Both Ichi and Toma become involved in battling a gang of marauders called the Banki-to, led by a man who once dueled Zatoichi and lost. The presence of these unquestionable villains does much to edge the story more toward the pattern of the adventure-mythos. In addition, Ichi's near-miraculous displays of swordswomanship are handled with a greater attention to sheer spectacle.
This isn't to say that the dramatic aspects are neglected. I've seen some reviewer-complaints to the effect that Ichi is too one-dimensional in comparison with her male predecessor. I don't agree. Actress Haruka Ayase plays a character who has largely withdrawn into herself due to her traumas, yet even from the first, her capacity for normal emotion is strongly suggested. In an early amusing scene, Ichi saves the largely powerless Toma from several bandits. When he tries to claim, as a salve to his pride, that he actually saved her, Ayase barely changes expression, but just enough for Toma to accuse her of laughing at him ("You snorted, didn't you? You snorted through your nose!") Later, she confesses to Toma that she can't form bonds with others due to her exile from her guild, which has left her feeling as if she has no borders-- a thing that proves particularly ennervating to a blind woman.
There's also a fair amount of wry humor here, though I will admit that the actor playing the main villain overplays his role, when he would have proved more menacing as a subtler kind of adversary.
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