"Kill Bill: Vol. 1", Original Release Japanese B1 Character Poster 2003, Rare, B1 Poster Size (c.72 cm × 103 cm)

This is an original, very rare, Japanese B1 poster printed in 2003 to promote the Japanese theatrical release of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (キル・ビル Vol.1), Quentin Tarantino’s fourth feature—released in Japanese cinemas on 25 October 2003 (10.25).

Film background
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is the first chapter of Tarantino’s two-part revenge epic—an operatic collision of spaghetti-western attitude, kung-fu cinema, yakuza mythology, chanbara influence, and razor-sharp pop culture. While the story spans continents, one of its most iconic sections is set in Japan: The Bride travels to Okinawa to commission a sword from the legendary Hattori Hanzō, before arriving in Tokyo for the climactic underworld confrontation with yakuza boss O-Ren Ishii and her army, the infamous Crazy 88. That Japanese setting—and Tarantino’s overt homage to Japanese genre cinema—makes original Japanese release materials especially desirable to collectors.

This particular poster spotlights one of the film’s defining antagonists: O-Ren Ishii (オーレン石井), portrayed by Lucy Liu. Elegant, composed, and deadly, O-Ren is among the film’s most memorable figures, and her visual presentation in the Japanese campaign is especially striking.

Poster design
Printed in the large B1 cinema-poster format, this ultra-bold Japanese character design features:

• A searing yellow field dominated by gigantic black “KILL BILL” typography—so oversized that the title becomes the architectural structure of the entire composition.
• Centre-stage: O-Ren Ishii, dressed in a white kimono and posed with a raised sword, capturing the character’s controlled menace and the film’s stylised blend of elegance and violence.
• Across the figure: the Japanese tagline 世界騒然—roughly translating to “The world in uproar” or “The world stunned”—paired with the release date 10.25 in vivid red. The placement gives the design the direct impact of a campaign proclamation.
• Top banner text: “THE 4th FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, positioning the poster firmly around Tarantino’s auteur identity rather than simply as a conventional action-film release.
• Lower right: the Japanese title キル・ビル Vol.1, with Vol.1 highlighted in red, alongside the small Hattori Hanzō emblem—an elegant reference to the swordsmith mythology central to the Japan sequence of the film.
• Bottom typography and credits: “UMA THURMAN” in oversized type, a full cast line including Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and David Carradine, plus the original www.killbill.jp website text—period-perfect early-2000s campaign detail that is often absent from later reproductions.

Because this is a Japanese B1—a premium large-format theatrical display size—it has a commanding presence on the wall, far more dramatic than standard B2 posters. The fact that this is a Japan-issued character poster featuring O-Ren Ishii makes it one of the most visually distinctive pieces from the original Kill Bill: Vol. 1 paper campaign.

This poster is in excellent condition. Please refer to the photographs of both the front and back, as this is the exact poster that is for sale.

This is the first time that we have had this poster in our gallery.

It is over 22 years old.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.