Sister Street Fighter (5 Stars)

After the success of the Street Fighter trilogy it was decided to make similar films with a female lead character. I have to say, the Japanese are fast. All three Street Fighter films were made in 1974, and "Sister Street Fighter" was also made in 1974.

There's no connection between the stories in the two film series. What I mean is, "Sister Street Fighter" can't be considered a spin off. The only similarity between the two film series is that both involve martial arts. Sonny Chiba appears in a minor role in "Sister Street Fighter", but he's a different character. He doesn't even use the same fighting style. In the Street Fighter trilogy he's a master of Karate, but in "Sister Street Fighter" he practises Shorinji Kempo, a fighting style that concentrates on self defence, not attack. In fact, when Sonny fights an intruder in the Shorinji school and breaks his arm, his master criticises him.

The lead actress in "Sister Street Fighter" is Etsuko Shihomi. She plays Koryu Lee, a citizen of Hong Kong who has a Chinese father and a Japanese mother. Her brother Mansei is missing. The police inform her that he's a narcotics agent working undercover in a Japanese organisation. She travels to Yokohama to find him, but the drug boss Kakuzaki is expecting her.

There's a lot more action than in the Street Fighter films. Whenever Koryu goes anywhere, she has to run the gauntlet of different fighters with different fighting styles and different weapons. One thing that amused me is that whenever a different style or a new weapon is employed, there's a splash text on the screen telling the viewer what it is. I think the director wanted to educate the viewer.

Koryu visits the Shorinji school looking for her brother. It always disturbs me seeing swastikas, even though I know they aren't being used as racist symbols. The swastika was a symbol of peace for thousands of years, but Adolf Hitler corrupted it. I've never found an answer why he chose the symbol. He could just as easily have picked the letter Z, like modern fascists.

Don't attack the Shorinji school, or Sonny Chiba will break your arm. His master looks on critically.

This is an excellent film. Etsuko Shihomi is a first class fighter who's trained in Karate, Kenjitsu and Shorinji Kempo. She's even skilled in the use of nunchuks. I've been unable find out much about her, apart from the brief description in Wikipedia. I can't wait to see the other two films in the Sister Street Fighter trilogy.

Today I watched the film in Japanese with English subtitles. If you watch the dubbed English version, the names have been changed. For instance, Koryu is called Tina Long. They must think western audiences sre stupid.