Product Details

• Actors: Meiko Kaji, Jûzô Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Yoshio Harada, Shin Kishida
• Directors: Toshiya Fujita
• Writers: Kazuo Kamimura, Kazuo Koike, Kiyohide Ohara, Norio Osada
• Producers: Kikumaru Okuda
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Animeigo
• VHS Release Date: March 24, 1998
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1565672674
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,983 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sequel to LADY SNOWBLOOD tones down the bloodshed, October 18, 2003

By 

Brian Camp (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Liked it!, April 20, 2006

By 

asugar2 "asugar2" (Seattle USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance (DVD)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sequel, March 4, 2007

By 

David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance (DVD)

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.