The Bride is nothing without Meiko Kaji

Quentin Tarantino. For some the name conjures images of gangsters, gimps, afros, kung-fu, and the Twist. A brilliant storyteller who pays homage to the forgotten, grindhouse cinema he grew up on in every movie is has made. Everything from blaxploitation to spaghetti westerns has been emulated in one or more of Tarantino’s movies. To many, Tarantino’s movies have helped open up the b-movie floodgates and exposed us to many movies that might have fallen through the cracks. If it wasn’t for Tarantino, would actors like Pam Greer and Sonny Chiba have the careers and cult followings they do today? I doubt it, but who am I to give an opinion? I know if it wasn’t for QT, I would never have had the urge to watch Return of the Street Fighter like I will be doing tonight. Thank you Tarantino!!!

For others though, the mere mention of the name brings violent outbursts and feelings of deep hatred. Yes folks, this is the other side of the genre-cinema-fan coin. Those who curse Tarantino for being a rip-off artist, a charlatan, and a hack. Those who claim Tarantino doesn’t have an original bone in his body. An Exploiter of Exploitation if you will. It seems to have become quite fashionable to have this approach these days. I can understand the opinion for those old enough to have lived and experienced the 42nd Street days. But if you happen to be my age or younger, I kinda look at it as biting the hand that feeds you.

Obviously, I am of the first opinion, but this blog isn’t about licking Tarantino’s asshole. I don’t even know if this article is going to do QT justice. In fact it might fuel the fire of Team Hater.

This article, my friends, is about the Bride. Rather, the archetype the the Bride is based on. Yes, we all know of Lady Snowblood and how some of the scenes in Kill Bill are almost filmed shot-for-shot, or so it seems. It happens to be my opinion, as powerful as such a thing is, that the character of the bride wasn’t based exclusively on Lady Snowblood, but more on the stereotypical roles played by the actress who portrayed Snowblood, Meiko Kaji.

Anybody who is familiar with the Pinky Violence genre will know the name Meiko Kaji by instinct. During the 70’s, she was the poster girl for all the embodied “Bad Ass” in Japanese cinema. In many a movie during this time, she was the perfect instrument in the name of feminine revenge. Whether she played a gang girl, a prisoner, or a murderous geisha…it ended in a bloodbath most of the time. Meiko Kaji was also quite the pop star during her reigning period as screen queen. QT even included one of her songs in the OST for Kill Bill(hmmm???).

So now I present a series of videos to you that prove, to me, the the Bride was based less on a character and more an amalgamation of characters all played by the same person. Granted, I could just be completely wrong and this is more about exposing, to the world, my love for Meiko Kaji. Either way you look at it, Meiko Kaji is incredibly nice to look at, especially when she is kicking ass.

Black Cat's Revenge(Kaidan noberi ryu,1970)

To most red-blooded American men, nothing screams “hot” like one of the many toy-breasted, tan-whores you see every month exposing their generic trampstamps in the pages of Maxim and other such PG-rated jerkbooks aka fantasymags for jocks. I’m not going to say that those of us in the “geek” crowd always have a more refined taste in attraction, but most of the nose-in-a-comic types that I know find the above mentioned abhorrant. Of course, we all love the “librarian” stereotype as a reflection of our high school past, but over the years the tastes become more variant, and in some cases, fuckin’ weird(hello furries!). Lately, for me, nothing says “sexy” more than kimonos, kitanas, and the enemy’s blood stained upon paper walls, usually in that order. That’s right, folks, I’m talking of the female yakuza, especially those portrayed in 70’s Japanese cinema. One actress in particular, Meiko Kaji, has been the object of my nerdly desires. Or, rather, the Meiko Kaji of three decades ago. If only I had been born in post-war Tokyo. Damn time displacement!!!

In Black Cat’s Revenge(Kaidan nobori ryu,1970) stars my current unrealistic fantasy as Akemi, inheritor of the Tachibana clan. After spending 3 years, Akemi is torn between retiring the clan as her dearly departed father-and-former-clan head supposedly wished, or bringing the Tachibana clan’s name back to it’s former glory. Unfortunately, things aren’t going to be easy if she plans on the latter. First off, Tachibana clan’s men and women dropping like flies, with there bodies being found minus the family tattoo, a dragon that stretches across the entirety of the Tachibana clan when they are lined up in battle formation. Akemi also happens to be plagued with reoccurring nightmares of a black cat who wants nothing more than to take her vision. During the course of the movie, these nightmares take a physical form when a black cat repeatedly is around when clan bodies are discovered.

It turns out the a rival clan of drug dealing, slave traders are responsible for the grotesque murders. All the while trying to pin in on another local clan of wannabe-turf leaders. Not only do these truly evil, peddlers-of-vice have the help of a Tachibana turncoat, but also that of a mysterious, blind she-warrior who wants nothing more than to destroy Akemi. Who she is and why the vendetta are the mystery to be answered at the very end of the movie.

As the bodies pile up, Akema eventually has to make the decision the right decision, and once again the Dragon Formation will be completed.

Although not as action-packed as I expected it to be, coming down from my Lady Snowblood-high, Kaidan nobori ryu had it’s fare share of swordplay and bloodsprays. It was enough to keep the most diehard fan of the yakuza genre entertained. But where it lacked in action, it more than made up for in cross-genre style. We not only have strong elements of suspense and horror, as seen in the grisly murders and reoccurring use of the black cat to induce more fear, the director, at times, likes to throw in psychedelic elemnts, which really threw me for a curveball. The scene I speak of involves the mysterious blind women and the freakshow of circus company she involves herself with. After demonstrating her unearthly knife throwing abilities, we are sent into a torrent of surreal direction involving a bestial hunchback and the washing of blind feet. Fucking weird, but it was something that was pretty popular in American exploitation cinema at the time, so I wasn’t that weirded out by it. Although it might seem out of place in this kind of period piece, the director, Teruo Ishii, is able to blend it pretty well along with the other directional elements I mentioned. After watching this, I’m curious of his other work, which I hear is pretty spectacular in some cases.

Although not my favorite Meiko Kaji flick, I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in Pinky Violence or Yakuza movies from the 70’s. Even if you don’t know anything about said genres, it is still fun to watch hot, tattooed girls spill blood in heavy amounts. Besides….Meiko Kaji is fuckin’ hot! Nuff said.