Lady Snowblood centers around the title character, an assassin who seeks vengeance against the bandits who raped her mother and murdered her father, often using her sexual appeal as a weapon.

The manga was adapted into a live-action feature film of the same name starring Meiko Kaji in 1973. It was followed by Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance in 1974. In 2001, the manga was reimagined as the science fiction action film The Princess Blade, starring Yumiko Shaku.

The Japanese title Shurayuki-hime is a pun on Snow White's Japanese name (白雪姫, Shirayuki-hime?, "Princess Snow-White"). The Kanji characters 修羅 (shura?) are used for a word meaning "carnage". The title was translated as Lady Snowblood because the character is connected to the terms shura-no-chimata (bloodshed) and shuraba/shurajō "scene of carnage".

Lady Snowblood Oyuki is given a task of vengeance to kill those who killed her family and raped her mother. Tokuichi Shoei was stabbed to death by Oyuki's mother. Oyuki's mother was sent to jail for that crime and had a child in prison to exact retribution of the other three perpetrators. Okono Kitahama was set up by Oyuki to lose all her assets and was framed as a murderer. Gishiro Tsukamoto discovered Oyuki's plan and used Miyanara as bait but was still killed by Oyuki. Hanzo Takemura begs her forgiveness, however is still assassinated by Oyuki for honourable retribution.

Originally published in Shueisha's Weekly Playboy in the early 1970s. It was translated and published in English between 2005-2006 by Dark Horse Comics. Dark Horse Comics published the English version into 4 separate volumes. Within each volume there are separate episodes, although each episode is usually a self contained arc, it is also a continuation of the larger story.

In chapter 2, Lady Snowblood is hired to assassinate Jinba, a brothel owner and find out what makes his brothel so popular. She starts a fire on one of Jinba's buildings before helping to put it out to gain his trust. Upon learning the brothel's popularity is in a lesbian sex show, she kills Jinba.

In chapter 3, a child is born in a women's prison. The mother suffers terribly while giving birth but before dying, she tells the tale of how her husband and son were murdered and she was brutally raped. She escaped their clutches by killing one of her tormentors, Tokuichi Shoei, but was caught by the police and sentenced to life imprisonment. This child, Oyuki, is cursed to carry out the vengeance her mother was unable to. This is where the reader learns Lady Snowblood's true name.

In chapter 4, Oyuki is given a contract to slay Kotozo Shimaya, who runs a rickshaw business which preys on unaccompanied women.

Chapter 2 recounts Oyuki's brutal sword training as a child to become Lady Snowblood.

In chapter 3, Oyuki frames Okono Kitahama, one of her mother's four tormentors, with a fake life insurance business and for murder. Okono is the one on Oyuki's vengeance list who she does not kill.