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One more entry in Toei’s V-Cinema catalogue, “The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses” marked the return of Teruo Ishii to directing after a 12-year absence from the big screen, during which he mostly worked on television dramas. Ishii’s script takes some inspiration from “Yojimbo,” though its erotic and action-driven premises eventually dominate the narrative.

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The story begins when three yakuza corpses are found shot to death at Tsukiji. They are members of the Mitsuyoshi Group, active in Shinjuku. Given the simmering tensions with the rival Kumasa Group, both the public and the police assume the murders are part of a preemptive strike by Kumasa. However, the real culprit is Takanashi, a former Japan Self-Defense Forces soldier and elite sharpshooter whose fiancée, Reiko Amamiya, was killed during an earlier conflict between the two gangs. Seeking revenge, Takanashi begins manipulating both groups from the shadows,...

Stars: Riki Takeuchi, Seiji Matano, Masanori Sera, Minako Tanaka, Chikako Aoyama, Ren Osugi, Rikaya Yasuoka, Sho Aikawa, Shiori Sakura, Joji Abe, James Fujiki, Masumi Harukawa, Yûzô Hayakawa, Minoru Ôki, Hideki Saijô, Kiyoshi Nakajoe, Natsumi Nanase, Tetsurô Tanba, Kimiko Yo, Makiko Kuno, Johnny Ôkura, Katsuo Tokashi, Kôji Shimizu, Maiko Kazama | Directed by Toshimichi Okawa, Banmei Takahashi, Kazuhiro Kiuchi, Teruo Ishii, Masaru Konuma

In the 1980s and 90s there were tons of direct-to-video releases, driven by the creation and popularity of the VHS tape. and Toei Company, Ltd., undoubtedly most known in the West for the myriad of Henshin and Sentai shows they produce, was at the forefront of the Japanese V-Cinema the direct-to-video industry.

Now, from Arrow Video comes a massive collection of 9 V-Cinema films on one Blu-ray set. Not only does this set include 9 films, but a nice stack of bonus features as well. Let’s take a look at...