Hibotan bakuto: Isshuku ippan

This film essentially begins where the last one left off with the Yakuza gambler "Ryuko Yano" (Sumiko Fuji)--who is also known as "Oryu-The Red Peony"--wandering into a small village known for its production of silk and being welcomed by the local Yakuza boss by the name of "Eisuke Togasaki" (Michitaro Mizushima). While staying with his family she learns that a local loan shark named "Gisuke Kuramochi" (Tatsuo Endo) has taken advantage of exceedingly bad harvests by the farmers there and is making it very difficult for them to repay their debt. However, when Eisuke tries to rein in Gisuke he is betrayed by his assistant "Yaichiro Kasamatsu" (Toshi Amatsu) and killed. Kasamatsu then seizes control of the village and after being challenged by Eisuke's son "Yukichi Togasaki" (Kunio Murai) has him imprisoned under false charges leaving Yukichi's wife "Machi Togasaki" (Yuki Shirono) alone with a young child named "Taichi Togasaki" (Kenichiro Imura) to support. Needless to say, Oryu attempts to correct the situation but not only does she have to contend with Yaichiro Kasamatsu but she also has another female gambler named "Oren" (Mari Shiraki) who seeks to make a name for herself at Oryu's expense. But what nobody fully appreciates is the fact that Oryu is as skilled with a dagger as she is with cards and dice. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good sequel which followed along the same lines as its predecessor to a great degree. And although it suffered from a bit of overacting here and there it still remained rather entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

To say I'm not a fan of the director and main writer of this it's an understatement, I've watched some of his pornographic-exploitation movies like Sex and Fury, School of The Holy Beast, Terrifying girls' high school when I started getting more into japanese movies a couple of years ago and I didn't like them in any way. But the first Red Peony movie was written sufficiently well, and this is more or less well directed too especially towards the end, where there are some poignant and well-done shots. The only real grievances of this movie are the supposedly comic reliefs in the form of two guys who want to be Oryu's henchmen and are not funny in any way (like some stupid scenes with Oryu's legal brother's sister under the shower aren't) and the fact that the story more or less is a bit muddled until the second half kicks in, but for the rest this movie is as enjoyable as the first one. Still not masterpiece material, but enjoyable and fun nonetheless. Hands down the best movie the guy made in his entire life, no questions attached.