Lady Ninja Kaede is 2009 Japanese action film.
In Japan, during the reign of Shogun Yoshimune, it is the era of the samurai and the ninja. Many villages are outwardly peaceful, but a twisted sexual underbelly exists that affects the wealthy and impoverished alike. When Kaede's sister commits suicide after being sexually attacked, Kaede decides to take justice into her own hands and track down the perpetrator. Aided by a lethal lady ninja nun who believes in Old Testament-style retribution, and the watchman charged with guarding her, Kaede embarks on her bloody mission of vengeance. Along the way, the three slice and dice their way through lies and secrets while discovering that the story behind the sexual attack is much more complex than any of them suspected. They leave behind a trail of clothing, sweat, and blood.
Tropes in Lady Ninja Kaede:
- Anachronism Stew: Most fashion historians agree that fishnet body stockings did not exist in Edo period Japan. Several male characters are shown wearing era-appropriate Fundoshi, so this is in play for Rule of Sexy and nothing else.
- Bound and Gagged: Koharu is bound and gagged with strips of cloth before being raped.
- Combat Haircomb: Kaede uses her razor sharp hairpins to fatally stab Kichiemon in the back.
- Death Faked for You: Tadesuke has Kaede arrested and sent to her execution for killing a samurai. He later releases a public proclamation of her beheading. However, she is still alive and he secretly sends her to Yumeama to be trained as a ninja.
- Doppelgänger Spin: Kaede demonstrates a ninja technique that allows her to split into three copies. As with so many of Kaede's techniques, the third copy comes out nude.
- Driven to Suicide: Koharu hangs herself out of shame after she is raped.
- Forced to Watch: Kaede is forced to watch as her sister Koharu is raped.
- Fundoshi: Several of the male characters are shown wearing fundoshi, which is appropriate for the Edo era. (Unlike the female characters who are shown Going Commando, or wearing completely anachronistic fishnet body stockings.)
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Genzaburou, Kichiemon's lieutenant in running the rape ring, has a wicked scar running down his cheek.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: When Kaede demonstrates her Doppelgänger Spin technique, her third duplicate appears naked. On noticing the other two staring at her, this Kaede looks down, sees her nudity, and hurriedly crosses her arms over her boobs.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: Is bright pink really the best colour for a stealthy Ninja to be wearing?
- King Incognito: Shogun Tadesuke wanders around disguised as a ronin, keeping an eye on Yumeama's progress.
- Locked Away in a Monastery: At the start of the film, the Emperor has banished Madam Yumeama to a convent to prevent her from employing her ninja sex techniques.
- Mugging the Monster: The final scene is two rapists attacking Kaede as she walks through the gardens, only for one of them to recognize her as "sex punisher Lady Ninja Kaede!". They attempt to flee as Kaede draws her sword and prepares to follow.
- Ninja
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Jii is completely immune to Madam Yumeama's seduction attempts: even when she gets him to massage her boobs and pussy. It turns out that he's a homosexual.
- The Nudifier: Several of the ninja techniques Kaede demonstrate result in her clothing disappearing, regardless of whether that was the intended effect or not.
- Out with a Bang: At the end of the film, Kaede kills a Loan Shark by giving him a blowjob and activating a secret ninja technique called 'Like a Dried Fish' which fatally desiccates him.
- Protagonist Title
- Rape and Revenge: Kaede sets out for vengeance after her sister Koharu is raped and then Driven to Suicide out of shame.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Having observed the heartache, chaos and social disorder caused by Kichiemon and his 'rape for hire' ring, Tadesuke commands Yumeama to create a special clan of ninja to detect and punish sex crimes.
- Role Called: Her name is Kaede, and she is a female ninja.
- Running Gag: The block print seller keeps distributing his fliers to his customers, who then run off without paying. The only one who pays is a deadbeat carpenter, who keeps paying by giving him a nail and claiming it is made of a precious metal. They are just ordinary nails.
- Samurai in Ninja Town: A ninja possessing special secret techniques is released from house arrest to deal with a group of samurai committing rape with impunity. Along the way, she acquires an apprentice.
- Scarecrow Solution: Yumeama uses a ninja technique to pose as Koharu's ghost and scare a confession out of Kichiemon.
- Those Two Guys: The block print seller and the carpenter who comment upon the news of the rapes, suicides, murders, ninja attacks, and executions as it has filtered down to the common folks.
- Truth Serums: Using a technique called 'Confession from the Honey Trap', Yumeama is able to transform her vaginal juices into a confessional potion that compels any who lick it to tell the truth.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: In the opening scene, Kaede's boob falls free of her tunic as she springs up the wall.
- Weaponized Headgear: Kaede uses her razor sharp hairpins to fatally stab Kichiemon in the back.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Koharu is this: devoted to her husband, who abandoned his status as a samurai to marry her, and devoted to their umbrella business. Her younger sister Kaede shows signs of being this, wanting to be like her elder sister, but abandons this path to become a ninja after Koharu commits suicide.
