MartinHafer
Ooops. I rented "Wandering Ginza: She-Cat Gambler" BEFORE I saw the first film in this series, "Wandering Ginza Butterfly"! Somehow I thought I'd already seen the first film but hadn't. So, I cannot compare this second film with the first. And, after I eventually get the first film, I'll try to return to this review to update it.Now that I've seen 'Wandering Ginza: She-Cat Gambler" I can understand why I thought I'd seen the first film, as the movie is very similar to many Japanese female revenge movies--such as "Lady Snowblood" (which also starred Meiko Kaji). However, I must say that "Lady Snowblood" was much more interesting--mostly because they had a lot more action and the story behind the revenge was more compelling. But here in this movie, the audience must wait a very, very long time for the final big boss battle. Plus, other revenge movies are just more interesting. Now I am NOT saying "Wandering Ginza: She-Cat Gambler" is bad--it's just that there are better examples out there. The film just seemed pretty ordinary. The only unusual aspect of it was Sonny Chiba. While you'd expect to see him use his very considerable martial arts skills, in the end, he uses a gun and a katana (a Japanese long sword)! Again, this isn't bad--just unusual. My advice is that if you love the genre, by all means watch this one. Otherwise, you could do better with this other film or either of the "Kill: Bill" movies.UPDATE (12/5/12): I saw the first film in the series today and found, surprisingly, that it seemed to have almost nothing to do with its supposed sequel. And, the sequel was actually a bit better, as the first film was quite slow and seemed a bit directionless.
Tim Irwin
Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler reviewed by Tim IrwinAlong with the first Wandering Ginza Butterfly movie, Synapse Films has released its sequel. Once again the transfer is clean and neat, and the subtitles are once again very well done. And once again, the sequel is basically the same movie as the first time around, but with Sonny Chiba added to the mix and gambling taking the place of hustling pool.Nami (played again by Meiko Kaji), is once again wandering around Tokyo and the surrounding areas. She's a professional gambler, following in the footsteps of her wrongly murdered father. She's still a tough cookie, and still quite beautiful. Her first act is to save a girl sold into prostitution. She rescues her and takes her back to Tokyo to work as a hostess (without the sex) at a club run by an old friend of Nami's. She also runs into a no-good gambler thug and helps him out, putting him forever in her debt. Then she runs into Sonny Chiba, this time playing a character named Ryuji (like the first movie, but not the same character). He runs the only other prostitution ring outside of the Aoshida Company, which is the evil corporation of Yakuza this time around. But he's a nice guy and very kind to his girls. In any case, things go okay until Aoshida starts muscling in on the club and Ryuji's racket. It doesn't help matters that he might have had something to do with Nami's father's death. Eventually everything ends up in another orgy of violence and destruction.Up until that point, though, the film is again basically a Yakuza drama. This time, though, there's more comedy thrown in, even some slapstick stuff with Chiba and the no-good gambler. There's even a little more nudity, though most of it is still in pinups on the walls. The violence, however brief it may be, is a fair bit more bloody and spurty than the previous entry. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a sequel or a prequel, since some events line up in both films, such as Nami's father being dead. In the end I decided it was more like the Yakuza Deka films, also starring Chiba, where from the first to the second we basically get the same characters in slightly different situations. It's almost like alternate universes where the same people exist yet get into different trouble. No matter, I still quite enjoyed the film. It's nice having the thirty plus years since its release to appreciate the two almost as companion pieces. Chiba adds quite a bit this time around, as his presence always does. The directing has a few more stylish flourishes that Kazuhiko Yamaguchi must have learned between the films. Kaji is once again wonderful as the same character she almost always plays. She's tough and independent, a wanderer in the rough streets of Tokyo. She's pretty but able to handle herself, not taking any crap from anyone. Plus, at the end of the film it's all slicey-dicey goodness. This film is perhaps a little better than the first one, but as a sequel it doesn't have quite the same effect. Since both films are 86 minutes long it's no problem watching them together; a double dose of Kaji never hurt anyone. Well worth watching.
