people?
Oichi leaves. I can't really care about the romance in Crimson Bat 3: Watch Out, Crimson Bat! Movie over, right?
Wrong, 55:14
Ganasako and Katai go to Marabosi's house to give him the scroll, but find it deserted. half an hour left. Katai questions whether Mantenoshi has taken him. Ganosoka asks who Matanashi is and I guess that was a cue, because he blows out a candle and people ambush them.
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There is a swordfight in a dark room. Because he blew out a candle. I understand that it builds atmosphere, but you don't really have the luxury of altering the light in a series with picture quality as poor as the Crimson Bat movies.
Oichi walks through a graveyard, carrying her hat as a shield. Not sure how this fits into the hat moral theory.
Someone says "We meet again" And Oichi says he is not a samurai. Okay, I'm really confused. I thought he was Ganosaka, but obviously not. It's the samurai who fought at the cliff. I wish I had a name. But it doesn't matter, because Oichi kills him.
Just a side note- people should stop attacking Oichi at night. It only disadvantages them.
Oichi is at a bar drinking tea and listening to people sexually harassing people. This is 1969,when sexual harassment was comedy gold. They say blind woman are terrific in bed. Oichi would reply "That's because we can't see your faces" if she had a better script, but instead she brushes it off.
Someone else comes to Oichi's defense. Do we really need a man coming to Oichi's defense? How could a series with a first film titled Crimson Bat 1: Crimson Bat, The Blind Swordswoman fallen so far as to include patriarchal tropes?
So, bar fight. except this is slightly more deadly. The man who fought for Oichi wins and asks for sex. Classy.
Oichi asks who he is and he replies "As you can see...well I guess you can't see..." Classy
He is an out of work Samarui named Sakkon Sishido. He asks where Oichi learned swordfighting. She asks how he knew, and he replies that he could see how she kept touching her cane in response to aggression.
Oh, and he sexually harrasses her. As in, threatening to duel if she won't have sex with him. Sishido raises his sword, but Ganosoka enters the bar to rescue her. What?
Their swordfight is incredibly slow compared to the others. At least you can see what's going on. Ganosoka trips on a vase. The samurai who was able to fight equally with Oichi is so unaware of his surroundings in a well-lit bar that he trips over a vase.
Speaking of well-lit, Oichi slashes the string holding the lamp up and causes it to shatter. That's pretty clever. It is minimized somewhat because we have seen Oichi fail to fight against others in the dark in this movie, but still. Good Job. You are going to pay the bartender to replace the light though, right?
Instead of showing the fight, the movie just cuts to Oichi and Gonosaka talking. Based on the other fight scenes in the dark in this movie. we aren't missing much, but still. A little logical progression of events would be appreciated
Gonosaka says that he just came their to see the teacher. Who is now gone. But Oichi says the only thing that matters is to be happy. He asks what Oichi will do, and she says just wait.
Gonosaka says he will have to get into the explosive factory. Oichi tells him he could die. I mean, infiltrating an explosives factory under control of your enemies is inherently dangerous.
Oichi says that Gonosaka doesn't have a reason to die for Marobosi because he was expelled. Oichi says "You do care!" as if this is supposed to be a huge character development moment.
I just figured it out. The first two movies worked because they took themselves seriously, even though they are B-movies. This movie tries to take itself way, way too seriously. so the self-awareness is gone. Seriously, stop with the morality lessons, Crimson Bat 3: Watch Out Crimson Bat!
Gonosaka leaves for the factory. The gang go towards the mines with the workers. Hanshi is one of the workers. Not going to show how he got captured? Omyjo and Ketoi talk about . Ketoi came here after her grandfather was kidnapped
Manteshoi's men come in to Ketoi's house and she gives Omyjo the scroll to hide.
Ganosaka has a head covering as he enters the factory, pretending to be a worker. One of Mantenshobi's men stop and ask him about the scar. He says it was a sickle cut. They keep moving. Dramatic tension released.
Gonosaka grabs one of Maneshoba's men and asks where Marobosi is. He basically just grabs him from behind and asks. The security isn't that great. He tells him that he is in a shed.
When Gonosaka finds the shed, it is locked and Sakkon Sishido comes out.
One of Manteshoi's men torture Gonosaka until Ketoi tells them where the scroll is. Meanwhile Hanshei sneaks around, steals a horse, and runs away. Why doesn't this mine have security?
Oichi decides to leave, but Hanshei stumbles in telling her that the movie isn't over yet. Manteshabi's men enter and attack Oichi. She fights. Again, the set is dark and it's hard to see.
Oichi fights, but one of the men gets her down and raises his sword. Not going to lie, I thought that Oichi might die and the trilogy would end. But she doesn't.
Remember the red paint? The final movie gets fancy
I don't think blood works like that.
Oichi kills the men, and Hanshi dies. Oichi rides a horse to the mine
Ketoi and Gonosaka are tied to pyres and a fuse is going towardssome explosives. Monteshabi promises to extinguish the fuse if Maosobi talks
Obviously Oichi comes in at the right times and frees everyone but;
And the Crimson Bat dies. The end.
Just kidding, Sakkon Sishido betrays Monteshabi, and slices the gun out of his hand.
More fighting. But it is a good fight, because it is light. Oichi fights Monteshabi and a henchmen at the same time, Masobi fights a bunch of people, and house falls down. For all this movies faults, this fight scene is the best in the trilogy. I legitimetly thought Oichi could die, because it is the final movie. But she doesn't, and they win.
The miners are run at the mine, and the two samurai yell at Oichi to duck and they blow up the mine
This is why you don't let miners unionize.
The two samarai, Masobi, and Oichi celebrate. Oichi says the only thing that matters is that they are alive.
Sakkon Sishido rides on a horse as Oichi walks away. He offers to fight with her. She gives a generic speech about how she fights alone, and Sakkon Sishido says he will see her in Crimson Bat 4; Subtitle.
And that concludes the Crimson Bat: The Blind Swordswoman film series, truly one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time.
UPDATE: I had written this a while ago. Since then, I have discovered Crimson Bat 4: Wanted, Dead or Alive.
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