Geisha Assassin

                              
Director: Go Ohara
Year: 2008
Rating: 6.0
Aka - Geisha vs Ninja

Where is Junko Fuji when you need her. Or as Godard said, all you need to make a movie is a woman and a sword and a kimono and a bottle of ketchup. That is pretty much what this exercise in action is. Who needs any stinking sets. Or a plot beyond you killed my father. Or actors who have little to do but curse, threaten, fight and die. Needless to say, I enjoyed this. As low budget as a samurai-ninja-monster movie can get but high on the fun factor. It all takes place in the forest which cuts down on all the costs but catering. Directed by Go Ohara who has been action choreographer or stunt coordinator on  Onechanbara: The Movie, Death Trance, Battlefield Baseball and Princess Blade. A respectable resume. This one is fairly simple - action - breather - action - breather - action - breather etc. I figured this had to be based on a Manga or a video game but not that I could find.




Kotomi is a young geisha in her kimono, wooden clogs and umbrella up to protect her from the rain as she walks along at night. Suddenly a man approaches her and asks her why she is following him. Because you killed my father and now it is your turn and pulls out her sword. Not so easy. He is a master swordsman and they clash evenly but he walks away saying you need more training. She is about to get it. Two guys come out to kill her. At one point she reaches down and picks something up and throws it at one of them. It is his hand. He hadn't noticed that she had cut it off. You are pretty good for a geisha is a common refrain throughout as she fights her way past various opponents - samurais, ninjas, a killer monk, a savage female, a bunch of zombies. Finally, she reaches the samurai. Why are all those people trying to kill me she wonders.



Kotomi is played by Minami Tsukui in her acting debut. You might be familiar with her if you are a Kamen Rider fan (never seen one myself) as she has been in a bunch of those as Marika. She is a trained martial artist and stuntwoman. So her moves are fairly legit and the choreography is good. The action is brutal and fast. At 80 minutes I assume this was made for the video market with a sale to American distributors in mind.