In Feudal Japan, the evil lord Akinari desires more women for his personal pleasure and sends his seven demon soldiers who attack a convent, killing most of the residents except for seven women. Each of them contains a ninja power of ‘Kunoichi’ that waits to be unlocked. Using this power with the aid of legendary sword master Yagyu Jubei, the seven seek their revenge.

Kunoichi Lady Ninja is number seven in a series of B-grade ‘Kunoichi’ samurai films, this one based on a novel by Futaro Yamada. Series regular Hitoshi Ozawa takes over the directing reigns while Yuko Moriyama (Zeram) stars. The film is basically live action manga or anime akin to the likes of Legend of the Eight Samurai (1984) with heavier doses of bloodletting, magic, and exploited women.

The plot is convoluted and not friendly to the uninitiated. But essentially, the story centers around the efforts of seven nuns transformed into ninjitsu and magic masters to kill seven demons while a swordsman named Yagyu Jubei assists. Jubei is a re-occurring character in samurai films based on a real life hero who sports a distinctive tied up hairdo and eye patch. Sonny Chiba played this ninjitsu and sword expert in the big budget classic Shogun’s Samurai (1978). Director Ozawa steps into the role this time around.

True to the definition of the B-action movie genre, Lady Ninja offers up gratuitous spurts of blood and beheadings, ridiculously costumed characters, campy special effects, and best or worst of all depending on your taste or lack thereof, sex magic! Never has magic been put to such compromising use. I could sully this review with details, but instead I will tastefully sum it all up in three words describing the most potent of feminine attacks, the “nipple shock wave.”

The swordplay and ninjitsu elements in the film are cartoonish and anyone looking for any hardcore martial arts action will be disappointed. Yet Kunoichi Lady Ninja is crazed camp filmmaking in all its glory. There is a fair amount of wacky action, the villains are outrageously fun, and the effects are adequate for a budget film. As long as you know what you’re getting into, this can be a moderately entertaining 105 minutes.

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