The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan

After a failed rebellion, clan leader Hori Mondo and the rest of the Hori men are imprisoned and humiliated by the Aizu Kato family, which has been given control of the Hori by the shogun, despite his concern about the violent nature of the Aizu Kato leader, Akinari. Violence quickly ensues after Akinari's Seven Spears track the Hori clan's women to a divorce temple and proceed to violently murder all but seven of them. Befitting the already hyper-violent story, the Hori women vow to murder the Seven Spears in the most painful way possible and avenge their fallen clanswomen and imprisoned men. Based on the popular novels by Yamada, this is violent, misogynistic and horribly dated. (Yagyu Ninja Scrolls has inspired a movie and anime series that is equally violent and nearly pornographic.) Readers looking for classic samurai stories set in feudal Japan can find other works offering a great deal more substance. (Nov.)