The manga that inspired the films of Kill Bill
Written by Kazuo Koike
Genre / themes: Vengeance, historical Japan, assassin.
Art level: Manga, high quality, scenes and flow seem cinematically scripted by the author. Black and white.
Star Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Books: Four. Completed.
Other notes: Inspired a (not so good) film of the same name, which
led to Kill Bill. Kazuo Koike also wrote Lone Wolf and Cub.
Lady Snowblood: Amazon Blurb
From the pen of Kazuo Koike, of Lone Wolf and Cub fame, comes Lady Snowblood, the manga that eventually would become an inspiration for director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill blockbuster films. A story of pure vengeance, Lady Snowblood tells the tale of a daughter born of a singular purpose, to avenge the death of her family at the hands of a gang of thugs, a purpose woven into her soul from the time of her gestation. Beautifully drafted and full of bloody, sexy action, Lady Snowblood lives up to its title and reputation.
My Review
Lady Snowblood is the only manga I ever truly loved (although I also recommend Doll), and fits neatly into four volumes. The sto
ry of an assassin for hire, hunting down the people who destroyed her mother's life, Lady Snowblood is the story Kill Bill was (tentatively) based on, very evident in the design of the covers. Lady Snowblood was also the name of an earlier film adaptation.A brilliantly drawn black-and-white manga full of blood and nudity, Lady Snowblood has both plot and character development, and I thoroughly approve of the artwork. it is not for younger readers nor for the faint of heart. Her trade is, after all, assassination, and being an attractive young woman, she often uses nudity as a distraction.
The stories skip along, mostly detailing each job - destroying a yakuza gangs that a museum can be built, exposing a blackmailing pornographic photographer, assassinations, lovers, traveling around. It actually takes some rereading to realise how subtly the stories are often connected, and which are simple 'jobs' and which are actually the pursuit of her vengeance. It is both well written and historically accurate - set in the 1890s of Japan, and the growth of Yuki ('Snow') as a person adds an extra layer of depth to the story.
The black and white style is simplistic and effective, and very graceful - in most cases, it helps reduces the impact of the violence, as the blood is not red, and the flesh is plain white.
The third book, Retribution, is a bit cruder than the rest (in case you prefer to avoid more explicit stories) and less serious - she hunts down a famous (and famously eccentric) writer and persuades him to publish her story in order to flush out her remaining targets - but the art is beautiful still. Or, as an Amazon reviewer puts it "Compensation for their dumbing down a fairly smart series comes in Kamimura's artwork, more cinematic than ever, full of marvelous viewing angles, perspectival effects, and purely visual storytelling; Koike presumably scripted these wordless aspects, too. So, hats off again, gentlemen."
If you think this is up your street, I thoroughly recommend it.
The four books of the Lady Snowblood manga
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