Teruo Ishii's sequel to Norifumi Suzuki's outrageously entertaining Sex and Fury unfortunately isn't anything to write home about, as it is weaker than its predecessor in almost any way. Reiko Ike returns as Ocho Inoshika, and the film starts with an obligatory sequence where she slaughters some thugs while naked, but that's pretty much all these two films have in common.Female Yakuza Tale suffers from a boring, convoluted plot with pointless characters and awful dialogues. Even though the story is about a Yakuza clan that uses a gang of female thieves for them to smuggle drugs in their vaginas, the film fails to properly execute that bizarre concept. There's also Osho's backstory, which sees her getting saved from having to cut off a finger by a Yakuza kingpin, who then gets murdered by the current boss, who also kidnaps his daughter and puts her in a mental hospital with kabuki-practicing mimes. As ridiculous as it all sounds, the film is quite boring and it feels like it lasts much longer than 85 minutes.There's also a supporting character, this guy who, despite throwing bullets into people's nostrils and glasses and shooting their moustache off, is not charismatic at all. He's helped by a female prisoner Scorpion lookalike, some Christian assassin who "prays before she kills", who barely contributes anything and about whom we learn nothing. The visual style is almost ordinary compared to Sex and Fury, the comical scenes mostly miss their mark, and the soundtrack is some kind of a mix between '70s funky music, bouncing springs and Ocho's theme song (?) sung by Reiko Ike in the final scene where she walks off into the Sun (not a sunset, just the sun).The action is scarce and the sex scenes are numerous but poorly executed, except for the one where Ocho has sex with the boss. It's all just an unfocused mess, where you're never sure if the sex scenes are here to serve as filler to the plot or the plot is just jumbled together to string the sex scenes together (okay, it's definitely the second one). However, the climax of the film is so outrageous and hilarious that it makes up for the rest of the film. The gang of naked female thieves fights against the clothed male gangsters in an epic display of playing card blades, bullets, knives, swords, píss, bottles of cocaine, fists and frantic editing. Has to be seen to be believed.

I recall some politician once being advertised as "tan, rested, and ready." Well, Ochô (Reiko Ike) has recovered from her massive wounds sustained in Sex & Fury, and is ready to do battle again.This time she is involved in the "Crotch-Gouge" murders. Something to do with Chinese drug mules who smuggle the drug up their crotch. Needless to say, the drug gang picked the wrong person to mess with.Exploring the video nasties of the 70s and the pinky violence of the same period is an adventure in just how wild filmmakers can be. At least the Japanese films are all in glorified color and full of gorgeous beauty. The music is also very upbeat and enjoyable.There are more breasts than in a chicken processing plant, and the blood flows freely in the final battle. This was not as good as Sex & Fury, but it had a whole lot more skin.

Female Yakuza Tale is my first foray into "Pinky Violence". The closest thing I have ever seen to this wild Japanese take on the sexploitation sub-genre was Lady Snowblood and I can say that in comparison it hardly counts. The tale involves Ocho, a female yakuza member, who is ensnared (or en-"snatched" perhaps) in a plot to smuggle heroin using the wonders of the female anatomy. Then there is this subplot about a guy who was sent to prison and it cost him his right to be boss of the Ogi family. It really doesn't matter so much. Most of the plot is inconsequential and is really a catalyst for more carnal pleasures... Characters have the usual undeveloped back story elements that one expects from a poorly written film that serve only to frustrate the audience. These elements are handled with little care and are jarring, obnoxious and clichéd interruptions. As a young male the only reason to sit through this flick is for the copious amounts of female flesh. One only has to go so far as the opening credits to be rewarded with the nude splendor of the star Reiko Ike. There is plenty more where that came from, rest assured that if you see an attractive woman on screen you will find out what she is hiding behind her clothing. This film makes a rule of this concept, in fact the finale has almost the entire female cast engaged in combat with only their shoes on. Blood, breasts and posterior... Too bad the camera work is static and boring and coupled with the editing makes the combat painfully staged and slow. Basically this is a film to watch if you crave a low brow cinematic fix. You watch FYT for the same reason you watch Cannibal Holocaust or a Troma flick, you crave the assault on good taste and art in favor of having primal desires satiated. While I got a kick out of this it is by no means a good film and a four star rating is all I can bear to give this.

For me, not quite as delirious as 'Sex and Fury', there are less set pieces and this is a little confusing now and again. Even so with the fabulous Reiko Ike to the fore with her penchant for bare breasted swordfights, this remains a must. The opening credit sequence with the parasols is wonderful and I was surprised not to see it reprised during the body of the film. Super camera-work, splendidly colourful sets and costumes plus an incredible amount of female flesh. So many beautiful naked girls, prancing, dancing and bending over to have phials inserted! The final fight is way over the top with naked flesh and rivers of blood, it just seems a shame there were not a couple more such scenes between the glorious opening and the gratuitous finale. Very enjoyable, nevertheless!