PRINCESS BLADE    
Released by AV Channel-Madman Entertainment.  Available to buy now  

Stars: Hideaki Ito, Yumiko Shaku, Shirô Sano, Yoichi Numata, Kyusaku Shimada, Yoko Maki  

A He Says She Says review by Knowles and Knowles 

Princess Yuki is an extremely effective deadly assassin whose sword is an extension of her body.  When she turns 20 she must decide if she wants to leave the lethal band or if she wants to become their leader – as she is entitled being the last to have Takemikazuchi blood.  Frightened and unsure, she runs and falls upon Takeshi, a rebel/terrorist, and his sister.  Living with them until she recuperates after an especially vicious battle she has time to learn to live in the real world and slowly forms her new decision.  This leads to a tremendous battle to the death.  

She says This was quite a good movie.  The lead actress does some awesome fight scenes with some moves so spectacular that we watched them over again.  The lead male actor was very American looking in his manner of dress and this detracted from it slightly for me as it didn’t really fit in with the traditional kind of story line.  This was supposed to be a drama with the fight scenes being the action component.  The subtitles didn’t convey this adequately.  I felt that a lot was lost in the translation.  Overall I rather enjoyed this movie.  

He says Set 500 years in the future, it presents an unnamed post-apocalyptic view of Japan , blending elements of a horror future with a feudal past. The filming of the Japanese countryside is lush and breathtaking. The lighting is well done, and the fog rolling across the battlefield is 100% badass. Yuki is small, but beautiful, and in a way sexy as she plies her deadly skill like a ballet dancer, more like an anime character than a human.