Kuro no tenshi Vol. 1, (The Black Angel) (1998)

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Takashi Ishii directs this noirish gangland drama about a daughter in single-minded pursuit of vengeance for her murdered father. The film opens with six-year-old Ikko witnessing the gruesome murder of her yakuza boss father and her mother at the hands of a hitwoman duo. Thanks to the quick thinking… More Takashi Ishii directs this noirish gangland drama about a daughter in single-minded pursuit of vengeance for her murdered father. The film opens with six-year-old Ikko witnessing the gruesome murder of her yakuza boss father and her mother at the hands of a hitwoman duo. Thanks to the quick thinking by family friend Mayu (Reiko Takashima), she is saved and sent to America. Fourteen years later, Ikko (Reona Hazuki) arrives back in Tokyo with her gay Japanese-American friend Jil (Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi) in tow. The boss of her father's gang is now Nogi (Jimpachi Nezu), who is as merciless as he is slick. Ikko is certain that he ordered the hit and she is equally certain that she wants him dead. Easier said than done; his allies are powerful and numerous -- including Ikko's own sister-in-law (Miyuki Ono) who has become Nogi's mistress. Even Mayu, the woman who saved Ikko, is now strung out on drugs, existing solely as Nogi's sex slave. Frustrated and furious, Ikko decides to blast her way into the gangster's home and kill him. This direct approach ultimately fails and Ikko ends up captured. Instead of shooting her right off, Nogi decides to torture her instead. She escapes and managing to shake Mayu from her drugged torpor, enlists her help for a final bloody showdown. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi