Episode 229: LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973)

Content warning: Depictions of sexual assault and suicide. During the Meiji period, Japanese society was seemingly split between those who desired the modernization that came with Western influence and those who insisted on upholding a “pure” Japan marked by tradition and classical thought – all in the borders of one country. LADY SNOWBLOOD is two things, too: It’s a stylish manga adaptation about a demonic daughter exacting revenge for her family’s suffering AND it’s a finger in the eye of both ideals against which Japanese society was measured at the turn of the century. And yeah, it inspired KILL BILL (2003), but I haven’t seen that, so let’s talk about it more on its own terms, okay? Get tickets to A DISH BEST SERVED COLD (June 2023 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/a-dish-best-served-cold/ Read “The Sound & Fury of Lady Snowblood” by MTT, lecturer at the University of Minnesota, on Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2023/05/29/the-sound-fury-of-lady-snowblood/ Watch LADY SNOWBLOOD on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/lady-snowblood-1973_202211 Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "The Flower of Carnage (修羅の花)” composed by Masaaki Hirao and performed by Meiko Kaji from the LADY SNOWBLOOD soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 229: LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973) 2:52 - Chapter 1: THE STORY SO FAR, FROM THE LIPS OF ONE WHO WAS THERE 4:46 - Chapter 2: MATERNAL BLOODLUST AND INK INSPIRATION 16:08 - Chapter 3: FIRST SIGHT OF THE RED SNOW MURDER MAIDEN 21:18 - Chapter 4: DEATH SPIRAL ON A BLOOD-SOAKED BUTTERFLY WING 26:02 - Chapter 5: A DEMON CURSED TO CLEAVE PAST AND FUTURE 34:18 - Chapter 6: EXPECTATIONS UNDERCUT ONCE MORE? 42:15 - Chapter 7: STYLE AND SUBSTANCE SINGING IN CHORUS 50:21 - Chapter 8: A HIDDEN CONTAINER CAN HOLD ONLY HIDDEN CHAOS 54:04 - Chapter 9: WITH NO GIF TO GIVE, WHO IS LEFT TO REMEMBER? 1:00:21 - Chapter 10: NOTES FROM CODY: THE BLOODLESS BROTHERLY FEUD