Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman is a 1971 jidaigeki/wuxia movie starring Shintaro Katsu as the eponymous blind swordsman and Jimmy Wang Yu as the titular one-armed warrior. It is the 22nd movie in the Zatoichi series.
In this installment of Zatoichi's adventures, the blind swordsman runs into a Chinese fugitive, Wang Kang the One-Armed Swordsman. Realizing that Wang Kang was framed by the Nanbu clan for the murders of innocent bystanders including a Chinese couple, Ichi attempts to help him and the orphaned Chinese child Xiaorong, but a series of misunderstandings leads to Wang Kang distrusting Ichi and going on the run from the Japanese authorities.
This film provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Kang traveled all the way to Japan to escape the fighting in China just to find himself in yet another battle, this time against samurai. He also dies fighting Ichi.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Nanbu samurai and their allies all die to Ichi and Kang, but Ichi is forced to kill Kang in self-defense.
- Broad Strokes: The One-Armed Swordsman goes by a different surname "Wang" instead of "Fang" although his first name "Kang" is still the same as is his fighting style and clothing. Kang also never brings up his wife Xiaoman, whom Kang usually tries to keep out of his conflicts, nor does he talk about he and Xiaoman's child.
- Evil Is Petty: The Nanbu Samurai attempt to murder young Xiaorong, merely because he got in the way of the procession. They also proceed to murder every bystander to prevent any eyewitnesses from contradicting their story and try to save face by blaming the entire fiasco on Wang Kang.
- Evasive Fight-Thread Episode: Averted. Kang's superior maneuverability confuses Ichi at first, but Ichi adapts quickly and is able to keep up with Kang, with the final clash killing Kang.
- Foil: Both Ichi and Kang are handicapped badasses who created their own distinctive fighting styles to overcome their disabilities, but their disabilities are different, which leads to the two of them developing the opposite personalities and strategies. Ichi is a stoic Blind Weaponmaster who holds his Cane Sword in a Reverse Grip because it's the same grip a blind person holds their walking stick; furthermore, his blindness motivates him to wait patiently for his opponents to get closer before attacking. In contrast, Kang is a hot-blooded One-Armed Warrior who uses a broken dao sword to accommodate his short-range fighting style; because of this, Kang is a nimble fighter who rushes at his enemies and overwhelms them with his dynamic movement and acrobatics.
- Genre Mashup: Of wuxia and jidaigeki.
- Noodle Incident: Kang mentions that there is a war in China but doesn't go into detail.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Played with. While the One-Armed Swordsman is a top-tier fighter in his home series, Kang's Flight and Super-Strength are nothing special in the One-Armed Swordsman franchise where the average kung fu practitioner has said abilities as well; as such, Kang usually overcomes his foes through his tactical thinking and unique one-armed fighting style. However, in the Zatoichi series, no one in Japan has a similar powerset, so Wang Kang is essentially too quick and too strong for any Japanese warrior to deal with. The only exception is Ichi, who is essentially superhuman due to the Disability Superpower.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: This is the only Zatoichi movie that is partially wuxia due to the crossover with the One-Armed Swordsman, a wuxia series. As such, some special effects, such as Wire Fu, are used to faithfully portray Wang Kang's fighting style.
- Outside-Genre Foe: Wang Kang is a superhuman wuxia hero in a more realistic jidaigeki setting. As such, the samurai and yakuza have difficulty chasing him as Kang's high leaps and flight make him too mobile for them to catch or hit. When fighting Kang, Ichi has notable difficulty dealing with Kang's agility.
- Poor Communication Kills: Wang Kang can only converse in Mandarin while Ichi can only speak Japanese, so neither of them can actually communicate with each other without a translator such as Xiaorong. It's Played for Laughs at first since Ichi mishears Kang's Mandarin phrases for Japanese words, but it's later Played for Drama since Ichi is unable to clarify Kang's misinterpretation of the situation.
- Spiritual Antithesis: To the previous crossover Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo.
- Wang Kang is Contrasting Sequel Antagonist to Daisaku. While both Daisaku and Kang are similar in that they are stronger than the usual Zatoichi Final Boss, they cannot be any more different. Daisaku is a samurai who, like Ichi, hails from a jidaigeki series whereas Kang is a wuxia warrior whose powers and kung fu are literally foreign to the setting.
- The Final Battle goes differently as well. Daisaku and Ichi contend in a traditional iaijutsu duel, a Single-Stroke Battle that ends with Daisaku holding the upper hand before the fight is called off. On the other hand, Kang and Ichi have a longer fight, a clash between Kang's acrobatic kung fu and Ichi's iaijutsu, before Ichi manages to win by landing a mortal wound on Kang.
- Continuity-wise, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is a Stealth Prequel to the Yojimbo duology; in contrast, this crossover is a Stealth Sequel to the One-Armed Swordsman duology starring Kang.
- Stealth Sequel: To Return of the One-Armed Swordsman as the third One-Armed Swordsman movie focuses on a different one-armed protagonist.
