#Tange Sazen and the Princess | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chernobog13 · 2 years

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TANGE SAZEN

poster for the 1935 film Tange Sazen Returns, starring Denjiro Okochi. For some unknown reason, his right arm seems to have grown back!

Tange Saßen, the irascible, one-eyed, one-armed ronin with a strong sense of justice, is a popular character in Japanese film, television, and novels,

DVD cover for the 1935 version of Tange Sazan and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, starring Denjiro Okochi

Tange Sazen was originally just a minor character in a serialized story published in 1927 about a Ooka Echizen, an historical figure who was a magistrate in Edo during the Tokugawa Shogunate. However, Sazen’s dramatic appearance, especially as rendered in drawings accompanying the serialized story, really caught the public’s attention.

DVD cover for the 1982 television movie version of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, starring Nakadai Tatsuya

Film studios picked up on Tange Sazen’s popularity and, a few months after his initial appearance, three different studios released Tange Sazen films. The most popular of the three starred Denjiro Okochi, who is the actor most associated with the role. Okochi-san eventually made 13 Tange Sazen films.

DVD cover for The Secret of the Urn, the 1966 version of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, staring Kinnosuke Nakamura and directed by the great Hideo Gosha

Tange Sazen’s creator, Fubo Hayashi, was so impressed by the success of the films that he wrote a new serial, this time with Tange Sazen as the main character. This serial evolved Sazan’s personality from the nihilist he was originally, to the cranky, argumentative, righter of wrongs that the public loved so well.

DVD cover for Tange Sazen, the 1958 version of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, starring Ryutaro Otomo

The serial, Tange Sazen, was made into the 1935 film Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, again starring Denchiro Okochi. This time Okochi-san gave Sazen a more comic side, which again was very popular with theatergoers.

DVD cover for Tange Sazen and the Princess, a 1961 film with Ryutaro Otomo again playing Sazen

I don’t know if Fubo Hayashi wrote any other Tange Sazen novels, and I would appreciate any information any one might have. However, Tange Sazen has been filmed (as Tange Sazan and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, or similar titles) numerous times, with each actor who portrays Sazen getting a crack at the story.

DVD cover for 1960′s Tange Sazen: The Mysterious Sword, again with Ryutaro Otomo as Sazen

Besides Denjro Okochi and his 13 films as Tange Sazen, the next film actor most associated with the role is Ryutaro Otomo. Otomo-san was a popular star of jidaigeki (samurai) films in the 1950s and 60s. He first played Sazen in 1958, and then returned to the role at least 4 more times (I have found conflicting data on the Interwebs, but I know he made at least 5 films as Tange Sazen).

DVD cover for The 1959 film Tange Sazen: The Mystery of the Twin Dragons (no, not the Jackie Chan film!); Rytaro Otomo returns again as Tange Sazen

In addition to the numerous Tange Sazen films (of which there are supposedly 34, but I have not yet been able to find a comprehensive list), there were at least 3 television series about our hero. The first ran from 1958 to 1959, and starred Tetsuro Tamba, aka the hardest working man in Japanese cinema (it is said that he never turned down a role, no matter how outrageous).

DVD cover for the 1963 version of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo, The One-Eyed Swordsman, starring Tetsuro Tamba as Tange Sazen

Tamba-san returned to the role in 1963 for The One-Eyed Swordsman: Tange Sazen, which another adaptation of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo. What’s unusual about Tamba-san’s performance is that his Sazen is missing his left arm and is blind in the left eye, while the character has always been described/depicted as missing the right arm and blind in the right eye. I don’t know if Tamba-san played the character that way in the television series, as I have not been able to track down an episode, nor do I know if the film is in any way related to the series other than having the same main character.

DVD cover for Tange Sazen, the 2004 film version of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryu, starring Etsushi Toyokawa

Other famous actors (at least here in the West) who’ve portrayed Tange Sazen in film and TV are Akira Kurosawa favorite Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro, Ran), and samurai film veteran Kinnosuke Nakamura (also known for playing Ogami Itto in the Lone Wolf and Cub television series).

poster for Lady Sazen and the Drenched Swallow Sword, a 1969 film starring Michiyo Yasuda

There were also at least two female versions of Tange Sazen!

Actress Komako Hara played a female Tange Sazen in a pair of films from the late 1930s. I have not seen these, and don’t know if they’re considered lost like so many pre-World War Two Japanese films are.

Then there’s 1969′s Lady Sazen and the Drenched Swallow Sword. This one stars the pretty Michiyo Yasuda as O-Kin, a female swordswoman who is not Tange Sazen, but disfigured exactly like him, and has the same cantankerous demeanor, but is ready right any wrong no matter the cost. As you can see from the poster above, she has mastered Sazen’s signature move of drawing her katana one-handed by holding the scabbard in her teeth.

cover to Osamu Tezuka’s 1954 Tange Sazen manga

Then we have the 1954 manga Tange Sazen, by the king of manga himself, Osamu Tezuka. This is an adaptation of the original Tange Sazen serial, so it’s really just the manga form of Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo. I’ve not read it yet, although I did find a Japanese copy for sale on Amazon. I’ll have to check the Internet Archive to see if anyone uploaded a translated version.

So there you have it: my crash course introduction to Tange Sazen. I hoped this piqued your interest, and you seek out the films to discover this wonderful character for yourself.

#Tange Sazen #Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryu #Tange Sazen Returns #The Secret of the Urn #Tange Sazen and the Princess #Tange Sazen: The Mysterious Sword #Tange Sazen: The Mystery of the Twin Dragons #Lady Sazen and the Drenched Swallow Sword #Denchiro Okochi #Ryutaro #Otomo #Tetsuro Tamba #Tatsuya Nakadai #Kinnosuke Nakamura #Michiyo Yasuda #Osamu Tezuka #jidaigeki #manga

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