Excellent news for fans of Japanese cult film and in particular Meiko Kaji of Female Convict Scorpion 701, Lady Snowblood and Stray Cat Rock fame. In 1972, just before making the first Female Convict Scorpion film, Kaji starred as a wandering ex-con gambler in Wandering Ginza Butterfly, a classic pinky violence film that has been much talked about but little seen. The second entry in the series - She Cat Gambler - would come the next year with Sonny Chiba in a key support role. Kaji is an absolute icon and that these films have remained unavailable for so long - they've never even had a DVD release in Japan! - is more than a little surprising but that's about to change with upcoming releases due from Synapse Films. We've got edition details and the trailers below the break!
Wandering Ginza Butterfly
Gang leader Nami (cult film legend Meiko Kaji) kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. Upon her release three years later, she’s a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs. She returns to the city to live with her uncle, a billiard-hall owner, and after befriending pimp and ne’er-do-well Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase), she gets a job working at a hostess club in the chic Ginza neighborhood, where the expensive shops and neon lights conceal a dark world of crime and sexual slavery. But when a rival gang attempts to muscle in on the club, Nami becomes enmeshed in a violent struggle that forces her to wield a skilled pool cue to defend her uncle’s business, and eventually a short sword to wreak bloody vengeance upon her enemies.
- Popular cult film star Meiko Kaji’s first films for Toei Studios – Kaji is star of popular FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION films
- Never before released on video in the US, unavailable on DVD in Japan
- New, exclusive special feature interviews
- Combines swordplay action with Pinky Violence elements
DVD Special Features:
• New, fully restored, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer mastered in high-definition from Toei’s original vault elements
• Japanese language with newly-translated, removable English subtitles
• Audio commentary by Japanese film expert Chris D.
• New, exclusive video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
• Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
• Reversible cover with original Japanese poster artwork
Wandering Ginza Butterfly: She Cat Gambler
The Ginza Butterfly Nami (Meiko Kaji, returning to her role from the original) is back in a new story that finds her on the hunt for Hoshiden, the man who killed her gambler father when she was only a child. Arriving in Tokyo, Nami takes a job as a hostess in a swank Ginza club, all the while combing the back-alleys and gambling dens for news of Hoshiden’s whereabouts. Local street entrepreneur Ryuji (the Street Fighter himself, Sonny Chiba) joins her in the search, and eventually in a bloody raid on the yakuza headquarters where Hoshiden—now living incognito, under an assumed name—is hiding out.
- Popular cult film star Meiko Kaji’s first films for Toei Studios – Kaji is star of popular FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION films
- Never before released on video in the US, unavailable on DVD in Japan
- New, exclusive special feature interviews
- Combines swordplay action with Pinky Violence elements
DVD Special Features:
• New, fully restored, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer mastered in high-definition from Toei’s original vault elements
• Japanese language with newly-translated, removable English subtitles
• New video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
• New video interview with Pinky Violence film expert J-Taro Sugisaku
• Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both films
• Reversible cover with original Japanese poster artwork