Nemuri Kyōshirō 4: Joyoken (1964)

SEoD4: Not quite the bounceback I'd hoped for

This was another sort of mid entry in the series. Although, I need to say it up front, the subtitles stopped working with 20 mins left in the film, so there is a chance that there was some sort of twist I was missing all along that was revealed during a particularly long conversation. And I want to be clear, it is in regards to his past, so it is entirely possible.

I think, on the whole, this one suffers from all the same issues as the previous movie. Nemuri is a hard guy to like a lot of the time. I'm also unsure why this was titled as it was, as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot in the way of seduction happening here. I think, even more so than the first movie (but probably only because it was the first one), this has been the most forgettable instalment so far. And not only that, it felt like the storyline was almost ripped right from the third one.

This one relies less on swordfights to draw you in, but the few that are here were actually pretty cool. I think the main actor is getting more used to Nemuri's style, as you can tell he's more confident in using a few small strokes to take down crowds. I'm still holding out hope we'll get another really great entry in the next one, as it has the same creators behind my favorite one.

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