—…á•P (Shura Yukihime): The Princess Blade
Starring:Hideaki Itoh, Yumiko Shaku, Shiro Saino, Yoichi Nuwata, Kyusaku Shimada
Director: Donnie Yen
Special Effects: Bullet Time, Wires, Enhanced Camera Speed. 3D Studio Max 5/6 (For bullets design and sword lighting)
Rating 9.6
Music 9.7
Graphics 8.5
Special Effects 9
Yuki is an assassin bred from birth to carry out her destiny as the princess heir to an assassin circle known as the Takemikazuchi clan. Little does she know the head of the clan Byakurai, actully killed her mother when she was just five years old. After a string of entangled events Yukihime (Princess Yuki) will try to avenge her mother as her birthday present.
Later she meets a revolutionary known as Takashi who questions her purpose for killing which he narrates that he has his own reasons why. He wishes to restore the old law and order so he can become happy again (He is depressed by the changes that the government has made to their law.) Minamodo uses Takashi's venerablity to send him on missions against the government, but Takashi does not like harming innocent bystanders.
Now this happens to be Yumiko Shaku's first movie, but that does not hinder her one bit. For what she has in chreography she has twice the amount in drama. Donnie Yen as a Martial Arts Director and coordinator does an excellent job with making Princess Blade. Both Donnie as a Director and Yumiko as an actress seems to have excellent chemistry together. He makes sure that Yukihime not only displays competence in her swordsmanship, but also does a fantastic job of showing the fragility of Yukihime as a human being. Yukihime in this film is narrowed into a corner and has several obstacles to overcome and Donnie makes the solutions Yukihime puts forth are practial and possible.
This film has been in Japan for 3 years and has finally arrieved on a special edition box set in the States. Also Donnie Yen makes a hint that there will be a sequal to The Priness Blade while he is explaining on of the last scenes of the film. I for one am personally dying to see what adversaries Yukihime will put face in part two.
Oh as a side note: Seijin no Hi or Adult day happens to be on the 20th birthday. This might explain why Yuki is considered an adult. Seijin no Hi Happens around Mid-January and there are a set of rituals followed by a drinking party to carry out the passage into adulthood. Most Japanese people I talk to say they find this day boring, but it could be interesting depending on the type of festivals a place has. Also alcolhol does not mean that much to them becauseJapan's bartenders and Police or more lax about the age drinking laws.
