Femmes Fatales

September 30 2024

HAWSER DAY

For the most part, she's hanging in there.

At first we cropped this image of Japanese actress Miki Sugimoto frolicking on a mooring rope or hawser, but then we decided to upload it in the dimensions it appeared where we found it—in a 1972 issue of Heibon Punch. She made this to promote her role in the pinky violence actioner Sukeban, aka Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, in which she starred with fellow heroine Reiko Ike. It’s an iconic entry in Japanese pinku cinema, and this is an iconic shot. We have more from this aquatic session we’ll share later.

Japan, Sukeban, Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, Heibon Punch, Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike, pinku, pinky violence, nudity

Vintage Pulp

January 13 2022

BOSSY WOMEN

Miki and Reiko rock and rule Osaka in 1973's Sukeban.

We already shared this rare circular poster for Sukeban, aka Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, in a group post years ago, but since it’s so rare and interesting we’re bringing it back for a solo look, and as you see below we’ve split it in half to allow you to have your own copy of reasonable size, if you’re inclined to put the two pieces together. We might as well comment on the movie too. When we first shared the art for this, we figured why discuss the film in detail when there were already plenty of reviews online? We even linked to one back then. Little did we know that Pulp Intl. would still be going ten years later and would be a top repository for vintage Japanese poster art online. That being the case, we figure we’ll tell you about the movie this time.

It stars two of the brightest stars of the Japanese grindhouse era—Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike. Miki plays a gang leader who calls herself Kantô Komasa, while Reiko is the girl gang leader of Namairu High School. They meet in a prison van and escape simultaneously, headed different directions but destined to cross paths again. Miki forms a new gang in Osaka called Gypsy Dance, gets into the usual delinquency, and meets a director of dirty movies who she enlists in a revenge plot. But all the fun and games take a nasty turn when she runs afoul of the North Dragon yakuza and they start dishing out pain and suffering. Only with the help of a young North Dragon footsoldier named Tatsuo is Miki able to escape her predicament.

It just so happens that Tatsuo is Reiko’s boyfriend. Reiko has been missing since her escape from the prison van, but arrives on the scene just in time to find Miki in bed with her man. That puts Reiko and Miki at odds in the worst way, but Reiko has no idea Tatsuo is working for the North Dragon. She’ll find out, though, via a stunning betrayal. We’ll end the synopsis there, but add the warning that the North Dragon

are mean as hell and the tortures they administer are hard to watch. But gangsters gonna gangster—if they spent their time at garden parties and poetry readings there’d be a different word for them.

Sukeban, which was directed by Norifumi Suzuki, is a prime example of Toei Company’s pinky violence genre—wild, colorful, gritty, and bloody, with moments of humor to leaven the hard tone. Movies of this style influenced many later directors, but apart from Quentin Tarantino and maybe a couple of other mavericks such operatic exploitation is a relic of the past. The film is basically Miki’s show, and whether rolling fabulously down a hill in her fur coat and platforms or getting dirty in an alley fight, she delivers a freewheeling performance in a production that isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s worth watching for its historical value as well as for entertainment, but in either case, hold onto your hat.

As a bonus, below we have some production photos, including a rare image of Miki striking the topless pose used to create the promo poster. We always thought her head looked a little warped on that poster. Turns out it’s a defect in the original photograph—someone either shot her off-kilter or introduced the flaw during the developing process, and she stayed that way. We’re guessing, but we’re pretty sure because normally her head is very symmetrical. As is the rest of her. You’ll see what we mean below about the photo. Sukeban premiered in Japan today in 1973. You can see our other write-up on it here.

Japan, Toei Company, Sukeban, Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, Norifumi Suzuki, Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike, Ryôko Ema, poster art, cinema, nudity, pinku, pinky violence, movie review

Vintage Pulp

January 19 2012

REIKO THE KILLER

Whether she has to use bullets, a blade or her bare hands, she’s gonna make you pay.

Above are nine vintage Japanese pinku posters from our large collection, for films featuring that scourge of evil men everywhere—Reiko Ike. These are circa 1971 to 1974, and they are, top to bottom, 1: Sukeban burûsu: Mesubachi no gyakushû, aka Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee’s Counterattack; 2 & 3: Sukeban: Taiman shobu, aka, Girl Boss: Mano a Mano; 4: Kuroi mehyô M, aka Black Panther Bitch M; 5 & 6: Kyofu joshikôkô: Furyo monzetsu guruupu, aka Terrifying Girls’ High School: Delinquent Convulsion Group; 7: a rare and valuable round poster for Sukeban, aka Girl Boss Revenge; Sukeban; 8: Furyo bancho: Norainu kidotai, aka Wolves of the City: Alley Dog Commando.

A quick word about the last one: that is Reiko Ike on the poster, with a machine gun at lower right. We’ve seen this debated on a couple of websites, but there’s no debate—it’s her, beauty mark next to her mouth and all. Besides, her name is on the poster, left column, fifth line. We’ll have more Reiko Ike posters down the line (no, we haven’t run out yet), and we’ll upload promos from other pinku stars as well. To see our entire Reiko Ike collection, click here. Also, we still have some very provocative posters of pinku stars Miki Sugimoto, Naomi Tani, Meg Flower and others that have never appeared online before, as far as we know. We promise we will get those up soon-ish.

Japan, Sukeban burûsu: Mesubachi no gyakushû, Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Counterattack, Sukeban: Taiman Shobu, Girl Boss: Mano a Mano, Kuroi Mehyô M, Black Panther Bitch M, Kyofu joshikôkô: Furyo monzetsu guruupu, Terrifying Girls' High School: Delinquent Convulsion Group, Sukeban, Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, Furyo bancho: Norainu kidotai, Wolves of the City: Alley Dog Commando, Reiko Ike, poster art, cinema, pinky violence, pinku

Vintage Pulp

January 13 2011

ROSE MADDER

The secret life of flowers.

There’s quite a bit of information about Norifumi Suzuki’s pinky violence masterpiece Sukeban, aka Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban on the web already, so we don’t need to add to it. And if you’re looking for posters, the promo art for this film is also abundant. But we can’t really call ourselves one of the go-to spots for pinku art without featuring this classic, so we have said poster above, with avenging angel Miki Sugimoto sporting a rose tattoo on her thigh, and co-star Reiko Ike lurking in the background. Keep an eye out on Pulp Intl.—we have an amazing nude promo poster of Sugimoto, never before seen on the internet, that we’ll be sharing in the next few weeks. Sukeban premiered in Japan today in 1973.

Japan, Toei Company, Sukeban, Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban, Norifumi Suzuki, Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike, pinku, pinky violence, poster art, cinema

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

December 4

1918—Wilson Goes to Europe

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails to Europe for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, France, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office.

December 4

1921—Arbuckle Manslaughter Trial Ends

In the U.S., a manslaughter trial against actor/director Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle ends with the jury deadlocked as to whether he had killed aspiring actress Virginia Rappe during rape and sodomy. Arbuckle was finally cleared of all wrongdoing after two more trials, but the scandal ruined his career and personal life.

December 3

1964—Mass Student Arrests in U.S.

In California, Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents’ decision to forbid protests on university property.

December 3

1968—U.S. Unemployment Hits Low

Unemployment figures are released revealing that the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate for almost fifteen years. Going forward all the way to the current day, the figure never reaches this low level again.

December 2

1954—Joseph McCarthy Disciplined by Senate

In the United States, after standing idly by during years of communist witch hunts in Hollywood and beyond, the U.S. Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for conduct bringing the Senate into dishonor and disrepute. The vote ruined McCarthy’s career.

December 1

1955—Rosa Parks Sparks Bus Boycott

In the U.S., in Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott resulted in a crippling financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system, because the city’s African-American population were the bulk of the system’s ridership.