When it comes to female killers my favorite type has to be the “revenger”. I love a good revenge story especially when it has a strong lead actress at the helm. It’s a popular story, so much so that the subgenre “rape-revenge” is almost entirely populated by female killers. When it comes to deadly ladies Yuki Kashima of the Lady Snowblood is literally born for the purpose of enacting revenge. The films are based on a manga by Kazuo Koike and the role of Yuki was written for exploitation star Meiko Kaji. Meiko is phenomenal in this role, which eventually became an influence for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Yuki is a killing machine that cuts down her foes while being impeccably dressed.

In the originally Lady Snowblood from 1973. Yuki’s mother loses her husband and son to a band of criminals who then rape her repeatedly. She is able to get revenge and murder one of the men but she is then sent to prison. She decides to have sex with any of the prison guards who are willing in order to give birth to a child who can take on her quest for vengeance. She ultimately dies while giving birth but brings Yuki to the world, a child born for the sole purpose of killing the men who wronged her mother. She spends her childhood training to be the best she can be and at the age of 20 she goes off to begin her killing spree.

However, Yuki’s motivations change once we get to the second film, Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974). In the film, Yuki is an outlaw on the run. She has completed her quest for vengeance and lived to tell the tale. She is eventually caught by the police who sentences her to death for her crimes but make a deal with them instead. Yuki can live if she acts as an assassin for the government and kill some troublesome revolutionaries. Her target is Ransui, an anarchist who has in his possession secret documents the government worries about. She infiltrates his home and pretends to be a maid. After spending more time with him and learning about his mission she decides to double-cross the government and hold them responsible for their own misdeeds.

Like Julia from Hellraiser 1&2, we see Yuki’s motivations for killing change over the course of the two films. She has a simple straightforward plan to get revenge on the men who hurt her mother. She manages to complete her mission and it almost costs her her life. This is fairly typical for a revenge story like this, we see the lead become a vessel for vengeance, oftentimes leaving their humanity behind in order to focus on the bloody mission ahead of them. It is unusual to see what comes after the vengeance is complete. What happens when someone’s purpose for living is gone? So the fact that Love Song of Vengeance tries to answer this question is fascinating in and of itself. She seems lost without her mission when we see her at the beginning of the film. While her mission from the government helps her stay alive she clearly has no passion for it. That changes, however, as she spends more time with Ransui and learns about how terribly the government has treated its people, especially the poorest of them. She is able to find something to be passionate about, even if it is someone else’s mission. And she is able to use her insane sword skills to help the people of Japan.

While Lady Snowblood works as its own film and has little lead for a sequel it is fascinating to watch Yuki find a new reason to go on and to watch her continue to fight against injustices. She becomes an avenging angel for the people. She fights for the poor, the downtrodden, and the anarchists. It is great to see someone take on a tyrannical government all on their own and to truly defend those who need it. Especially in this day and age Love Song of Vengeance has a very satisfying tone and message. Plus Yuki gets to live and not be a victim of her vengeance plot.

Yuki is viewed in many different ways by the people around her. Given that the film takes place in the late 1800s Yuki is dressed in a traditional kimono throughout the film. Often times this appearance helps her lure her victims and get their guard down. Many of the men she interacts with see her as a pretty young woman, whom they can seduce, abuse, and toss aside. The fact that these men undermine her gets them killed all the quicker. Her ability to strike fear in the hearts of these men is incredible. In the second film, she is viewed as a pawn that the government can use to carry out their shady dealings. This plays into their downfall as well, since they do not realize that Yuki is someone who cannot be tamed. However, there are those like Ransui who see through Yuki’s cold exterior and know that there is a compassionate and empathetic woman underneath it all, one who will ultimately do the right thing when given the opportunity.

She fits into the “cold bitch” category of female killers like Catherine Trammel of Basic Instinct. No one can match Meiko Kaji’s cold dead stare, the same one she uses throughout the Female Prisoner Scorpion series. Even her lack of dialogue makes her seem slightly less human and more of a god, or “demon” as she is described early on. However, Yuki gets to show her caring and compassionate side to those who need it. She even seems to care a great deal about Kobue, the daughter of one of her mother’s rapists. We get to see someone who can adapt and find new meanings for life in the Snowblood series. Yuki is fierce, caring, and deadly. Honestly with her arc in the second film, there is no one quite like her.