Good movie, but didn't really resolve the story (spoilers)

In some respects this was a pretty good movie, I liked the whole dynamic between Jokichi and Kobunji for instance, but what puzzled me is that it just didn't resolve the central story of the Mikogami series. Jokichi never again faced Kunisada Chuji, so he never finished getting his revenge for the murder of his family.

For a moment there it seemed like the story did come to some alternative resolution, that Jokichi might take up a life with the lute-playing woman Oyae, whom he picked up at the end and carried off as she still held his wife's sash. It appeared to signify that he had moved on from the memory of his family, gotten tired of killing, and was ready to start a new life with a new woman. This would have been an acceptable, if unexpected, conclusion. But then, as the credits began, there he was walking alone through the wilderness again. Oyae was nowhere in sight.

So it appears that he's continuing his life as a drifter after all, still seeking his vengeance. But then, the story is unresolved. He neither faced Chuji, nor settled down into a new life. Were more movies planned but the project cancelled for some reason? Perhaps due to low popularity? It seems that, at least as of now, this series is relatively unknown.

I really enjoyed the movie, but it feels too incomplete. It leaves me feeling unsatisfied and lacking closure. Still, taking it for what it is, considering it more as itself than as a part of the Mikogami series, it's a pretty good movie.