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Classic Comic Compendium: LADY SNOWBLOOD – VOLUME 1 – THE DEEP-SEATED GRUDGE

A compelling story of revenge, set in an interesting transitory period of Japanese culture.

02/09/2026 11:00 am

I think I’ve mentioned before that I had a friend in high school that was obsessed with exploitation films and Asian action films (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean). He introduced me to things like The Last Dragon, Enzo Castellari’s entire body of work, the Shaw Brothers, and more, both b-movies and things considered higher class (like Seijun Suzuki or the occasional Akira Kurosawa). Among the things his parents banned though were Women in Prison films and more overt sexploitation titles.

So, with my parents having no such compunction or limitations on what I could watch, he enlisted me to help him see some of his banned list. In retrospect, I definitely understand his parents wishes—even if some of the accepted exploitation films probably display as gratuitous or worse than the banned titles. Among them was one that I didn’t think necessarily fit, but was probably included because the protagonist was a woman and the character at least partially represented as a prostitute in their estimation, Lady Snowblood. (And, I mean, there’s a Criterion release of it now.)

I had no idea at the time of watching it, or the sequel Lovesong of Vengeance, was based on a manga.

“O-Oyuki…t-take my revenge…”

Lady Snowblood – Volume 1: The Deep-Seated Grudge by Kazuo Koike & Kazuo Kamimura as translated by Naomi Kokubo & Jeff Carlson with letters by Studio Cutie begins the story of an assassin seeking revenge for the rape of her mother. Though in a somewhat circuitous fashion, since it also features tales of some contracts that she takes along the way. There’s a kind of delicate balance between the various contracts, showing Yuki as a cold, trained assassin, and the empathy for her overarching quest for vengeance.

There’s a fascinating tone to the stories here. While there’s an almost educational approach to some of Koike’s narration, filling in details of late 19^th century Japan, the characters themselves are often quite harsh. Brutish criminals with rather sexist and dismissive attitudes, often trying to take advantage of Lady Snowblood as she feigns innocence and naivete infiltrating various situations. Before clinical, effective bursts of violence taking down here targets.

That duality of tone is present in Kamimura’s artwork as well, with some elaborate physical set pieces, establishing locations and people, before exploding in angular panels for the dynamic action sequences. It gives the action and storytelling a kind of frenetic immediacy that’s quite compelling. As well as Lady Snowblood having a proclivity for fighting naked.

“You’re a child of hell…t-that makes me…p-pity you…even more.”

The character of Lady Snowblood at least partially influenced Quentin Tarantino’s creation of The Bride from Kill Bill and it was after this that I came to realize that the movie was based on a comic. Thankfully, Dark Horse fulfilled a desire to check out the source material shortly after as they published an English translation in 2005. Lady Snowblood – Volume 1: The Deep-Seated Grudge by Koike & Kamimura with Kokubo, Carlson, and Studio Cutie introduced me to the purest, original form of the character and the complex mix of history, social commentary, and violence that I was familiar with from Koike’s earlier Lone Wolf & Cub. Yet in a different period and in a much more immediate way.

It’s a compelling story of revenge, set in an interesting transitory period of Japanese culture, that gives us a cold, brutal protagonist navigating various aspects of society, from the ruling class to street criminals.