Heroism in the final sequence.
The "hero" laughs at the villain for being castrated as a child, and then proceeds to 4v1 (later 5v1) him in a fight. Was I the only one who started rooting for the underdog? I found this whole ending to be kind of bizarre (and unsatisfying) in its lack of heroism, but I'm left wondering if maybe it's a cultural thing.
In western films the hero always insists on a duel if the bad guy is a human being, and teamwork is only used when they face a monster, or if it's like a group of kids against an adult. I'll be watching A Touch of Zen next, am curious to see if this is a trend or not.