Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance

Starring:Meiko Kaji, Yoshio Harada, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Shin Kishida, Juzo Itami
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Studio: ANIMEIGO
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
This sequel to the samurai revenge film LADY SNOWBLOOD finds the female assassin Yuki (Meiko Kaji) imprisoned for the deadly vengeance she waged on her family s behalf. While awaiting execution, Yuki is offered a proposition by the secret police: assassinate a government enemy in exchange for freedom. But as Yuki infiltrates the revolutionary s compound, she uncovers a government conspiracy against the rebel leader and allies herself with his cause, bringing the wrath of the state upon her.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
In Love Song of Vengeance, Shurayuki-hime--a.k.a. Lady Snowblood, "Yuki" for short (played by Meiko Kaji)--continues her advertures in the female samurai saga that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. In Lady Snowblood, Yuki avenged her family by slaying the four criminals that killed her father, raped her mother, and predestined her to the life of a justice-seeking assassin. Love Song of Vengeance picks up where Lady Snowblood let off, not so much as a sequel like Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, but a continuation of the lone assassin's adventures (similar to Zaitochi). Sentenced to death for her crimes of murder, Yuki is given pardon by Kikui, a secret government police agent. In return for her freedom, Kikui wants Yuki to assassinate anarchist Ransui and obtain a secret document he is hiding. While carrying out her orders, Yuki discovers the document in question is actually a letter incriminating agent Kikui. Always one to be on the side of justice, Lady Snowblood switches sides, joining anarchist Rasui to face off, expose, and destroy the crooked agent. The blood may not flow like geysers and there may be a lot less samurai action than in the first installment. However, Love Song of Vengeance is well-paced, nicely shot, and a well thought-out continuation of the heroine's adventures. Sadly, they ended with this installment. --Rob Bracco

Average customer rating:

A worthy sequel
Really Liked it!
Passable, but not as strong as the original
A waste of an actress's talent
Sequel to LADY SNOWBLOOD tones down the bloodshed

Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance
Starring: Meiko Kaji , Yoshio Harada , Kazuko Yoshiyuki , Shin Kishida , and Juzo Itami
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Manufacturer: ANIMEIGO
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Lady Snowblood
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Ronin Gai

ASIN: B0001I54UC
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Product Description

This sequel to the samurai revenge film LADY SNOWBLOOD finds the female assassin Yuki (Meiko Kaji) imprisoned for the deadly vengeance she waged on her family s behalf. While awaiting execution, Yuki is offered a proposition by the secret police: assassinate a government enemy in exchange for freedom. But as Yuki infiltrates the revolutionary s compound, she uncovers a government conspiracy against the rebel leader and allies herself with his cause, bringing the wrath of the state upon her.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

In Love Song of Vengeance, Shurayuki-hime--a.k.a. Lady Snowblood, "Yuki" for short (played by Meiko Kaji)--continues her advertures in the female samurai saga that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. In Lady Snowblood, Yuki avenged her family by slaying the four criminals that killed her father, raped her mother, and predestined her to the life of a justice-seeking assassin. Love Song of Vengeance picks up where Lady Snowblood let off, not so much as a sequel like Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, but a continuation of the lone assassin's adventures (similar to Zaitochi). Sentenced to death for her crimes of murder, Yuki is given pardon by Kikui, a secret government police agent. In return for her freedom, Kikui wants Yuki to assassinate anarchist Ransui and obtain a secret document he is hiding. While carrying out her orders, Yuki discovers the document in question is actually a letter incriminating agent Kikui. Always one to be on the side of justice, Lady Snowblood switches sides, joining anarchist Rasui to face off, expose, and destroy the crooked agent. The blood may not flow like geysers and there may be a lot less samurai action than in the first installment. However, Love Song of Vengeance is well-paced, nicely shot, and a well thought-out continuation of the heroine's adventures. Sadly, they ended with this installment. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews:

A worthy sequel.......2007-03-05

In the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, the emerging capitalists are quietly destroying all political opposition. A highly placed government official arranges for Snowblood (Meiko Kaji) to be rescued from prison in order to assassinate an important anarchist writer. The plan backfires, resulting in the inevitable bloodbath. The solid grounding in Japanese historical events adds interest to this low-budget actioner, but Kaji should have been given more to do. For much of the film, she is a bystander, soaking up the injustice of the events she witnesses until she becomes the embodiment of vengeance. I do not share the opinion of the other reviewers who feel this film is less violent than the first. There was quite enough swoprdplay and bloodshed to satisfy me.

Really Liked it!.......2006-04-20

I really liked this movie. Shows us some history of the aftermath of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. (How many of us even knew about the Russo-Japanese War of 1905? Where the British/German trained but inexperienced Japanese fleet utterly defeated & annihilated the Russian Fleet at Tsushima Strait under the leadership of Admiral Heihachiro Togo(Wish they would hurry up & relaese that movie).

Not as much Bloodletting Action as the first Lady Snowblood (So just how many sequels Are better than the first, I ask you? Besides LOTR.) but still a great movie, none the less.

Passable, but not as strong as the original.......2005-05-10

The original Lady Snowblood was a slightly campy tale of violence and vengeance. Perhaps it wasn't intended to be so funny, but that's what happens when you go so far over the top. This sequel toned down the violence and invincibility of Yuki Snowblood, and added some morality with the backdrop of a fight between Japan's anarchists and emerging capitalists.

Unfortunately, the added morality does not do much for the movie. Taking a level off the violence leaves us with a mediocre action movie, and the end product is not worthy of the cult classic status granted the original.

A waste of an actress's talent.......2004-07-22

This movie picks up where the original "Lady Snowblood" ended, but instead of a cogent story line, we're treated to a convoluted mishmash of intrigue, senseless plot lines, cartoon villains, and racist overtones that lend nothing worthwhile to the story.

And as if that weren't enough of a reason to question the sanity of the movie's writers, Lady Snowblood herself barely is allowed to say more than "Hai!" and as a result is forced to display her fury only with smoldering looks and adept slashes of her samurai blade. The very reserved style of her fight scenes provides the only saving grace for this waste of time, and it makes me wonder how good this movie might have been if she had been given a script worth her considerable talent and a chance to develop her stunning grace with the sword.

Even more incredible (to me, at least) is discovering that Kaji is actually a multitalented indivdual who not only acted in this and other action films, but also sang some of the songs used in the first "Snowblood" movie, as well as in "Kill Bill." More's the pity.

Sequel to LADY SNOWBLOOD tones down the bloodshed.......2003-10-19

LOVE SONG OF VENGEANCE (1974) is a sequel to the Japanese swordplay drama, LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973), and picks up the adventures of female avenger Shurayuki Hime in 1907, more than ten years after the events in the first film. Fans of the first film may be disappointed by the toned-down bloodletting and the shift in the story's emphasis from Lady Snowblood, or Yuki, to the struggles of a band of rebels protesting government oppression in the aftermath of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. There is considerable action at the beginning and end, but there are long stretches that focus primarily on an anarchist (Juzo Itami), with an ailing wife, who has in his possession a letter from a murdered rebel that the Secret Police would like to get their hands on. Early on, Yuki (played by Meiko Kaji) is saved from execution by the Secret Police and ordered to find the letter, thus taking her away from the vengeance mission of the first film and throwing her smack in the middle of political and social tensions of the era. A spectacular climax involves a fire in a lawless Tokyo slum district.

Fans of Japanese cinema should give this a chance, mainly because it stands up on its own as a stirring drama about political struggles in Japan in the early 20th century, an era we don't often see recreated on film. It's very well-photographed and acted, with some evocative sets and some very unusual costumes. While she doesn't actually have enough to do to please her fans, Meiko Kaji (also in FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION) remains impressive as always.

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