The Fearless Avenger is the second in the Mikogami Trilogy. In the first installment, we met Jokichi (Yoshio Harada) a drifter turned family man, only to see his dreams die with his new family. Three men were responsible for this; Kaiun Chogoro, Kunisada Chuji, and Boss Kyubei, all of which are powerful bosses. The trilogy breaks up Jokichi's thirst for vengeance into three parts, for three bosses.
This time around, we find Jokichi on the dusty trail, wandering through nameless towns, in search of the three men who wronged him. He has one thing on his mind... vengeance... bloody, murderous vengeance. On one of his stops, he hears of a meeting of the eight bosses of Kanto, a meeting which Kaiun Chogoro will be attending. A meeting Jokichi is dead set on crashing. And he does, and while he makes a negative impact among the rulers of Kanto, Jokichi also makes an unlikely ally; Boss Juzaburo. After being thrown off a bridge, Jokichi makes the acquaintance of Umezo of Yoshiro, who in turn, sets him up with a job for Boss Juzaburo. His task? Escort the daughter of Juzaburo to the aforementioned estate. On his way, Kokichi has to deal with assassins, loose ends from the first film, and a random assortment of murderers, rapists, and quite possibly Boss Chogoro.
The film begins with a recap of the previous film, which is fine. But then the film launches into the opening credits, which is the same as the opening of the first film. Which helps create some small plot holes. For instance, the opening features a limping Jokichi, which doesn't make sense when followed by the second part shows a Jokichi who walks just fine. It doesn't help the film's continuity and just shows the viewer how low the film's production values are. But truly, this is a insignificant gripe for a 70's Samurai Film.
In truth, the plot is truly unimportant. Most of the trilogy's plot is set up in the first installment. This is not to say that The Fearless Avenger is mindless. No, it definitely has a sense of direction but the director didn't really focus on developing the plot as much as he focused on the action scenes and choreography. Which, could be either a positive or negative depending on the viewer. Personally, for me, I didn't mind... I don't exactly watch 70's Samurai Flicks for the plot development.
As far as action scenes goes, The Fearless Avenger has plenty of them. There's a bit more action in the second installment than in Trail of Blood. And it's also a bit bloodier than the first, which is fine with me. Although, it still doesn't reach the level of exploitation that the Lone Wolf and Cub series attained. The blood sprays and severed limbs are in there, just much more sporadic. In terms of action, one of the things I love about this trilogy is that it's almost impossible to tell when Jokichi will decide to unsheathe his sword. Sometimes I think, "He's pointlessly outnumbered, he won't dare attack." And then I'm pleasantly surprised, as he draws his sword and proves me wrong.
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a woman in medieval Japan and you come across a guy named Jokichi. Stay well away, it seems as if every woman Jokichi knows of loves in this trilogy is destined to a brutal death or rape... or both. It almost becomes a rule and makes the trilogy a bit predictable at times.
Bottom Line- Samurai Fans will love it. While the film has some issues and is plagued by low production values, the main focus is on well done action sequences, which The Fearless Avenger has plenty of.
This time around, we find Jokichi on the dusty trail, wandering through nameless towns, in search of the three men who wronged him. He has one thing on his mind... vengeance... bloody, murderous vengeance. On one of his stops, he hears of a meeting of the eight bosses of Kanto, a meeting which Kaiun Chogoro will be attending. A meeting Jokichi is dead set on crashing. And he does, and while he makes a negative impact among the rulers of Kanto, Jokichi also makes an unlikely ally; Boss Juzaburo. After being thrown off a bridge, Jokichi makes the acquaintance of Umezo of Yoshiro, who in turn, sets him up with a job for Boss Juzaburo. His task? Escort the daughter of Juzaburo to the aforementioned estate. On his way, Kokichi has to deal with assassins, loose ends from the first film, and a random assortment of murderers, rapists, and quite possibly Boss Chogoro.
The film begins with a recap of the previous film, which is fine. But then the film launches into the opening credits, which is the same as the opening of the first film. Which helps create some small plot holes. For instance, the opening features a limping Jokichi, which doesn't make sense when followed by the second part shows a Jokichi who walks just fine. It doesn't help the film's continuity and just shows the viewer how low the film's production values are. But truly, this is a insignificant gripe for a 70's Samurai Film.
In truth, the plot is truly unimportant. Most of the trilogy's plot is set up in the first installment. This is not to say that The Fearless Avenger is mindless. No, it definitely has a sense of direction but the director didn't really focus on developing the plot as much as he focused on the action scenes and choreography. Which, could be either a positive or negative depending on the viewer. Personally, for me, I didn't mind... I don't exactly watch 70's Samurai Flicks for the plot development.
As far as action scenes goes, The Fearless Avenger has plenty of them. There's a bit more action in the second installment than in Trail of Blood. And it's also a bit bloodier than the first, which is fine with me. Although, it still doesn't reach the level of exploitation that the Lone Wolf and Cub series attained. The blood sprays and severed limbs are in there, just much more sporadic. In terms of action, one of the things I love about this trilogy is that it's almost impossible to tell when Jokichi will decide to unsheathe his sword. Sometimes I think, "He's pointlessly outnumbered, he won't dare attack." And then I'm pleasantly surprised, as he draws his sword and proves me wrong.
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a woman in medieval Japan and you come across a guy named Jokichi. Stay well away, it seems as if every woman Jokichi knows of loves in this trilogy is destined to a brutal death or rape... or both. It almost becomes a rule and makes the trilogy a bit predictable at times.
Bottom Line- Samurai Fans will love it. While the film has some issues and is plagued by low production values, the main focus is on well done action sequences, which The Fearless Avenger has plenty of.