''Dragon Princess'' is a 1975 karate film directed by Yutaka Kohira.

Plot

The film opens with Isshin Higaki (

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...

) and his daughter Yumi Higaki (

Etsuko Shihomi Etsuko (written: 悦子, 英津子, えつ子, えつこ in hiragana or エツコ in katakana) is a feminine Japanese given name. The most common meaning is joy child. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese football player *, Japanese c ...

) being attacked by a rival karate master, Hironobu Nikaido ( Bin Amatsu) who wants Isshin's job as top karate master. Nikaido teams up with four other masters and they manage to disable one of Isshin's arms and wound his eye with a

kunai A is a Japanese tool thought to be originally derived from the masonry trowel. The two widely recognized variations of the kunai are short kunai (小苦無 shō-''kunai'') and the big ''kunai'' (大苦無 ''dai-kunai''). Although a basic tool ...

knife. Alive but crippled Isshin and Yumi retreat to New York where he trains his daughter to avenge him and the death of a friend. After her father's death, Yumi returns to Tokyo to take her revenge. She enters a karate tournament funded by a corrupt business man, but Nikaido, seeking to assure his student's supremacy in the coming fight, sends his four top fighters to wipe out the rest of the competition. Eventually, Yumi, with the help of another karate student, Masahiko Okizaki (

Yasuaki Kurata is a Japanese martial artist and actor, best known for his work in Hong Kong action films. He holds dan ranks in Karate (7th degree), Judo (3rd degree), and Aikido (2nd degree). Biography Kurata was born and raised in Sakura-mura, Niihari Dis ...

) kills Nikaido and his minions. Her arm is permanently disabled, keeping her from continuing her karate but allowing her to continue on with the rest of her life.

Cast

as Yumi Higaki *

as Isshin Higaki *

as Masahiko Okizaki * Jirō Chiba as Jiro Chinen * Bin Amatsu as Hironobu Nikaido * Masashi Ishibashi as Shiroge Oni *Tatsuya Kameyama as Baba *Shunsuke Kariya as Yokoi *

Yoshi Katō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 175 films between 1949 and 1988. He won the award for Best Actor at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in '' Hometown''. He married the actress Isuzu Yamada in 1950, but ...

as Kakuzen

Home media

On November 20, 2007, BCI Eclipse released the film in their ''Sonny Chiba Collection'' DVD set, which also includes '' Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon'', ''

The Bullet Train (also known as ''Super Express 109'') is a 1975 Japanese action thriller film directed by Junya Satō and starring Ken Takakura, Sonny Chiba, and Ken Utsui. When a Shinkansen ("bullet train") is threatened with a bomb that will explode automa ...

'', ''

Karate Kiba is a 1973 Japanese martial arts film starring Sonny Chiba. It is based on an action manga by Ikki Kajiwara. A recut version was released in the United States in 1976 as ''The Bodyguard'', with added footage in the first ten minutes of the film. ...

'', ''

Karate Warriors Karate Warriors ( ja, 子連れ殺人拳, ) is a 1976 Japanese martial arts film starring Sonny Chiba. Plot Chico arrives in a city where there are two warring gangs. Chico gets wind of a large hidden stash of heroin owned by the, now dead, forme ...

'', and ''

Sister Street Fighter is a spin-off of '' The Street Fighter'' (1974). The plot revolves around Lǐ Hóng-Lóng (李紅竜 ''Li Kōryū''), the female martial artist of the title. When her brother Lǐ Wàn-Qīng is kidnapped by drug lords, she seeks revenge. The drug ...

''.

References

External links

* * 1976 films 1976 martial arts films Films directed by Yutaka Kohira Japanese martial arts films Karate films Toei Company films Films scored by Shunsuke Kikuchi {{1970s-Japan-film-stub Japanese films about revenge 1970s Japanese films