Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 3, 2026

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Wandering Ginza Butterfly Collection from Arrow Video.

The studio system in the Golden Era of Hollywood was often accused of typecasting, especially after this or that performer had a huge hit with a certain kind of role. Two famous attempts to break contracts with Warner Brothers for at least typecasting adjacent reasons were big news when Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis tried to get out what they perceived to be oppressive and restrictive deals. Meiko Kaji had her own brushes with both typecasting and leaving studios under precarious circumstances, though she evidently was able to break her relationship with Nikkatsu, the studio that had at least started to make her a star, by simply walking away when Nikkatsu wanted her to sign on to "pink films" (i.e., softcore pornography). Instead, Kaji started working with Toei, which did in fact keep her out of that kind of suggestive role, though it may have ultimately been a case of jumping out of a fire and into a frying pan. At Toei, Kaji actually had some studio run-ins in terms of what kind of roles she wanted, but one way or the other, she most definitely was typecast, at least for a period, with a whole series of arguably interchangeable roles featuring Kaji as a woman with a "particular set of skills", interestingly a kind of character Kaji had already tackled at Nikkatsu with the Stray Cat Rock series. Among the franchises Kaji starred in at Toei were Female Prisoner Scorpion and Lady Snowblood, in addition to the two films Arrow has aggregated for this release. Taking a page from both de Havilland and Davis (as well as in fact from her own previous "adventures" in the film industry), Kaji later again walked away from her studio when Toei wanted her to continue making Female Prisoner Scorpion films, something that may have affected her subsequent career.

What exactly is a "She-Cat Gambler"? This second Wandering Ginza Butterfly film may mix up a couple of species in its title, but Nami is basically still Nami in this sequel, though this film offers the character pairing up with another slightly dubious sort named Ryuji (Sonny Chiba), and in fact it sure seems like Toei was planning subsequent films for the pair in these roles, at least as evidenced by the ending of this film, which is obviously structured to provide a bridge to future installments (which never happened). What's maybe a little weird about this sequel is that the foundational elements of the plot make this story more of a personal vengeance tale for Nami, out to seek justice for her father's killer, but the tone is decidedly more comic than the first film, including some perhaps unexpected physical humor. There's still another laconic performance from Kaji, who nonetheless slices and dices her way through another chaotic finale.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps both films together on its informational page about the presentation(s) (along with one aspect ratio error):

Wandering Ginza Butterfly / Gincho Wataridori and Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler / Gincho Nagaremono: Mesuneko Bakuchi are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with mono Japanese audio.

The restored high definition master for Wandering Ginza Butterfly was provided by Toei.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler was restored by Heavenly Movie Company. Source scans were provided by Toei.

Audio remastering was completed by Þorsteinn Gíslason.

While the first Wandering Ginza Butterfly film looks pretty darned good (especially for a "pre-delivered" master), I'd probably rate this sequel as at least marginally more impressive in terms of both palette vivacity and detail levels, though this film exhibits some of the same kind of crazy framings that accompanied the first film, some of which can at least somewhat deplete detail levels in passing. Outdoor material is especially impressive here, as in the opening vignette. Primaries are very expressive throughout, especially reds, which virtually pop off the screen on occasion. Fine detail on practical sets and costumes is typically excellent. Grain resolves without any problems.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese that is similarly robust to the track on the first film. This sequel (kind of like the first film) opens with shots of moving vehicles, and ambient environmental sounds are noticeable from the get go, including some very vocal birds. The brass inflected score also sounds fine throughout, and this film includes a theme sung by Kaji which was evidently quite a big hit. While this track shows some of the slightly boxy quality of the first film's audio, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Arrow is offering both films on one disc. While there's a Choose Film option on the Main Menu, with Special Features listed under each film's submenu, what it boils down to is the non-commentary supplements are available under both films' submenus, with the commentary tracks limited to the first film. See the Wandering Ginza Butterfly Blu-ray review for a list of the commentary tracks.

• Back to Back in the Yakuza Multiverse (HD; 21:21) features Patrick Macias and Matt Alt mostly discussing the second film.


• Genre Mill Memories (HD; 37:30) is an interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. Subtitled in English.


• Butterfly and Scorpion (HD; 10:59) is an appreciation of Meiko Kaji by J-Taro Sugisaku. Subtitled in English.


• Trailers

Wandering Ginza Butterfly (HD; 3:16)




Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler (HD; 2:51)

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even Patrick Macias and Matt Alt can't quite ignore how "wacky" and "schizophrenic" this film can be, so some curious fans should probably set their expectation bars accordingly. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements are very enjoyable (the featurette with Macias and Alt probably fills in somewhat for the lack of a commentary on this one), for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.