after years of being unavailable in north america, it seems that the 14th zatoichi movie, "zatoichi's pilgrimage" has finally had it's release (kinda)! the rights to the other 25 original movies were split between criterion, animeigo, and media blasters who each did their duty in making these great movies available on DVD. however, the 14th in the series was owned by miramax or something with the intention of having quentin tarantino remake it/lessen the character. thankfully, the 2003 takeshi kitano version of zatoichi negated that project, but left the original buried under disney-types who had no interest in releasing it...
...however, criterion has recently made many zatoichi movies available on-line for free via some USA exclusive robot called HULU - "zatoichi's pilgrimage" is among those listed! does this mean they also now have the rights to release the movie on DVD??? better be!
Thanks for the news.