In 1962, Kenji Misumi's first "Humpback City Story" was released, marking the beginning of the Humpback City series, during which famous directors such as Yasuda Kyoyoshi, Kihachi Okamoto, and Safu Yamamoto participated in the filming, until 1989, when humpback City "Darkness Is His Ally" directed by Shintaro Katsumi himself, lasted nearly 30 years, and a generation of blind men has been shaped into a classic image, and even one of the symbols of Japanese culture.
Although the director has changed and the years have passed, Katsu Shintaro has always been the male protagonist. Although Shintaro Katsumi has countless other screen roles, Humpback City is undoubtedly his most popular role, and has even become one with his life. When Shintaro Katsu died of throat cancer in 1997, more than 10,000 people flocked to Tokyo to attend his funeral and bid farewell to their hero Humpback City.
"Humpback" is the title of a blind person who plays a pipa, a kite, a three-stringed violin, or a rapping, massage, and acupuncture industry, while "City" is the name of the protagonist. Therefore, the identity of Humpback City is a very low-level social nomad, he is homeless all over the world, wandering all day long, and the only purpose of life is to survive.
Of course, Humpback City has his joie de vivre. For example, he is undoubtedly a foodie, rice balls, ramen, drinking, everything tastes delicious.
Another example is a woman, although he is blind, he can feel the beauty and ugliness of women according to his sense of smell and intuition. Moreover, he is always very blessed, and he can mingle with many serious or unorthodox women.
Then there is gambling, when people want to play tricks on humpback markets, he can always turn the game around through developed hearing and shrewd calculations, and earn some pocket money by the way. In addition to these low-level needs, acting heroically has become the ultimate mission of Humpback City, and of course, sometimes for bounties.
26 humpback cities, sprinkled with foreign splendor, in terms of plot, mainly humpback cities vs gangsters. For example, the first part tells the story of Humpback City getting involved in a gang fight for casino interests. The last part of Humpback City is about Ah City fighting the gangsters in the town in order to save two geisha. In order to pursue novelty, he even filmed Guan Gongzhan Qin Qiong-style "Hutou City pair heart stick" and "Hutou City Vs One-Armed Knife".
In 1989, at the shooting site of Shintaro Katsumi's last "Humpback City", an accident occurred in which a real knife accidentally injured the actor and caused his death. The tragedy is that the knife bearer is the son of Katsu Shintaro, which also affected the second half of his son's life.
Humpback City's influence is far-reaching, with 1970's "The Blind Female Sword of the Heart of The Bones" starring Ronko Matsuyama, which mimics Humpback City; in 2003, Takeshi Kitano directed "Humpback City", which paid tribute to his alternative approach. There is also Haruka Ayase's 2008 starring role in "Female Humpback City". The Fuji tiger general in the Japanese anime "The Voyager King" directly borrows the shape of Humpback City.
In 1978's Taiwanese martial arts "Secret Post", a blind woman starring Long Jun'er, holding a bamboo stick, also intentionally or unintentionally borrowed the image of a blind man.
Stephen Chow, who is far away in Hong Kong, is also obviously influenced by Humpback Market, and in his "Love Saint", there is a wonderful and funny Humpback City imitation show.
In 2017, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the death of The original author of "Humpback City", Zimu Sawahiro, it was also the 20th anniversary of the death of Shintaro Katsu, and the 30th anniversary of the release of the 1987 version of the "Predator" movie, so Japanese director Jun Okabe also produced a tribute to the short film "Humpback City to the Predator". In the film, the director shows the classic shape of Humpback City, as well as the blind swordsman's superb swordsmanship and heroic feelings.
In the first "Humpback City Story", Katsu Shintaro has a clear eyebrow and is heroic, while in the last Humpback City, Katsu Shintaro is already white-haired. In the film, Humpback City makes a brief review of his life. No matter where he went, he always carried a mirror of his mother with him. Because in humpback city's memory, the most beautiful moment is the way her mother looks in the mirror. Perhaps this love of childhood is the ultimate motivation to support this world wanderer!
Appendix: 26 Humpback Cities
1Hutou Story (1962)
2. Continuing The Story of Humpback (1962)
3. New Humpback Story (1963)
4. Humpback City Murder Brigade (1963)
5. Humpback Hustle Brigade (1963)
6. Humpback City Thousand Two Songs (1964)
7. The Kite of Humpback City (1964)
8. Humpback City Blood Laughing Brigade (1964)
9. Humpback City Pass Broken (1964)
10. Humpback City 2nd Section Chopping (1965)
11. Humpback Market Counterhand Chopper (1965)
12. Humpback City Hell Brigade (1965)
13. Hear the Song of Humpback (1966)
14. Humpback City Crossing the Sea (1966)
15. Humpback City Iron Fire Brigade (1967)
16. The Escape from Humpback (1967)
17. Blood Smoke Street, Hutou City (1967)
18. Humpback City Battle Post (1968)
19. Humpback City Hustle Taiko Drum (1968)
20. Humpback Market and the Stick of Hearts (1970)
21. Humpback City War Fire Temple (1970)
22. Humpback City and the One-Armed Knife (1971)
23.Zako City Business Trip (1972)
24. Humpback City Broken Staff (1972)
25. The Blood Festival of Kasama in Humpback City (1973)
26.座头市 Darkness Is His Ally (1989)