Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 23, 2026

If a story about a planned murder followed by a suicide can be considered a "comedy", then Ten Women in Black may be what industry rags of yore might have called a "laff riot". It may or may not be a salient plot point that the anti-hero (if even that diminished descriptor is negative enough) of the film, Kaze Futaba (Fujiko Yamamoto), is a smarmy television executive, in an era which, as was discussed in a supplement mentioned in my Shogun's Ninja Blu-ray review, Japan's film industry was in "panic mode" over their loss of business due to that pesky small screen. One way or the other Kaze is the very model of a (then) modern playboy, a married guy with a nonet of mistresses (supposedly) at his beck and call. When the group of women, including his put upon wife Matsuyoshi (Eiji Funakoshi), discover the situation, rather unexpectedly they decide to band together to kill Kaze. Of course things don't go according to plan, and a cascading series of misadventures ensues which may bring to mind the kind of nascent feminism I mentioned in another recent review of an Italian film that debuted a few years after this one, also offered on Blu-ray by Radiance Films, The Magnificent Cuckold.

In terms of the "evolution" of women realizing their own power and/or worth as outlined in the above review of the Italian film, a rather similar "journey" revolves around Matsuyoshi in particular. Without spoiling the kind of chaotic narrative the film offers, suffice it to say that despite her husband's dalliances, she makes a decision early in the story which leads to pretty much everything that follows, though it takes her (and the rest of the women) a bit of time to "catch up" emotionally to exactly what has transpired. If Matsuyoshi's character trajectory is toward self realization and greater autonomy, exactly the opposite ends up happening to the hapless Kaze, who initially thinks he's outsmarted all the women, only to discover he (or in this case, she) who laughs last laughs best. In that regard, actual "laughs" here are tempered by an intentionally dark (in every sense of that word) ambience that almost hints at noir, albeit with a snarky edge.

Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ten Women in Black is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1*. Radiance's insert booklet contains the following brief information on the transfer:

Ten Women in Black was digitally restored in 4K by the Kadokawa Corporation and provided to Radiance Films as a high definition digital master. It is presented in the original aspect ratio with original uncompressed mono audio.

I'm frankly always a little wary of "pre-delivered" masters, but in this case, Ten Women in Black is a pretty sumptuous viewing experience. The noir inflected cinematography by Setsao Kobayashi is incredibly evocative throughout, beginning in fact with the opening credits but then extending to the mysterious opening which sees various female characters introduced swathed in dusky shadows. Dusky shadows are a recurrent element throughout the visuals, and this transfer offers some impressively deep blacks and nicely modulated gray scale. There are some moments where shadow detail, and frankly any detail, can get slightly swallowed up by the encroaching darkness, but given those intentional stylistic quirks, detail levels remain remarkably intact throughout. A squirm inducing nightmare vignette looks like a diffusion filter was used (see screenshots 1 and 6), leading to some slight blooming and (again, intentional) fuzziness. Grain resolves organically throughout the presentation.

*Once again specs had been pre-set here with someone mistaking 2.39:1 for 2.35:1, a seemingly unavoidable error that, along with people mistaking 2.35:1 for 2.39:1, shows up on the site repeatedly.

Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ten Women in Black offers a nicely articulated LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese. Both the film's evocative underscore by Yasushi Akutagawa and ambient environmental effects are offered from the virtual get go, and the sound design here is maybe a bit unexpectedly multilayered at times, with almost Hawks-ian moments in the television studio in particular. Otherwise, though, all of the (often two character) dialogue scenes are presented without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Yasuharu Konishi (HD; 20:47) is a new interview with a founding member of Pizzicato Five. Subtitled in English.


• The Kon Ichikawa Story (HD; 1:18:32) is a 2006 documentary by Shunji Iawai. Subtitled in English.


• Trailers

Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:00)




1997 Re-release Trailer (HD; 2:13)

Radiance's insert booklet offers a 2026 essay by Yuka Kimbara. Radiance's usual packaging is offered, including a reversible sleeve and an Obi strip.

Ten Women in Black Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ten Women in Black lives up to the color (or, absence of color) in its title, with a noir inflected "comedy" that offers the appropriately karmic downfall of a scurrilous womanizer. The film's "laugh quotient" may frankly be questionable, but this is a film with an undeniable tone and some incredibly evocative cinematography. Technical merits are solid and the supplements informative and enjoyable. Recommended.