Rating: ***
Alternate Title: Female Neo-Ninjas
Cast: Yuka Ohnishi, Senako Fujimoto, Akemi Ohshima
This movie is just too cool. It's essentially "Sukeban Deka" (1987) given an adult treatment (just think if Sid and Marty Krofft made exploitation films...). Three adorably cute ninja girls (led by Yuka Ohnishi of the second and third "Sukeban Deka" films) in modern-day Japan get caught up in a case involving a dead monk, a magic scroll, time travelers, and space aliens! They make their way through the film hacking and slashing evil ninjas, complaining about their restrictive ninja lifestyle, and occasionally showing a little skin. Kikyo gets caught and tortured by the bad guys, which includes a rather shocking scene of snakes slithering across her naked body. Meanwhile, Momiji poses as a prostitute to squeeze some information out of the corrupt governor regarding Kikyo's whereabouts. Seeing her prance around in lingerie nearly gave me a heart attack. It's a good looking production, well made, and completely fun and silly. The only complaint that I have is that the fighting is pretty weak - but I can overlook that.