Synapse Films to Release Two Meiko Kaji Classics on DVD
THE STREETS OF GINZA RUN RED WITH BLOOD IN A PAIR OF SEXY JAPAN ACTION CLASSICS
TWO MISSING LINKS IN THE CAREER OF JAPANESE CULT FILM LEGEND MEIKO KAJI FINALLY COME TO DVD!
Between her rise to stardom in the STRAY CAT ROCK series of girl gang biker movies made at Nikkatsu Studios in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and her elevation to cult icon in the FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION series begun at Toei Studios in 1972, Japanese actress Meiko Kaji made a pair of films—her first for the studio that would turn her into a legend—that featured her as a beautiful female gambler and swordplay expert, who did her best to survive a tough life on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo’s Ginza district, defending weaker friends and walking her own personal road of vengeance. Synapse Films is proud to give these two titles—an important missing link in the world of Japanese genre cinema—their world DVD debut.
In WANDERING GINZA BUTTERFLY, gang leader Nami (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 Tokyo to live with her uncle, a billiard-hall owner, and after befriending streetwise 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.
Nami returns in WANDERING GINZA BUTTERFLY 2: SHE-CAT GAMBLER, with 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.
Special Features:
- New, fully restored, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer mastered in high-definition from Toei’s original vault elements
- New video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
- Audio commentary by Japanese film expert Chris D. (exclusive to disc #1)
- New video interview with Pinky Violence film expert J-Taro Sugisaku (exclusive to disc #2)
- Original Japanese theatrical trailers for both WANDERING BUTTERFLY films
- Meiko Kaji poster gallery and biography
- Reversible cover with original Japanese poster artwork
Look for Synapse Films’ Special Edition DVDs of WANDERING GINZA BUTTERLY and WANDERING GINZA BUTTERFLY 2: SHE-CAT GAMBLER in stores on May 19, 2009, at a retail price of $24.95 each. Each title is available separately.
Awesome!
This is terrific news.
I’ve seen the first WANDERING GINZA film, but not the second.
That’s for posting this.