Japan Synopsis
哀しみのベラドンナ
“A soul wandering in love… Belladonna, a flower that blooms with the sap of tears…”
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Belladonna of Sadness. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Nippon Herald Films
Animation + Drama in Japan
730 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Animation and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Belladonna of Sadness itself).
The 1972–1974 Japan Window
Among 69 Japan films we catalog from this window, Belladonna of Sadness places #9 — near the top of its class.
The 1970s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1970s in Japan, 197 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Belladonna of Sadness premiered alongside 21 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 21 other Japan films in 1973.
The 396th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
251 audience reviews — more than 88% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (88th percentile) outruns trending popularity (59th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Belladonna of Sadness, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- psychedelic · 3
- pact with the devil · 1
- gorgon · 1
- satyr · 1
- unique visuals · 1
- loss of innocence · 1
- baphomet · 1
- art film · 1
- cult film · 1
- anthropomorphism · 20
- hentai · 7
- adult animation · 101
- romance · 94
- surrealism · 34
- tragedy · 33
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,357 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (70th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.5 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Animation productions specifically: #1,025 of 2,532 (top 40%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Nippon Herald Films, Mushi Production |
| Runtime | 1h 26m |
| Release Date | June 30, 1973 |
| IMDb | tt0071203 |