Born because her Japanese mother was raped by an American soldier, "Rica" (Rika Aoki) endures a harsh childhood and gradually forms an all-girl gang who fear nothing. However, when they tangle with the Yakuza "Tachibana Gang" things don't go well for them as Rica is carted off by the police for murder while the rest of the women are brutally raped and then sold into sex slavery in Vietnam. Vowing to get even with the Tachibana Gang she escapes from the detention facility but not before earning the enmity of the leader of the female prisoners named "Reiko" (Kazuko Nagamoto). Alone and always out-numbered Rica does the best that she can as she faces countless new obstacles that stand in the way of obtaining her revenge. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film suffered from a couple of flaws which repeated themselves throughout the movie. For example, the fight scenes were rather clumsy and could have used more attention to detail. Likewise, some of the special effects were almost laughable and in need of improvement as well. Even so, the movie wasn't too bad overall and managed to keep my attention for the most part. For that reason I rate it as about average.

I constantly find that I like the Japanese Pink films more and more every time I see another one; and while the first part of the 'Rica' trilogy is clearly not the best of the bunch; it's still a fantastically entertained gore-soaked thrill ride and it's sure to delight fans of the genre! The film is only ninety minutes long but you could be forgiven for thinking it's longer - not because it's boring or the runtime drags, but simply because so much is packed into the film! Aside from the usual sleaze - sex, rape, murder, gore etc; the film also somehow finds time for revenge plots and even a women's prison. Our central character is Rica; she's a Japanese-American half breed and the result of her mother being raped by an American soldier. She grows up and is later raped by one of her mother's boyfriends. This apparently doesn't sit very well with the young Rica, who decides to leave her mother's home and ends up getting herself involved in gang wars, revenge and trying to stop a local merchant from shipping women overseas...The main problem with this film is that there's so much going on that the film actually does not have enough time to spend with each of the plots, and as a result; it does seem a little too packed. This does benefit it in terms of pace - the film moves very quickly and literally does not give the audience time to get bored, and that does somewhat make up for the frenzied plotting. The lead role is taken by Rika Aoki, who only made one film outside of the Rica trilogy; and I'm not really surprised about that since she's really not a great actress. It's not too important for this; the focus is never on the acting anyway, but she doesn't have much on some of the best performers in other Pink films. One of the best things about this film is undoubtedly the gore, and the director does not hold back when it comes to showing it. There are plenty of good gore scenes in the film and it helps to distract from the problems. It's clear that the film is not going to boil down to any sort of meaningful ending; and indeed it doesn't, but that isn't a problem and on the whole Rica is a flawed but very entertaining Pink film!

"Rica" is Toho's attempt to create a pinky violence series in the Toei style. Unfortunately, this entry doesn't quite cut the mustard. Rica (Rika Aoki) is the product of a rape by a white soldier. She springs from the womb and is subjected to a life of sleaze, violence, and betrayal -- the essential ingredients of a hot exploitation film. After the teenage Rica is raped by one of her whore mother's clients, a despicable businessman, she leaves the nest and gets involved in gang wars, bloody violence, and a plot to sell local women into foreign prostitution. The film bounces along and is never dull. It is close to as bloody as one of Toho's Baby Cart films and is assisted by a jazzy score. Unfortunately, the direction is slipshod and the fight scenes are pretty sloppy. There is a looseness to the production that reduces its impact. Rika Aoki is merely okay in the lead role. Too unwieldy to be a convincing heroine and a little too large to be sexy, she falls into a strange twilight zone of on-screen fighting gals. As odd as it may sound, the film is somewhat redeemed by its obsessive focus on rape and sexual abuse; there is barely a sex scene that isn't a rape scene. A subplot involving a mysterious man who comes to Rica's aid when necessary is the film's only authentic aspect. Better to seek out "Zero Woman - Red Handcuffs", a far superior example of pinky violence with style to burn.

I consider this comparable to Truck Turner in the blaxploitation genre. Not the best example of pinky violence, but one of the most entertaining. There's enough 'plot' here to fill 5 movies though it's rather episodic in nature. Lots of exploitative scenes (nudity, violence, catfights, etc.), also some anti-USA sentiment.I just saw Rica 2 Lonely Wanderer yesterday. Not quite the exploitation showcase as the first, and with more conventional and less frantic pacing. No reform schools here, and no nudity from the star (Rika), though it does have some anti-USA bias. It's still a quite good followup and perhaps more believable than the original (which may actually detract from the entertainment value). Judging from the trailer, looks like the third installment is less sedate and more of a roller coaster ride like the first one.