Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)

Lady Snowblood is caught in the politics of early 20th century Japan.

Director:

Toshiya Fujita

Writers:

Kazuo Kamimura (story), Kazuo Koike (story)

Stars:

Meiko Kaji, Jûzô Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Meiko Kaji	...	Shurayuki-hime (Yuki Kashima)
Jûzô Itami	...	Ransui Tokunaga
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Aya Tokunaga
Yoshio Harada	...	Shusuke Tokunaga
Shin Kishida	...	Seishiro Kikui
Tôru Abe	...	Terauchi Kendo
Rin'ichi Yamamoto	...	Inspector Maruyama
Kôji Nanbara	...	Toad
Masasuke Hirose	...	Shiba Yutaro (as Shosuke Hirose)
Shunsuke Mizoguchi	...	Sekiguchi Eizo
Akira Hamada	...	Okada Takichi
Hiroshi Ishiya	...	Yoshizawa
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Narrator
Shôichi Hirose

Storyline

Lady Snowblood (Shurayuki-hime) is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes (in Lady Snowblood I). As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.

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Plot Keywords:

action heroine | female assassin | bare breasts | second part | sword | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 June 1974 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Along with the previous 'Lady Snowblood', this movie served as one of the main inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' Volumes 1 & 2.

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Goofs

At one point, a man fires multiple rounds at Yuki from a sawed off shotgun. However, without reloading he fires many more rounds than a shotgun of that size could hold in the magazine.

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Connections

Featured in A Beautiful Demon: Kazuo Koike on Lady Snowblood (2016)

User Reviews

Less Vengeance, More Heroism - Lady Snowblood Is Back!

Toshiya Fujita's "Shura-yuki-hime: Urami Renga" aka. "Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song Of Vengeance" of 1974 is a quite different, but more than decent sequel to Fujita's blood-soaked and beautiful 1973 gem "Shurayukihime" (aka. "Lady Snowblood"). While the film does not nearly reach the greatness of its superb predecessor, "Love Song Of Vengeance" is yet another original and highly entertaining film that no lover of Japanese Cinema in general, and Chambara and Japanese Exploitation in particular should consider missing. The film sadly cannot compete with its predecessor's unique style and beauty, but it is still stylish, and furthermore delivers a good story, and, most memorably, the wonderful Meiko Kaji, who comes back with greatness as the eponymous (anti-)heroine.

As it was the case with several other sequels to popular Japanese 70s exploitation flicks, the sequel adds some political/social commentary to the mainly vengeance-based plot of its predecessor. Obviously, the film is set several years after the events in the original "Lady Snowblood". Yuki/Lady Snowblood (Meiko Kaji) is captured, and sentenced to death for the thirty-seven killings committed by her in the predecessor. She is then offered to carry out an assassination in order to escape her execution... I don't want to give away more, but I can assure that the plot gets quite interesting for my fellow Chambara-fanatics. Japanese Exploitation-Goddess Meiko Kaji (one of my personal favorite actresses ever) is once again stunningly beautiful and brilliant in her role. My personal favorite Kaji role will always be that of female prison escapee Nami Matsushima in the brilliant "Joshuu Sasori" (aka. "Female Prisoner Scorpion") films, but the role of Lady Snowblood is also essential, and no lover of Cult-cinema could afford to miss her in the role (especially in the original, but also in the sequel). Meiko's presence alone would make any film worthwhile, in my opinion, and the film has a lot more to offer. The film's is, once again, filled with quite a bit of stylish bloodshed, which is not quite as aesthetic, but at some points even bloodier than in the predecessor. Unfortunately, the score in this one is not as memorable as that in the original (for which Meiko Kaji sang the theme song), and yet it is more than decent. Nowadays, the "Lady Snowblood" films are probably best known for being the main inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films, but they sure deserve more attention for their own sake. The first film, "Lady Snowblood", is brilliant, and while "Love Song Of Vengeance" is not the masterpiece its predecessor was, it is still a highly entertaining, stylish and memorable film that I highly recommend to every lover of Chambara and Cult Cinema. My rating: 7.5/10