Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫)

Meiji 7 (1874). Tokyo Prison, Hachioji, Kanagawa Prefecture Branch

Yuki...

You were born for vengeance...

Such a poor child...

A child of the netherworlds...

Lady Snowblood

Move it!

Get out of our way, woman!

Who do you think you are?!

Do you realize that he's Shibayama Genzo, the Asakura Senryo Gang leader?

It doesn't matter! Kill her!

You bitch!

What are you, an assassin?!

You little bitch!

Don't kill her...

I want her to tell us what fool hired her.

Yessir!

Yessir!

Who are you?! Speak!

Who gave you orders to come after me...of all people?!

Answer me!

Wh... Who are you...?

Revenge..

Wh...Wh...Whoose?!

All those helpless people that have suffered, thanks to you...

Woman, wh...wh...who the hell are you?!

Lady Snowblood.

Begrieving snow falls... in the dead morning...

Stray dog's howls... and the footsteps of Gete pierce the air...

I walk with the weigth of the Milky Way on my shoulders...

...but an umbrella that holds onto the darkness is all there is.

I'm a woman who walks at the brink of life and death...

...who's emptied my tears many moons ago...

All the compassion, tears and dreams...

...the snowy nights... and tomorrow... hold no meaning...

I've immersed my body in the river of vengeance...

...and thrown away my womanhood many moons ago...

Chapter One: Vengeance Binds Love and Hate

Over twenty years have flown by...

...since the new era of Meiji ended three centuries of peaceful Tokugawa rule.

The European ideas of social progress...

...that once greatly unsettled the people are becoming widely accepted.

Still, provincial disputes continue unabated...

...as do unfair practices by mercenary plutocrats and shady businessmen...

...and actions taken by corrupt officials seeking only to benefit themselves.

And, self-indulgent, rich men and women only grew in number...

...while the pleas of poor peasants...

...who could barely make ends meet, remained unanswered.

And at this time, there lived a woman of the netherworlds.

Everyone knew her flowery beauty...

...but, not many knew that deep inside her seemingly gentle and pure heart...

...burned a raging desire to hunt down her enemies.

People say...that what cleanses this world of decay is not pure white snow...

...but snow that is stained fiery-red: "the snow of the netherworlds."

Damn it...

Pardon me...

I would like to see Sir Matsuemon...

Where can I find Sir Matsuemon, your leader?

Please, would you take me to him?

Come with me.

Please! Please!

Pass it around!

Pass it around! Pass it around!

Pass it around! Pass it around!

Anything that comes here gets passed around!

That is the law of our band!

C'mon now! Pass it around!

Pass it around! Pass it around!

This goddess of sex is here for us!

You think you're tough?!

She got me!

Kill this bitch!

Stop!

Stop! Stop it!

Fool! Idiot!

Ow!

How dare you!

Wh...Wh...What the...?

You fools... How dare you act like stray dogs in heat?!

But, Boss...

You idiot!

Sir...

The lady is a very important guest of mine.

What?!

As you know, that ruthless bastard Shiba-Gen...

...tried to destroy our village by bankrupring us.

This lady is the one...

...who croaked him!

Miss... I was told that you make your living as an assassin...

...yet, looking at you, I cannot imagine you hurting a fly.

Tell me, Miss Shurayuki...

...what is it that you seek?

Sir Matsuemon...

I would like to request your assistance in finding these individuals.

Takemura Banzo... Tsukamoto Gishiro...

...Kitahama Okono...

Oh... all three seem to be from...

...the Koichi Village, in the Aimi District of Shimane Prefecture.

Now, Koichi Village... that's where I grew up.

It has taken me a whole year... to ascertain that very fact.

But, tell me... Why?

Are you familiar with the Ketsuzei Riots that occured in the 6th year of Meiji?

The Ketsuzei Riots? I can't say that I don't know of it...

These three explited that situation

...and swindled large sums from the villages of kiochi

...by running a "draft- exclusion" scam...

...and then skipping out without a trace.

I don't know all the details...

...but I heard that there were four culprits, not three.

Yes sir.

Of the four... Shokei Tokuichi is now dead...

He was killed.

I beseech you, sir. Please find those three.

I hear you...

...but, without knowing what they look like...

...knowing their names alone won't be much help.

That is not true! I believe that you can do it, sir!

It should be possible to find many people who know of them.

As your clan is spread widely across the entire nation...

...if you were to use your many connections...

...I know that you could succeed!

I don't believe that it is impossible...

But... what exactly are you after?

The 6th year of Meiji... I doubt that you had even been born yet.

It could be said that Karma can stain the unborn...

All the young men of this nation, as of their seventeenth birthday...

...will be registered for the draft, and assigned to the army or reserves.

Their service is required to defend the nation.

On November 10th, all familt heads must register...

...their sixteen year-old male children with town officials.

Upon reaching the age of twenty...

...all such man will be inducted into the military.

Going back in time... over twenty years ago...

In the Sixth year of Meiji, March... the nation's first draft mandate...

...was enacted by the Cabinet.

The new government sought to strengthen the nation through militarism...

...believing that the modernization of Japan must be based...

...on the development of military power similar to that of foreign superpowers.

However... the peasants did not consider it to be a reasonable measure...

...and soon their discontent exploded in riots.

The end to these uprisings was nowhere in sight...

Destruction, robbery, arson... and other acts of rebellion continued without end.

Many strange rumors circulated, the most famous being about the "Men in White".

Men dressed in white were said to be the pawns of the new government...

...who killed conscripts and collected their blood for sale to foreign nations.

This is where the first chapter of the tragedy begins.

Meiji 6 (1873), June. Koichi Village, Aimi District, Shimane Prefecture.

Shiro!

Shiro!

Knock it off!! Let me go!

Guys!

Let me go! Mommy!

Shiro!

Let's go.

Get off, fool!

Knock it off! Let go! Mommy!

Hey!

Look at him! He's wearing white!

Knock it off!

It's HIM...

He's the new government man! Kill him!

Don't be ridiculous! I'm... I'm...

...the new gradeschool teacher who's just moved to this village!

Shut up! Die!

Tsukamoto Gishiro

Takemura Banzo

Shokei Tokuichi

Dear!

Kitahama Okono

This is unthinkable!

How could this be?!

Dear! Dear!

Dear! Dear...!

Dear!

Has the moment come?

I believe so.

Then you ought to go...

There is othing to prevent you from walking your path.

Reverend, I must thank you for all these years of training.

I am disheartened because I have not been able to repay you in any way.

Don't be ridiculous...

You have a destiny that needs to be realized.

Forget joy, forget sorrow...

...forget love, and forget hate...

...except for vengeance, thse must be forgotten.

And thus, there should be no sadness in you.

A child of the netherworlds ought not talk like that.

A "child of the netherworlds..."

...who knows how many times you've scolded me by calling me that.

"Kajima Sayo"

"Kobayashi Tora"

You are a child of the netherworld...

You are not a being of this early realm.

You are a devil that abides by netherworldly principles...

...a beast, a devil... one whose disguise is human...

...one so evil that even Buddha cannot save you now.

Sayo! You gotta hang in there! Hang in there!

Otora! Don't just sit there!

I've helped many give birth in this jail...

...but I've never seen a birth this difficult!