Director Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring Natsumi Tadano, Yoshika Nishi & Costas Mandylor
Score 6/6

Set in Tokyo’s historic Yoshiwara pleasure district, Geisha War pits rival Yakuza clans against the American Mafia in a bloody battle for control of Edo’s most notorious entertainment quarter. When a wealthy American businessman and his ruthless henchmen attempt to swindle the geisha women who call Yoshiwara home, a resourceful ramen girl fights back, sending blood spraying like fountains along the way.

It should be noted that Geisha War was completed shortly before Yoshihiro Nishimura’s tragic passing at the age of 59 on 25 May 2026. When you have moments of choosing the movies you watch purely based on the title, yes, there are moments when that strategy bites you in the ass. There are also times when you stumble across movies like Geisha War, movies that are wacky, wild, and really, really over the top. I think it’s been more than a few years since I last watched a Japanese movie on the level of Geisha War with its ‘live-action cartoon’ vibe; the nearest European movie (or in this movie franchise) I would compare Geisha War to would be the Asterix & Obelix movies. However, Asterix & Obelix movies have significantly less blood, gore, and severed limbs. Sitting here writing this review, I couldn’t help but be reminded a little of the 2017 short ZVP directed by Junya Okabe. Going into this based purely on the music, I foolishly thought that this was going to be some sort of musical. I was a little surprised when I realised that Costas Mandylor played the villain Carmine. I think the last time I saw him in a movie was when I last watched Just Write (1997). The chase sequence involving Kika (Yoshika Nishi) and Oiran Murasaki (Natsumi Tadano) and a Ramen Wagon was wild. I loved the fight sequence between Scissor Woman and the Blind Swordsman. It secretly was a public safety video. Something interesting was done with the subtitles: considering the movie was set in Japan, but the villain was a wealthy American businessman, the subtitles switched from Japanese to English throughout the movie.