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Watched on Saturday March 1, 2025.

Watched on Saturday February 22, 2025.

Watched on Saturday February 22, 2025.

Watched on Saturday February 22, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday May 1, 2024.

Watched on Saturday April 27, 2024.

Watched on Saturday April 27, 2024.

Watched on Saturday April 27, 2024.

Shuji Otaki (Akira Kobayashi) is an underboss in the successful Kasabe Family, running day to day operations and keeping up appearances for his elderly Boss. When the President of a large construction firm dies, Shuji finds himself dealing with a feud over redevelopment land deals as the Oda Family (Hideo Murota), try to muscle in, launching attacks and assassination attempts on Kasabe executives in an effort to crush them. As the war heats up, Shuji strikes back and soon an all out conflict is being waged as the Kasabe and Oda Families regular exchanges of violence lead to a fateful battle as truths are revealed and stands are made.

Seiji Izumi's 'Legend of Turmoil' is a film that shouldn't exist in 1992, a Jitsuroku throwback with a sprinkling of Ninkyo, by way of the HK sphere of influence coming back to Japan full circle. Director Izumi brings it all to the table, throwing all the genre elements at the wall and hoping it will all stick. And to his credit, somehow it all does, resulting in an ultra violent mashup of genre sensibilities, brought screaming from the 70's and thrown into 90's wrappings, whilst the authenticity of those behind the camera gave him all the tools, and perhaps most importantly a stellar cast, to make a bona fide Yakuza masterpiece.

Planned and produced by the most recognisable (and important) producer in Yakuza film history, Koji Shundo, who adapted the film from Azusa Katsume's 'Legend of Rules', Shundo hit the ground running and armed with his own budget and the blessing of President Okada, was given free rein to shoot at Tokyo Toei (which hadn't shot any films for several years at this point) and was given carte blanche on casting. Shundo, being a fan of Director Izumi's 'South to the Horizon' quickly brought him on board to direct and asked his old friend, Akira Kobayashi, to star, against the studios wishes who thought that Kobayashi was far too old to draw an audience at the time.

Shundo's involvement is an important thing to note, simply because not only did he bring all the necessary ingredients for Izumi, but also because of his deep history in the genre, having a hand in overseeing the script and bringing with him all the knowledge and experience from Toei, and the genre's glory days. This is a story that on paper, is a 'classic' Yakuza narrative as the 'honourable' goes against the 'bad' in a David vs Goliath story packed to the gills with Yakuza politicking and backstabbing, male grandstanding and the constant weighing of the Jingi code versus ones own morality. It has ALL the hallmarks of a film made anywhere between 67-75, but wrapped up in modern aesthetics and with a newer, more hard edged style of violence.

Technically a V-Cinema production, though allegedly it did get a small, but disastrous theatrical run that failed dismally as despite having many traits that could of made it an audience favourite, it was too firmly entrenched in 20 years previously and by 92 V-Cinema had already established itself as something very different indeed, a kinetic movement with its own, brand new set of stars and had reduced the undisputed Kings of the genre to mainly bit parts or smaller roles as veterans/executives. Which is a real shame as nowadays, it occupies a small space in history as the cult classic it deserves to be known as, while in the West it's name is uttered as one of the 'must see' genre titles, despite its fansub only status.

For a film that flirts with a runtime of almost 2 hours, it's remarkably well paced and honestly feels half that length, with Director Izumi, no stranger to filming gritty and hard hitting action, breaking up the narrative with a constant slew of gunfights, murders and Yakuza action of all shapes and sizes. Drive by shootings, bumbling assassinations, dynamite attacks and midnight ambushes are the order of the day and it's all filmed to perfection, with Izumi's raw, no prisoner style resulting in brutal torture and the biggest, fattest juiciest squibs imaginable, culminating in the much praised office raid, a staple of the genre throughout its history and streamlined into the most perfect example here as the Kasabe Family defend their office in a glorious set piece that stands as one of the greatest ever filmed.

That's high praise considering some of the absolute classic examples that any self respecting Yakuza fan could name, but it really deserves it. From its beginning as the police slowly melt away and leave the Kasabe office unprotected, to the Oda Family pouring in machine guns blazing as they cut down the defenders in a whirlwind of blood packs being liberally thrown around, before finishing in a series of main characters dying and Shuji going on a pump action shotgun rampage, it's an absolutely glorious massacre of a scene and I can't praise it enough. The body count is huge and the bullet holes are as plentiful as the bright red Toei blood packs. It's perfection and while this scene is by far the films magnum opus, there's plenty more where that came from.

But action and Yakuza ultraviolence isn't all that Legend of Turmoil has to offer, as there's plenty more besides it's rough and ready exterior as somehow, underneath all its masculine bluster and energy, there's also a brilliantly written and executed narrative buried underneath all the Yakuza posturing and bravado, as young run away under cover of night rather than throw their lives away, or sit around complaining about the hierarchy in the films interesting undercurrent of changing youth and generational divide, while the juxtaposition of Shuji's broken home life against the relative stability of his criminal family makes for another fascinating sidebar, particularly in his treatment of the two and how his actions with one, has a ripple effect into the other.

This gives the film a much needed layer of emotional depth and context, as well as raising the stakes considerably, especially when paired with some truly excellent character building, particularly with how the film builds relationships and bonds in the ranks of the Kasabe Family, making them matter more than the usual cannon fodder to be tossed into the meat grinder of the genre, even if the time spent with them is going to end in an abrupt unloading of an M16 to the chest. Here, Izumi and writer Yoshiyuki Kuroda take the time, even if adding only brief scenes to add the necessary weight to each character and really make them matter, regardless of how they're going to end up.

This makes a real difference to the film as a whole, making it a much meatier watch than being just a ridiculously entertaining action film, I'll it that on a rewatch, even some simple moments had me choked up thanks to the believable way that characters were defined. Even such a small moment as Yamanaka (Takeshi Naito) taking the blame for his Boss, who has just choked a man to death in a gas station and before handing himself in to the police asks ''Boss, I just want to die a man in the streets for you", or another where Shuji must see a junior off and as the police take him, a wave of regret and despair washes over him as the guilt of sending young men to either jail or death weighs heavy.

Stylistically, Director Izumi keeps things reined in and while the film isn't quite as slick or classy as some of his previous work, this actually works wonders here as he concentrates on keeping things gritty and street level, pulling into close ups of his leads from the neon jungle of Tokyo, swirling around the chaos of his violence or going handheld in the smoke and sweat filled hostess bars that his characters inhabit, leaning back out and into the wide framed, colourful vista's that mark the 'home life' of normality. It's confident and very well made all-round and really hammers home just how multi talented Izumi was as a Director, building and conjuring a wonderful sense of atmosphere that ranges from chaotic, to tension filled, to serene and back again, helped along by a cleverly utilised score and a really excellent Akira Kobayashi theme song.

The casting too is a heady, and damn near perfect, amalgamation of 'new and old' as Akira Kobayashi and a number of Toei legends populate the cast, alongside a smattering of new faces who would go on to become household names. Kobayashi himself is working at full capacity, honestly turning in one of the very best performances of his storied career with a superb, nuanced turn as Shuji. Honourable Yakuza, dedicated family man, kind sponsor, murderer, torturer and vengeful lone wolf all combine into one stunning performance that shows off the man's full range as a performer and it's an absolute joy to witness.

ing him as Kasabe , with each and every one getting little moments to shine are Norihei Miki, Takashi Shikauchi, Hakuryu, Kentaro Shimizu and Takeshi Naito (with a blink and you'll miss it cameo from cult fan favourite SABU), all of whom turn in brilliant ing roles, while Hideo Murota and Katsuhiko Watabiki take on the 'villainous' duties as heads of the Oda Family. Mikijiro Hira has a small role as a Detective and the West's favourite, Takeshi Kitano, has a cameo as a visiting Yakuza. That's without even mentioning Takanori Jinnai in one of his better Yakuza roles (seriously), Isao Natsuyagi, Asao Uchida (!), and even Johnny Ohkura, amongst others. It's a STACKED cast and has someone for everyone, no matter where your own personal taste lies and is all the better for it.

'Legend of Turmoil' is a hidden gem, a Yakuza masterpiece that deserves much more recognition outside of the small, but loyal niche it has attached to it. Not only is it a hard boiled, ridiculously violent and action packed throwback to the glory days of the genre, but it's one that has a thrilling narrative attached with some heavyweight dramatic beats and emotional moments, as well as some interesting era-driven social commentary. Its brilliantly written, directed and acted by a cast of absolute GREATS at the top of their game. A film that deserves all the love and recognition it gets, but also deserves so much more, begging for a nice disc release and discovery, it's essential viewing not just for genre fans, but for fans of Japanese film as a whole.

Finally had time for a film yesterday and a game of hard drive roulette had me rewatching Yuji Makiguchi's 'Bizarre Crimes of Post War Japan', an odd and disted 78 minute anthology focusing on exactly what the title implies, three cases of true crime committed after the war in a somewhat bizarre fashion. Presented by singer/actress Pinko Izumi, who briefly describes each case in an overblown and overexcited way with some of the most '70's' commentary imaginable, the film then presents a dramatized short of each event, usually starring a Piranha Army legend in the lead role.

The film is designed to be a fake variety show, with Toei President Shigeru Okada deciding here to base the project on Nippon TV's 'Weekender', which covered similar territory thematically, slapping the project together quickly and capitalising on the Jitsuroku boom which saw audiences hungry for salacious stories presented on the big screen. Intended to be the filler for a double bill alongside Kosaku Yamashita's 'Jailbreakers' and originally meant to only cover two stories, but Okada would go on to throw in the second story, based on singer Katsumi Shigeru's high profile arrest after dumping the body of his mistress in the boot of his car at an airport, just two days before shooting, which is why its much shorter than the other stories told.

After opening and introducing the show, Pinko goes on to describe a number of cases that didn't garner enough attention in the press, cracking jokes inbetween about being cast in a Toei film which meant she was hoping for 'kiss and sex' scenes with Ken Takakura and then launches into describing the first case, that of Akira Nishiguchi, a legendary lothario with four testicles that women apparently 'couldn't resist' who went on to con and defraud countless people whilst on the run and in disguise, eventually committing a series of 5 murders along the way.

The one and only Hideo Murata stars as Akira in a 30 minute segment that covers most of his murders and the time he spent on the run disguised as a University Professor. After a couple murders and the police on his tail, Akira heads North and changes his identity by burning off a large mole from his face in a stomach churning scene, then ends up staying with a mother and daughter who both, of course, become utterly infatuated with him, even fighting for his affections. Naturally he ends up killing them both, before a 10 year old girls spots him and calls the cops.

It's a brisk watch, helped along greatly by Murata's performance and his committment to the role, revelling in the sweaty sleaze and scumbaggery as women practically fall at his feet, with the film regularly reminding the viewer that he does indeed have four testicles as he commits heinous crimes. The story is mostly played for crass exploitation , especially considering its somewhat light tone, but Toei masochists will definitely get a kick out of Murata and it's fairly well made on the whole.

The second story is honestly kind of pointless. As previously mentioned it was shoehorned into the film as a whole just two days before shooting commenced, and it shows greatly. It lasts maybe ten minutes and has Yoshihiro Igarashi starring as Noboru Kazami alongside Toshiko Suemone as his mistress Yoko and depicts the case of singer Katsumi Shigeru. After some sweaty sex scenes and Yoko doing handstands with hip wiggles to get pregnant (a tip from a weekly magazine), it cuts forward to Kazami breaking up with her just as his career takes off, cue a big fight, a strangled girlfriend and a body in the boot of a car. Then he is arrested inexplicably. That's it. It's honestly crap.

The third segment though makes up for the lacklustre second and is by far the films greatest strength. Takuzo Kawatani stars as Seiichi Kubo, who in turn is based on the infamous case of Kiyoshi Okubo, a serial rapist and murderer who terrorised young girls in Gunma in 1971, killing 8 and raping many more over the course of his life. It's a disgusting, heart breaking story that is very exploitative in the way it's depicted onscreen, particularly in it's rather light tone early on, presented in an almost comedic way as Seiichi humorously goes around trying to get schoolgirls into his car, cheerfully recording the results and statistics in his notebook before finally finding out that dressing in a beret and having fake painting props in the car works much better.

But, for as exploitative as it is, it's still a fascinating story in the way it plays out, as parents search for a missing daughter only to stumble into Seiichi, who is then arrested and interrogated at great length. He then goes into this long tirade about being anti authoritarian and the film takes on an almost art house approach, careening between tones and intent with wanton abandonment. It's actually really wild. Seeichi plays with the cops at every turn, teasing them with details of murders and locations of corpses under the guise of his new manifesto for being a relentlessly intolerable musing asshole, before his eventual confessions and a flashback to the murder that got him caught. It's a very interesting presentation and one that is quite a bit more thoughtful than it appears at first glance, helped along by an honestly tremendous performance from Takuzo Kawatani, who effortlessly pulls off his role and shows an impressive amount of range.

'Bizarre Crimes of Post War Japan' didn't really improve on a rewatch, but it's still an interesting, if highly exploitative, little film that captures some truly awful cases of human degeneracy and presents them on-screen in a bitesize manner. There's not a whole lot to write home about from a stylistic or technical standpoint, but it's one two punch of Hideo Murata and Takuzo Kawatani at the absolute top of their games make it a solid watch for Toei Masochists, as well as a decent recommend for either True Crime fans and/or those who like random Japanese anthology films.

1935 Yokohama. Young Judo practitioner Ryuji Inahara (Hiroki Matsukata), finds himself choosing between ing the Police or the Yakuza, but after meeting Boss Kato (Tetsuro Tamba), his path is clear and he is taken under the wing of Yokoyama (Koji Tsuruta), a respected Yakuza who teaches him the path and how to live by the code. As the years , he progresses through the ranks, impressing everyone around him with his honourable actions and eventually is encouraged to take over a small gambling territory from a recently deceased Boss. The Inahara Family begins to grow, either crushing rivals or merging them into the ranks and when Ryuji meets a pair of lone wolves in Tatsu (Saburo Kitajima) and Izawa (Bunta Sugawara), they quickly ask to be sworn brothers with him, becoming two of his most powerful executives and setting the Inahara Family on the road to be the most powerful group in the area.

In 1984 the Yakuza genre was for all intents and purposes dead, audiences had dwindled with the death of the Jitsuroku, much like the Ninkyo before it and the first years of the decade had seen almost no new films made. In 1983 though, with the success of Toru Kawashima and Shoji Kaneko's 'Ryuji', Toei President Shigeru Okada decided to try and revive the Jitsuroku, planning a number of films (many of which would never get made) starting with 'Story of a Man Among Men', enlisting arguably the finest Director of Yakuza films ever, Kosaku Yamashita to step behind the camera and planning for Kinya Kitaoji to lead the cast, Kitaoji was too busy at the time though, agreeing only to a smaller role and Hiroki Matsukata was brought in instead to take over as the face of the project (a wise decision).

Okada first of all, in true Jitsuroku fashion, decided to base the film around Seijo Inagawa, First Generation leader of the Inagawa-gumi, a respected and powerful Yakuza Family d with the Yamaguchi-gumi (and still active today under the leadership of his grandson), who rose from the ashes of the War, prospering under his rule. His first step was to seek Inagawa's approval and then when he had that, he commissioned writer Eiji Oshita to serialize the story in 'Asahi Geino' to accompany the film. Oshita set off, with legendary Toei Producer Koji Shundo alongside, interviewing Inagawa, his officers and men, with Shundo ensuring that the meetings went smoothly and with research in hand, the film was ready to go.

Inagawa and his executives are fairly well documented thanks to Oshita and Shundo's efforts, so it's quite surprising to see that much of what is portrayed on-screen in Director Yamashita's late career masterpiece is actually very close to the truth, with only some changes necessary for dramatic effect (presumably), and nearly all the characters are based on real people, with only their names changed for the screen. Though interestingly enough, both Koji Tsuruta and Tomisaburo Wakayama's characters retained the names of real Yakuza, which is somewhat surprising. The film was fairly well received on the whole, but not enough to revive the Jitsuroku line and lead to Okada cancelling plans for more, with the genre never again reaching the highs of the 60's and 70's, despite sporadic successes throughout the 80's, particularly with 'Yakuza Ladies', and sadly would never get a full resurgence until the birth of V-Cinema.

The film itself though is thoroughly superb, a misunderstood and near forgotten 'almost' masterpiece that is aging like fine wine, thanks to an absolutely stacked cast of Toei legends under the leadership of none other than the Ninkyo master, Kosaku Yamashita, who in his own words never excelled in the Jitsuroku genre, though I would definitely argue against that notion, particularly in this case. 'Story of a Man Among Men' is ostensibly a True film, both in practice and setting, but it also has the beating heart of a Ninkyo, with traditional values and customs upheld to its very core, helped along by the ever stoic Koji Tsuruta, whose character spends much of the film extolling the virtues of the Jingi code.

After opening on Ryuji's fateful decision when Boss Kato makes him an offer to his Family, the next two hours cover around a twenty year portion of Ryuji's rise. It's neatly compacted and surprisingly well written, with Director Yamashita not sparing anyone in the character department, making sure not to half bake any of the principal cast, giving them enough context and backstory to matter in the grand scheme. The film covers many key moments in Ryuji's life, even briefly journeying back to his childhood in flashbacks to round off the backstory succinctly and pays particular attention to important actions that helped to grow the Inagawa, whether it be deaths, bringing in rivals and having them swear oaths, crushing them in raids or backroom politicking opening revenue streams for business partnerships.

The film does have a tendency obviously to romanticize Ryuji's life a little, leaning towards the 'glorification' that was more prevalent in the Ninkyo genre, but Director Yamashita is careful not to go too far, consistently reminding the viewer of Ryuji's hot headed temper and need for Yokoyama to keep him on the right path, the words spoken to him when he first ed still ringing in his ears decades later in 'Don't be a fool, don't be too smart, and never do anything half hearted". There's also an interesting focus on different ethnicities residing in Japan, with flashbacks to a Korean family being hidden from persecution and Ryuji's father's teaching of different nationalities being the same humans making for an interesting parallel against the Inahara's early years of having to fight gangs of multi ethnic backgrounds to solidify their territory, which makes for another layer of fascinating subtext.

Stylistically, this is routine territory for Director Yamashita and I mean that as a very good thing. There's a sense that the whole project could easily have been made in the late 60's/early 70's and not looked any different aside from the advances in tech lending itself towards a slightly 'softer' look aesthetically, but all of Yamashita's signature marks are present, particularly in the way he frames his principal cast and the special attention he pays them. He was a director with a fine eye for detail and an authenticity in Yakuza protocol and honorifics that are almost like no other, and that is the case here too, with some stunning detail in certain ceremonial scenes, which is always a bonus for fans of the genre. Tonally speaking too, he's in full on late cycle Ninkyo mode, with a lean towards drama that veers occasionally into melodrama, but avoiding the trappings of 80's Japanese cinema that had a tendency to get lost in the melodramatic rabbit hole.

I have to say too that despite not seeing this film in almost a decade, some of its most memorable scenes held just as much power and ferocity as when I first saw them. And there's plenty of them too, one favourite is a sequence that sees a young Ryuji ambushed at night, his skull is cracked open and despite pouring blood from the head wound he manages to get up and stumble towards his attacker, guttural noises coming from within in a terrifying way as he scares off the attacker through sheer willpower, it's a stunning scene that is almost like something out of a straight up horror film. There's another phenomenal side story/sequence that has Saburo Kitajima's character Tatsu quit using drugs and go to petition a rival to the Inahara, it involves Tuberculosis, a knife and an imioned speech that is just fantastic in its execution. There's also the famous funeral portion of the film, with all the Inahara men gathering to put cremated ashes into an urn, it's powerful, emotional and somehow brutally honest, adding weight to one of the central themes of the film in Ryuji's inner struggle to come to with men having to either die, or go to prison for him.

The cast is a perfect smorgasbord of Toei's brightest, reuniting a decade after the fact to rekindle the magic of days gone by. Hiroki Matsukata leads as Ryuji in a stunning performance that covers a lot of ground. Stoic hard Boss, loving father, conflicted wielder of immense power and rage filled Yakuza combine into a performance that should garner a lot more attention, with Matsukata effortlessly pulling it off despite his age. ing him is the ever amazing Koji Tsuruta, who plays Ryuji's teacher, Yokoyama. The two obviously work perfectly together, creating a traditional, but wonderful dynamic, with Tsuruta's chivalrous Yakuza role readily coming back to him like it was the year 1969 all over again.

Presenting the perfect yin to Tsuruta's yang, is Bunta Sugawara, whose Izawa is the polar opposite to Yokoyama, a modern thug whose early wild days are hard to shake off despite his position as Ryuji's right hand man in the organisation. He's a slick operator who makes things happen and doesn't have to worry about the weight of the code, bringing him into conflict with Yokoyama. It's a genius move of casting on Yamashita's behalf, as the Ninkyo and Jitsuroku collide thematically between what are arguably each respective genres biggest names which makes for yet another wonderful through line, an almost in joke for fans if you will. Playing Izawa's sworn brother, Tatsu the 'Dragon of Morocco', is Saburo Kitajima who adds another brilliant character to the table, Tatsu dresses like an American gangster, has a penchant for machine guns and a severe problem with heroin, but somehow never let's his beloved Boss down. On paper, Kitajima doesn't seem like the right man for the job, but in practice he's an absolute delight, somehow balancing chewing scenery and a really excellent dramatic performance, which is a real testament to his skill as an actor.

Elsewhere, there's plenty more Toei luminaries to be found. Kinya Kitaoji as a super slick modern Yakuza, Tomisaburo Wakayama and Tetsuro Tamba as traditional Bosses, while the likes of Kyosuke Machida(!), Shigeru Amachi, Kentaro Shimizu and Ryo Kinomoto all turn up in small, but key roles. Special mention goes to Wakako Sakai, who plays Ryuji's wife Yukiko, at first glance it seems like a fairly atypical loyal Yakuza wife role, but on this viewing of the film I gained a real appreciation for her contribution to the narrative, adding a real emotional counterbalance to the push/pull of familial life, both real and criminal, that sits at the centre of the film and she gives a subtly nuanced performance that really helps to up the emotional stakes and add even more weight to the film as a whole.

'Story of a Man Among Men' is something of a minor genre classic, one that was made a good 10-15 years after it's time and one that stands out as an anomaly in its era because of it, distinguishing itself so starkly against the vast majority of Japan's cinematic output at the time. For genre enthusiasts it's a must see, though I would also make the argument that for those deeply entrenched in Japanese cinema it's also essential viewing by sheer virtue of being so damn different when compared to its 80's peers. But even taken on its own merits, it's a terrific genre film that has fascinating real life connections, a master Director at the helm and a frankly stunning cast of absolute greats steering it towards its destination by way of some classic Jitsuroku/Ninkyo genre elements that tick all the boxes for fans. It's a terrific, undervalued gem of a film that deserves a much bigger audience than it will probably ever get.

Wandering Yakuza gambler, Sentaro (Rentaro Mikuni), is on the road aimlessly when he meets a spirited fellow gambler in Ginji (Kinnosuke Nakamura), whom he takes an instant liking to due to being a similar age to his deceased son. Ginji is heading to a local town to visit his mother's grave and together the pair walk the road awhile until Ginji decides to draw his sword for a friendly duel, which to a convoy protecting a gold delivery on the road below looks like a bandit attack, leading them to abandon their treasure and make for safety while the hapless pair of gamblers look on puzzled. They decide to return the gold, but when one of them is wounded in the process they end up staying in town for awhile, ending up as bodyguards for the local money changer.

'The Wind, Woman and Road' could of been a very routine Jidaigeki in lesser hands, but in Master Director Tai Kato's it ends up being something very different indeed, subtly subverting genre tropes in favour of a disaffected youth drama that sees its protagonist clash with traditional values and preconceived notions of what a man 'should' be, and how small mindedness alongside snap judgments can inevitably turn someone full circle or worse. And thankfully it does so not just with a master at the helm, but with two heavyweight actors as co-leads in the legendary Kinnosuke Nakamura and Rentaro Mikuni.

The film starts in relatively light territory, as the two wanderers meet by a stream, exchanging guarded pleasantries before becoming semi-friendly and heading off together down the road, where the feisty young Ginji draws his blade with a wide grin and lunges at his senior. After a brief tussle, witnessed by a procession of villagers nearby who mistake the duel for an attack due to having their gold stolen a year before by fearsome bandit 'Hanzo the Shark' (Eitaro Shinda), the two men face a moral quandary, return the gold, or do a runner? Sentaro chooses the former and the film launches into a fun sequence as Ginji carries the chest solo, whilst Sentaro keeps him on track despite numerous attempts to make off with the loot.

It's fun, breezy stuff and sets up the central relationship well, also laying the groundwork for the core of the narrative in Ginji's backstory and his connection to the village, which is a heartbreaker. His father was a local burglar, who murdered a family one night in a botched robbery, leaving young Ginji and his mother to fend for themselves. But small town pettiness as well as having one foot firmly stuck in the deep mire of tradition, meant that the townsfolk drove Ginji's mother to suicide, before expelling him from the town despite his young age, an action which inevitably lead him to a life of gambling and banditry.

On the other hand, Sentaro is dealing with his shady past head on. He doesn't hide his Yakuza status nor his previous crimes, instead facing them head on and looking to lead a straight life after taking Ginji under his wing. This desire becomes even stronger, particularly when the young man is shot and the pair are forced to shelter in the village, leading Sentaro to work the fields to pay their way before becoming a bodyguard at the village chiefs request on fear of the actual bandits returning to claim the gold. The constant push/pull between Sentaro and Ginji takes up much of the films middle section and is arguably the greatest strength overall, lending subtle nuances and context to the relationship between the two.

One thing I really loved was Director Kato's subtle jabs at tradition and customs, giving the film a feeling of being a good few years ahead of its time, gently paving the way towards the great disaffected youth movement of the 1960's but never being too heavy handed, layering the film with the skill of a master as he pokes and prods at outdated practices, even down to smaller things such as Ginji loudly proclaiming how sitting before the village head was uncomfortable before walking out, whereas the older Sentaro would get up to go after him and fall over due to his limb falling asleep, it's played for laughs, but it's subtle details like this that add up and really help the film to stay engaging and interesting throughout, reinforcing the central theme of the narrative.

Stylistically it's captivating too with Director Kato being a visual master and while this isn't quite as polished as his work would become, the devil is still in the details and the natural approach he takes here is fascinating, shooting actors without makeup and mixing location shoots with sets seamlessly, even going so far as to cover a local stream with tatami mats to stifle the sound for recording. And of course it wouldn't be a Kato film without his absolutely magnificent framing, low angle shots and signature usage of close ups, utilising them almost like no other for dramatic effect. Special mention goes to the soundtrack, which was absolutely terrific in contributing to the films overall feel with an almost hip feel that goes against the grain of the traditional Jidaigeki.

The cast is top tier too, with a young and breezy Kinnosuke Nakamura, one of the most underappreciated Japanese names in the West, on top form as Ginji. His youthful bluster and angst is performed brilliantly by Nakamura, who gives the character a cheeky edge but knows exactly when to rein it in too, lending weight to the melodramatic elements that works to near perfection while also getting to show off his lightning fast draw in the films swordfight conclusion. And boy was he fast. Rentaro Mikuni is equally excellent as the world weary Sentaro, a man whose losses weigh heavily on him as he seeks to rectify his own past against Ginji's future and the pair work perfectly together on-screen, forming quite the dynamic pairing.

The side cast is very good too. Yumiko Hasegawa plays Ochika, a local woman tasked with nursing Ginji back to health and has a tragic backstory similar to Sentaro's, leading the pair to bond initially until a fantastic scene where Ginji impulsively kisses her, which sends her spiralling out of control traditionally speaking, but provides another fantastic layer to the films core, while Satomi Oka plays Yuki, a young woman and orphan who Ginji begins falling for due to their similarities, but leads her to stifle her own feelings under the weight of values and the townfolks dim view of Ginji's character. Both actresses are superb and add a ton of context to the film, helping to up the emotional stakes alongside the thematic core.

'The Wind, Woman and Road' exceeded my expectations in a big way, adding yet another feather to Tai Kato's already bustling cap. It's well written, brilliantly acted and directed, and has a thoroughly fascinating, if subtle progressive subtext that makes it an essential watch for Jidaigeki/Matatabi fans that look for something a little different to the norm.

Ginjiro Manda (Riki Takeuchi) is the 'King of Minami', a slick Osakan loan shark at the top of his game, willing to loan money to those in need without guarantors thanks to his savvy practices. His company is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and business is booming thanks to the recession, he even takes on an underling in ex-Yakuza Ryuichi (Shingo Yanagisawa), a spirited, but bumbling young man with a heart of gold. When the pair are approached by an elderly man in a bar for a loan of 20 million yen to save an ailing car repair business, they jump at the chance, but soon find themselves in a feud with Hanazono Finance, a Yakuza d loan company run by the unscrupulous Narita (Masahiko Sakata).

The King of Minami is a certified V-Cinema classic, a hugely popular staple at Japanese video stores that would eventually run for a total of 60 films and cement it's lead to the absolute top of the V-Cinema food chain. And it's not hard to see why. It's a slick and pacey little film that cleverly plays into post bubble anxiety with a devilishly handsome, hungry lead in Riki Takeuchi who is making full use of his pre-debut Osakan banking skills he accrued before being scouted for the big leagues of the entertainment industry.

King of Minami feels akin to the likes of Toei's cancelled 'Sokaiya' line, but where those films failed to hit the mark in the 70's, Minami swings in at a time when financial anxiety was at an all time high thanks to the bubble burst, echoed by the films "Whoever has the most money wins" catchphrase that no no doubt rang all too true to eager viewers ears in 1992. You can feel Takeuchi channelling a youth filled with Hiroki Matsukata energy and Bunta Sugawara swagger into his performance and I can't help but wonder how much of an inspiration his character Manda had on the Shun Akiyama character in the Yakuza series of video games.

The film opens with a beating in an alleyway, as a pair of Yakuza harass a salaryman for his debt before Manda steps in to help the hapless suit, thrusting a loan into his hands and informing him of the of agreement, giving him a choice of taking the money or let the thugs extract their payment in blood. Director Sadaaki Higaniwa swiftly sets the table and let's you know that while Manda may be the saviour of the working class, he's also not a saint with his ruthless and high interest. His loans are for everyone and his business is on the level, eschewing violence and other shady practices, but he will still always collect, a fact followed up on shortly after when a hostess trying to run away from her debt has her possessions taken.

The first half of the film is mainly table setting and building the rather wonderful relationship between Manda and Ryuichi, who is taken on as an apprentice after inadvertently urinating on Manda's BMW in a protest against the rich. The two lend money in cafes and bars as Ryuichi learns the ropes, collecting payments and meeting the people in Manda's life, Asako (Midori Takei), a female private detective who provides Intel on clients and enjoys sweaty sex sessions with dimple faced Manda, and an elderly ultra rich investor (Yasushi Yokoyama) who provides advice and financing behind the scenes.

After that the film moves into the meat of its narrative as they lend money to the car repair shop owner, a widower with a gambling problem who is also deep in debt to Hanazono Finance, whose Boss is taking his interest repayments from the elderly man's daughter in the form of sexual favours. It leads to Manda confronting Narita, escalating the feud and ending up scammed out of 20 million before running his own scam in return through the form of an apparently all too common real estate scam that involves lending money with land and dodgy bonds used as collateral. It sounds confusing, but in reality it's explained very well and kept nice and simple.

The simplicity of its storyline is a credit to Director Higaniwa, who streamlines the narrative well, keeping things explained succinctly without banging the viewer over the head with financial drama and he keeps the pace moving at a steady pace, never veering off into melodrama or too much histrionics, making for a nice and well balanced tone and pace overall. Stylistically he's not working with a whole lot and the film looks like it was made a good five years prior to its actual release, but that definitely works in its favour, especially with some insanely entertaining fashion and an actually decent electro pop-esque soundtrack that perfectly accompanies the film overall. And while it may be a rather routine production, credit to Higaniwa for making excellent use of some location shoots in the city that go a long way.

The cast is mostly solid, but let's be honest this is entirely the Great Man's show. Despite his enormous popularity nowadays, Riki Takeuchi is still most known for his larger than life scenery chewing, but as I've said for many years, there's more to him than just that and his role as Manda here goes to prove it. While hes still exuding that energy and forceful nature that make him so likeable, this film thankfully comes from that period where he was hungry, eager to showcase his talents and rise to the very top of his niche, slipping and sliding across the scene with a charisma all his own. He's drawing from the titans that so greatly inspired him, but there's no denying that he is entirely his own persona and it's an absolute joy to see on screen.

ing him as underling Ryuichi is popular comedian and actor Shingo Yanagisawa, who works brilliantly alongside Riki as his over eager and earnest apprentice, he even gets a quite touching side story that sees him help out the daughter of a debtor before seeing her off on a train platform, it's a great little performance and one that is the very best outside of the Great man himself. The rest of the cast are serviceable, though some of the writing around them is a little lacklustre. Midori Takei is Asako, Manda's love interest and intel source, while Yasushi Yokoyama has an..... interesting role as Manda's sensei. Perhaps the biggest disappointment though is Masahiko Sakato, an actor I like quite a bit who plays the villainous Narita and kinda phones it in, he's not terrible or anything but just rather flat and outside of one nasty scene there isn't a whole lot going on to define him, which is something of a shame.

On the whole, I had a blast with King of Minami, especially after so badly wanting to see it for so many years and it would be amazing to see more of the series. Riki Takeuchi and Shingo Yanagisawa are both terrific, there's some decent writing/direction and the whole thing has an interesting undercurrent of post bubble commentary running through it under the guise of a quick and slick thriller. It's not hard to see why it ran so long or has the reputation it had in Japan, it's a lot of fun and while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I would argue that for such an important piece of V-Cinema history, it's actually kind of an essential watch for Japanese film fans.

PS. A BIG thank you to Jake and Calum for their hard work in making subtitles for this, your efforts are MUCH appreciated!

Financial whizz and banking extraordinaire Anzai (Sho Aikawa) has risen quickly to the top of his bank in Osaka thanks to saving the skin of several investors, he is trusted implicitly by his management and has free reign to do what he wants. But the recession has customers struggling
and when a client asks to withdraw her entire fortune, Anzai finds himself in big trouble as he has illegally invested the money and needs time to raise it. After sleeping with her as an apology, she gives him a month to come up with a 100 million yen deposit off his debt and to do so he enlists the help of dirty cop Mizunuma (Masaru Shiga), and down on her luck bar manager Morishita (Yoko Natsuki) to help him with his scheme.

I must it I didn't know too much about 'King of Sha-kin' before viewing, just that it's the first of a nine film series from Nikkatsu, with some being shown theatrically and a few being straight to video (hence the V-Cinema tag), but what I did know is that Sho Aikawa and Masaru Shiga, alongside a number of heavy hitting veterans, directed by no less than Seiji Izumi, was on paper a match made in heaven. And surprisingly, it's a lot of fun, a slick(ish) caper in the form of a financial thriller that relies almost entirely on its solid leads to carry the film through some post bubble blues territory.

Opening with a montage of stockbroker exchanges and Bubble excess as a cameo from Tetsu Watanabe lays out the economic turmoil following the bubble burst, leading him from partying with naked women in his private yacht to throwing himself from a building just six years later, the film kicks off in 1997, with a recession hitting everyone in the pocket. Anzai has shot through the banking ranks thanks to his unscrupulous investment methods, landing him in hot water when a rich Kyoto widow demands her money back and he can't provide (a wonderful cameo from Moeko Ezawa), luckily for him, she makes a deal with Anzai because she has a soft spot for him, sex once a month and 100 million until he can pay off the 1.5 Billion in its entirety.

After a bank robbery introduces Anzai to dodgy cop Mizunuma, who has expensive taste in gambling and booze, owes the Yakuza a fortune and must keep his favourite prostitute happy with her outlandish demands, he finds the ideal partner for a con he's cooking up to make the first deposit. Also present at the robbery, desperately seeking a loan to keep her once thriving hostess bar alive, is feisty and streetwise Morishita who also provides a perfect addition to the odd trio and she jumps at the chance to make enough cash to save her business. So Anzai dives headfirst into concocting his plan to defraud a Real Estate company out of 500 million in a dodgy land acquisition deal.

I was expecting something a bit punchier coming from Seiji Izumi, so it was surprising that this is just a really well paced and somehow super engaging dramedy, with no action to speak of. Not that that's a bad thing of course, but the series popularity led me to believe it was maybe a little more exciting. But no matter, because it speaks volumes to Izumi's skill as a Director that he can make something so fun when on paper it could of turned out very differently. It's quite thoughtful too when it comes to its handling of the post-bubble break recession and the havoc it wreaked economically, with Izumi not dipping into misery porn, but certainly not making light of it either, which was rather refreshing to see.

It's funny too because despite the stakes being high for the main trio of characters, there's no real threat or tension either to speak of, no histrionic villains and no grand heist or slick robbery, just a well executed plan/con by three desperate people put in an impossible situation, and even though two of them are in their situations by their own recklessness, they still come off as both believable and somehow relatable, which makes it a much easier watch overall I guess. It's also surprisingly well made for something which presumably had a miniscule budget and while it never hits the highs of Director Izumi's classics, it's confidently shot and features a brilliant score.

The cast though is obviously it's chief asset. Sho Aikawa is fantastic as Anzai, a family man whose intelligence and silver tongue gets him in and out of trouble and when he slicks his hair back and dons the Gucci, it's not hard to imagine being conned out of 500 million by him. He works excellently alongside Masaru Shiga too, a Toei veteran who is relishing his role as a dirty cop with plenty of vices, he's actually one of the films highlights, dining with Yakuza or enjoying himself in an oversized hot tub with a prostitute demanding he buys her a Volvo!? He's a huge amount of fun and honestly it's a delight to see him get such a sizable role to sink his teeth into.

Yoko Natsuki is Morishita, owner of a once popular hostess bar now struggling to stay afloat and she too is terrific, she flits between feisty bar owner and drunken depression, to disguised office manager on the flip of a coin and it's a really fun performance. There's some nuance to her characters backstory too which makes the character that much better in the grand scheme of things. Speaking of Toei veterans, it would be remiss not to mention Hideo Murota's small, but energetic role as a Yakuza Boss (of course), Shinzo Hotta as a manager of a finance office and the one and only Noboru Mitani who is brilliant as the manager of the Real estate company that Anzai targets. There's also a very small cameo for ex-Ando Family Yakuza/writer/flight attendant/many more Joji Abe, which was a pleasant surprise.

King of Sha-kin isn't for everyone, but at the same time for fans of V-Cinema and/or Sho Aikawa it's a solid recommend. An easy, well written and well paced watch that clocks in at a mere 85 minutes with some interesting post bubble commentary courtesy of a hugely underrated Director and a cast of genre veterans. It may lack some bang for your buck, but it still packs enough of a punch to make the runtime fly by. Shame there's no more of the series available, as if they're all of this quality it would make for an easy marathon watch.

19 years after their fathers were killed, childhood friends Hayato (Masahiro Higashide) and Daisuke (Kenta Kiritani), are both still haunted by the events that took their dad's lives. Their mothers are still broken and both feel that justice was never delivered to them,leading to a deep seated hatred for the Goseikai Yakuza Family. When opportunity arises, Hayato and Daisuke team up with ex-idol Asami (Anna Tsuchiya), and policeman/reporter Keiichi (Tasuku Emoto), who both also lost their fathers 19 years ago, and together they all decide to commit a daring heist, getting revenge and 400 million Yen in the process.

When I first watched Gonin Saga, I didn't like it at all. The relationships and continuation from the brilliant first film seemed tenuous at best and pure nostalgia bait at worst. But even so I wanted to give the Directors Cut a chance, which transforms Takashi Ishii's late career thriller into a near 3 hour behemoth, and to my surprise it feels like a completely different film. One that takes its time to build the necessary context behind characters actions and give the entire experience a much more Ishii feel, something that was sorely missing from the original cut.

The film opens through flashbacks to the events of the first film, succinctly recapping the storyline that leads to the fateful heist and shootout that claimed so many lives. Daisuke and Hayato stand at a renovated road where their fathers were shot to death and reminisce on their lives, Hayato still living with his mother, whose hatred for the Goseikai runs deep after her husbands posthumous expulsion from the Family for 'not protecting his Boss', while Daisuke is now a Yakuza himself, working as a bodyguard/driver for the Third Generation Goiseikai Boss, Seiji (Masanobu Ando) in the hopes of one day resurrecting his father's own Yakuza Family, The Ogoshi.

Director Ishii, working from his own script, ducks and weaves as he ties the sins of the fathers to their children, locking them into a future they couldn't escape from, with the cyclical nature of violence working it's way back to them. Not content with just two players though, Ishii cleverly introduces Asami, who is Bandai's daughter from the first film and Keiichi, the son of one of the slain policeman from the shootout 19 years ago, bringing together a crew who unite in a common goal, despite technically being on opposing sides,to take down the Goseikai shotcallers and bring justice to their families, whilst lining their own pockets at the same time and escaping the life that was laid down for them.

Despite its mammoth runtime, Gonin Saga is never boring, mainly thanks to the strength of Ishii's writing (something which despite his popularity, he never gets proper credit for) and the added footage means that every character, their interactions, relationships and actions matter, something the original cut was desperately missing. This means that not only is the tension raised considerably, but so is the emotional stakes and the extra backstory helps to flesh out the context of the narrative, which in turn cements Ishii's central themes into something much more cohesive, rather than just being another average thriller that lurches between violence and set pieces.

That's not to say either that the violence or the action is less impactful, in fact it's quite the opposite as the extra time spent with the characters makes it hit all the more. Whether it be a female assassins head crushed in a fridge, an aging hitman with an oxygen tank wearing his accomplices head in a plastic bag as he goes on an Uzi rampage, or the aforementioned central heist that sees the ragtag crew disguised as police officers hit a Yakuza office in a set piece that feels cleverly linked to the first film, evoking memories of what came before in a way that reflects the core of the film damn near perfectly. There's plenty of bloodshed sprinkled throughout, so despite its runtime, if it's violence you're looking for (as many do with Ishii, despite him offering MUCH more), then its here in spades.

Another thing that Ishii excels at aside from pacing, is balancing the films tone. While it's a pretty tragic and dark film overall, he doesn't shy away from a touch of humour, mainly in the quirks he gives his main characters, but there's also a fantastic scene where the would be thieves prepare for the heist outside, stripping naked as they change into disguises, cracking jokes about their manhood and showing childish glee at their appearances as they try on masks and balaclava's, before switching gear entirely to the heist itself which is masterful in its simplicity and suddenly raises the tension through the roof. The darker moments are near sinister in how Ishii embraces the darkness and there's also a handful of tragic moments too, particularly involving Asami and her backstory, but also those that revolve around the mother's and the Goseikai's complete abandonment of them despite their Yakuza husbands following their 'duty', which is also incredibly effective at humanizing characters that were essentially villains previously.

The action is incredibly well shot and conceived, while also being extremely bloody, with Ishii making great use of 'pink mist' in the shootouts and though the film as a whole isn't quite up there with his most visually stylish work, it's no slouch either. There's some tremendous individual sequences and some very careful and considered use of blocking as well as a lot of keen eyed detail in the background. Perhaps the films finest hour visually though is in the extended finale, which sees Ishii stage a wedding celebration in the BIRDS nightclub from the first film, with the Goseikai gathering for Seiji's wedding in an extravagant way, while the remnants of the crew wait underneath a stage for days planning their revenge. Covered in filth and their own feaces as they wait for the opportunity to strike, paralleling the luxury above them, they eventually emerge and hide behind an enormous projection screen before exploding into action. When the sprinklers are activated in the ensuing gunfight it becomes a clear homage to the original film, thematically and stylistically, evoking a sense of nostalgia without smashing you over the head. It's quite literally stunning.

The cast are really rather good too and I gained a lot more appreciation for them in this longer version. Masahiro Higashide and Kenta Kiritani are technically leading as Hayato and Daisuke respectively, but its a fine ensemble overall. Both actors are very good, but Kiritani particularly impresses as Daisuke, a young Yakuza with a good heart who plots against his own masters for the treatment of his father, it's a subtle role and Kiritani infuses it with a sense of naivety without resorting to Yakuza stereotypes, making it quite a fascinating performance and probably the films best, while Higashide's character arc is performed with a real sense of believability as he segues from being somewhat disconnected to a desperate killer. Rounding out the trio of sons is Tasuku Emoto (son of veteran Akira Emoto) as Keiichi, whose character is slightly shrouded in mystery to begin with, but as his motives are revealed, so is his talent as an actor and the extra runtime really helps to flesh out a rather brilliant role.

Anna Tsuchiya takes on the role of Asami, Bandai's daughter and Seiji's long term mistress, an ex idol and rock star whose life has been spent being abused by Seiji and the Goseikai. And she gives it her all. She gets some of the films best scenes, whether it be her drunken tirades against her abs, or the brilliant sequence that sees her a captive of Rila Fukushima's Yoichi, she is entirely committed to the role and never gives less than 200%, it's a really impressive role and there's a lot more nuance to her performance than it appears at first glance. Special mention though goes to her impromptu rock show performance that kicks off the finale, it's fantastic. Masanobu Ando is Seiji, the third generation leader of the Goseikai (Hideo Murota's grandson from the first film) and he does a great job in the whole, tiptoeing the line between reining himself in from his propensity to overact and delivering a semi-memorable villain.

Fan favourite Naoto Takenaka returns, but plays a different character this time in Myojin, an aging hitman with an oxygen tank and a deep hatred of flies. It's a classic Ishii quirk character and I think many will want to compare him to Kitano, but that's an unfair comparison and Takenaka embraces the role fully with his constant wheezing and odd gestures. Elsewhere there's genre veteran Shun Sugata as Matsuura, leader of a Family under the Goseikai and effectively Seiji's right hand, Terry Ito as Seiji's father and the one and only Jinpachi Nezu, who came out of retirement at Director Ishii's request for his final film appearance as Hizu, who miraculously survived his wounds from the finale of the first film and spent the last 19 years in a coma. Also worthy of note is Koichi Sato reprising his role in a blink or you'll miss it cameo, but a very worthy one.

Gonin Saga is both an excellent follow up to the classic first film and a terrific late career entry from Director Takashi Ishii. For fans of either it's a must watch, but ONLY in it's complete form as the greatly extended Directors Cut. It's a superb thriller that is not only brilliantly written, staged and constructed, but it assembles an excellent contemporary cast that manages to avoid many of the pitfalls of Japanese contemporary film thanks to Ishii's sharp eye and skill, all while delivering a little something for everyone in a finely honed and crafted package that's balanced on a knife edge of tension and bloodshed. Its dark and tragic, but also strangely redemptive. It's a journey well worth taking and further proof of Ishii's tremendous skill as a Director.

Detective Murakami (Tetsuya Watari), steps into a gang of youths who try grabbing a woman off the street and in the ensuing melee drops his revolver, the gun ends up in the hands of one of the would be attackers who fires a single shot, missing the detective and hitting the woman in the stomach before escaping. The shot sets off a chain of events that sees Murakami, increasingly desperate to retrieve his service weapon, partnered with senior Detective Sato (Shinsuke Ashida) and together the pair try to track down the gun, while the gang of youths who have it, commit a series of crimes using the weapon.

A Shochiku remake of Akira Kurosawa's beloved Stray Dog from 1949, this time helmed by Director Azuma Morisaki. I think anyone would be hard pressed to call this version 'better' than its classic predecessor given its slightly... odd nature and almost disted structuring, but at the same time it's incredibly engaging and features a tremendous performance from the ever-underrated Tetsuya Watari as Murakami, with the end result being a film that I'll probably revisit much more in the future than I will the original.

This version of the film starts in similar-ish territory, as Detective Murakami loses his service weapon and embarks on an increasingly frantic search to find it, scouring the backstreets under the stifling and oppressive heat. But it also goes off in its own direction, distinguishing itself from the original through a pair of really terrific performances from both Tetsuya Watari and Shinsuke Ashida, whilst riffing on the role of the police, it's duties and the ripple effects the work has on family, as well as the increasing rift between the modern youth and it's seniors, alongside some commentary on relations between Okinawa and the Mainland, making for a fascinating, if never fully explored and realised narrative.

That said though, it still makes for a strangely captivating film overall, even if it does suffer from some wheel spinning at points and perhaps not exploring the relationship between the 'snatch and run' gang who end up in possession of a police weapon and use it in a series of crimes. Sometimes the lack of definition works, lending the film a feeling of dissociation to it's youths that help to reflect some of its central thematics well, but it also leaves some gaps, perhaps hoping audience imagination will read between the lines, so to speak, but at the same time it also leaves a feeling of wanting more, for me at least as a viewer.

Where Stray Dog really excels is in the journey of its two leads, Murakami and Sato, who comb the streets, following vague leads and connections hoping to find the gun and repair Murakami's reputation, which is left in tatters after the robbery and only gets worse as the crimes pile up. Their journey takes them through jazz festivals with hung effigies of police officers, to abused pharmacists, black market dealers of stolen number plates living in tents and small time Yakuza offices, complete with a host of colourful characters along the way that they cross paths with, each of which having a microscopic role to play in the quest. Sato's cool headed demeanour and natural affinity for the work perfectly contrasts that of the over eager Murakami, whose desperation gradually builds to a fever pitch, leading to some of the films very best scenes.

There's some real moments of brilliance here too, which definitely help to shore up some of the films shortcomings. A lengthy stakeout at a warehouse hideout inadvertently leads to adding depth and a certain amount of soul searching as the two policemen use a girl connected to the gang in hope of tracking them down and the scenes revolving around Sato's family adds another layer of context and complexity to it's brilliant lead characters. The second half of the film also ramps up the tension considerably, upping the stakes as the gang are slowly caught up with, leading to car chases, a rather brilliant foot chase through crowded streets and an underground construction site that ends in an unexpected way.

It must be said too that Director Morisaki has quite the eye for detail, shooting some absolutely stunning scenes and while the film doesn't have quite the same visual impact as it's predecessor, it's no slouch either. There's one scene in particular involving Tetsuya Watari in the rain that absolutely floored me, both for the way its shot and lit, alongside some phenomenal acting from the man himself, it's a simple scene that involves him bowing outside the house of someone who has died, but man does it pack a real punch and the lightning effects are spectacular. The stakeout sequence is a highlight too, once again it's very subtle, but the way Director Morisaki blocks the scene is masterful in its delicate simplicity.

The cast is solid across the board, though it's Tetsuya Watari who really stands out, his transformation from clean cut detective to filthy, unkempt desperado frantically scouring for his perceived dignity is sublime. Layered in days of dirt that marks the age of time and a permanent sheen of sweat as he labours under the oppressive heat, showing an impressive range of his acting prowess, it's a meaty role and he commits to it fully, giving no less than 100% all the way through. He also works rather brilliantly alongside veteran Shinsuke Ashida, who also impresses as the aging, but streetwise Detective Sato, offering not just wisdom and experience, but also a peep behind the curtains at the toll that police work can exact on one's family. It's a brilliant, nuanced role and he makes it look effortless.

Elsewhere, there's a few treats in store for my fellow Toei fanatics with a small, but fun role for Kunie Tanaka as a quick talking Yakuza, another for the always reliable Rinichi Yamamoto as a Police Investigator guiding the search from HQ and a very small but noteworthy appearance from Tadao Nakamura. Keiko Matsuzaka gets special mention playing Sato's daughter Kazue, in a role that while technically small, is crucially important to the film in defining an important piece of the narrative and she does it splendidly, adding another layer of depth and context to the film overall and despite it being a fairly early role in her storied career, she does a wonderful job, even getting a couple of the films very best scenes.

Stray Dog is a little odd in the way it's structured and I think has the potential to frustrate some viewers in not being quite as straight laced as it's predecessor, but, it's also somewhat fascinating, offering some interesting thematics and commentary, whilst leaving certain questions only vaguely answered and it's (probably) intentional lack of motivations towards its gang of youths that flit around at the centre of its storyline make it something of an enigma in its intentions. I must it that despite its 'flaws', I really loved it and it's not been far from my thoughts since I watched it 24 hours ago, I think on subsequent revisits in the future it will only get better, and more rewarding each time.

Ken 'Mr Toilet' Mitarai (Sonny Chiba), is a young, bumbling pilot who likes to live life to the fullest. Whilst skiing and simultaneously hitting on journalist, Koran (Bai Lan), he witnesses the murder of a mysterious Japanese man and soon finds himself caught up in an elaborate scheme to retrieve a haul of stolen diamonds worth 20 Billion Yen. After being tricked into flying a plane purchased by businessman Mr Rai (Chen Caixing), he arrives in Taiwan carrying a dead body onboard and finds himself stuck in the country, hunted down by assassins sent by Rai and with his only allies being Koran and another investigative reporter in Kuroki (Ken Takakura).

Sandwiched inbetween the rather brilliant tense thriller 'Threat' and fun, if slight Yakuza drama 'Rampaging Dragon of the North', Director Kinji Fukasaku's 'Kamikaze Guy' is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's a fun and ambitious caper set (and shot in) Taiwan, with a young Sonny Chiba almost single handedly making the film, but on the other hand, it is honestly a little dull at points, with moments of brilliance interspersed with rote double dealings and twists that never really come alive until the films final 30 minutes. It's far from a bad film, but it's also nowhere near being top tier Fukasaku.

The film starts off well enough, with Ken flying his plane and talking to his pinups placed above the pilots seat before swiftly moving onto him having a good time skiing and trying to seduce photographer Koran. It quickly establishes itself as a light and breezy-ish caper with Chiba's energy shining through as the bumbling, but charming Ken. After witnessing the first murder and clearing his name with the police, he soon ends up warned by several parties not to travel to Taiwan, which confuses him as he has no intention to go there and becomes convinced it's a case of mistaken identity.

But if course, he ends up in Taiwan, and once there the film steps up a gear, though mainly where Chiba is involved and the various scrapes/cultural mishaps he gets himself into are often hilarious, but the films plot at this point loses me a bit. It's just not that interesting in all honesty, it bounces around a stolen hidden diamond plot dating back to the War and plays out in a way that thinks its far more elaborate and intriguing than it actually is, when in reality it's all rather generic and predictable, trudging forward until it's inevitable conclusion.

Thankfully, Director Fukasaku keeps things fairly lively and interesting, sprinkling in a number of set pieces and moving at a relatively decent pace, aided greatly by a funky soundtrack and some stunning location shoots. There's a number of impressive action sequences and even a handful of excellent stunts courtesy of Chiba, who I believe was hospitalised at one point after clinging to the back of a moving vehicle and falling off. There's a number of car chases, shootouts and even a speedboat sequence that serve to elevate the film quite a bit, making up for the films contrived plot. Special mention goes to a brilliant finale too that sees a fight sequence on a moving plane end in a spectacular dummy death, which is always a bonus.

The cast is mostly decent, with Sonny Chiba as Ken being the films greatest strength by a country mile. His energy and charisma is on full show, bouncing across the screen as only he can, whether it be getting himself into trouble with locals, making jokes about his name (Mr Toilet, a recurring gag), begging for food at a market or tussling with a literal giant Taiwanese man in a brothel, he's a force of nature and reason enough to recommend the film. Bai Lan is fun as Koran, a spry journalist with a hint of sass and Chen Caixing is also good as the 'villain', Mr Rai. Minoru Oki does his thing as Kitazawa and as nice as it is to see him onscreen, his role is honestly rather throwaway overall, which is a bit of a shame.

There isn't a whole lot to say about 'Kamikaze Guy' really, it's fun for what it is and serves as a decent way to spend 90 minutes. But the plot is disappointingly obvious and predictable, while the film as a whole isn't particularly memorable. It's saved somewhat by a great final 30 minutes but honestly the film is only really worth watching for Sonny Chiba. I would definitely recommend it, but only for Fukasaku and/or Chiba completionists.

After being sent to jail for attacking a Yakuza group in a nightclub, Maki (Reiko Ike), spends several years inside where she befriends Kaoru (Yumiko Katayama), Natsuko (Chiyoko Kazama) and Yukie (Masami Soda), as well as making a rival in mysterious Yakuza's woman, Masayo (Miki Sugimoto). On her release, Maki and her crew put into action a plan for revenge on Boss Oba (Ryoji Hayama) and his men for the killing of her father. To do so, she raises cash by sleeping with US servicemen before purchasing a large shipment of black market weapons from one of them, planning to use the guns to pick off the Oba Family one by one, whilst inciting an all out Yakuza war between rival Families in the process.

Atsushi Mihori's 'Criminal Woman: Killing Melody' might just be my favourite 'Pinky Violence' overall. Starring the iconic pairing of rivals Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, with a stronger script than many in the genre courtesy of stalwarts Fumio Konami and Hiro Matsuda, it's one of the few that, in my opinion, comes together as a whole, merging action, drama, badass females (with purpose) and violence, with just enough added sleaze, without ever sacrificing character development, giving its central characters enough context and purpose to matter and helping the film to rise above its exploitative elements whilst clocking in at a smooth 82 minute runtime.

After opening with Maki's knife attack on the Oba Family in a crowded nightclub, the film swiftly switches to a Prison setting, introducing each of her eventual crew through brief flashbacks of the crimes they committed. Assaults, pickpockets and a rather entertaining drunken police chase landed the outcasts in jail and while Maki 's coldness is insulting at first, the women quickly warm to her after the films much talked about prison yard brawl scene. A stunning sequence that sees Maki take on her rival, Masayo in a glass shiv duel that involves them both holding a piece of fabric in their mouths that connects the two, with the first to drop it ultimately losing. It's a lengthy fight, one that was probably more gruelling on the actresses involved than it seems at first glance.

Upon moving out of the prison setting, Director Mihori keeps things moving at a steady pace, reuniting Maki with her crew and then quickly establishing a plan of attack as they set off to gather intelligence whilst Maki, via a montage, sells herself to a succession of servicemen and acquires cases of rifles, machine guns and grenades from one of them after earning enough cash. Inbetween this, Mihori succinctly establishes the power structure of the area, introducing the Oba Family rivals, The Hayamasu, briefly explaining their rivalry in a simple manner for the viewer to understand Maki's intentions as she begins to set her cunning plan into motion. I mention this as the writing and direction really keeps things not just pacey, but simple, never becoming convoluted despite a number of charcters/players being involved and doing a remarkable job of balancing the film to near perfection.

Surprisingly too, there's enough here to keep any viewer satisfied whatever their expectations may be, with plenty of action set pieces, violence and a side helping of sleaze sprinkled cleverly throughout to keep things interesting. Whether you want a little bit of Pink, savage female knife duels, Yakuza raids, pitched gun battles or even some torture, Criminal Woman has something for everyone and Director Mihori delivers it all in a stylish, but grounded way, directing with some real flair and skill, fusing some great aesthetics, particularly when shooting Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto of course, framing them almost like no other (those close ups!) whilst also delivering some really rather brilliantly constructed action. It's a shame that Mihori didn't make more films, of the few he did I think only this one made it to the West, but he has a couple more that look like they have a lot of potential.

There's a lot of memorable scenes too, particularly when the lead actresses are given a chance to show off their talent. There's a particularly stunning assassination in the rain that sees Maki stab a Yakuza executive before being whisked away in a getaway car with her friends having to prize the blade from her bloodied hands, Reiko Ike is fantastic in the scene and effortlessly proves that given the chance, she was much more than just a pretty face. The aforementioned torture scene is incredibly effective too, not only is it nasty and uncomfortable but it also works wonders in creating tension that culminates with the appearance of Miki Sugimoto who goes on to steal the entire scene.

The cast across the board are all superb, with Reiko Ike delivering some of her finest work as Maki, not only does she handle the action scenes with ease, but again, there's a fine dramatic performance underneath all the badassery that shows her talent. Miki Sugimoto doesn't get as much chance to show her range, but that's absolutely fine when she's bleeding such moody intensity all over the screen and both are backed up by the always wonderful Yumiko Katayama, Chiyoko Kazama and Masami Soda, forming the rest of Maki's crew. All three are brilliant and share a great sense of chemistry, arguably ending up as one of the better, and more believable gangs in the genre, but Katayama in particular shines.

The male cast is made up of a number of Toei regulars, but it's only really the always reliable Ryoji Hayama and Takeo Chii that get to do much. Hayama as Boss Oba in a great, scummy villain role that he handles with ease. I'm sure he was having the time of his life filming one particular scene with Miki Sugimoto too, he certainly looked like he was making the most of it at least. But it's Takeo Chii that really impresses as Tetsu 'Mad Dog' Hayama, an over the top son of the Hayamasu Family that always has a large bottle of sake in one hand and a weapon in the other, taking great joy in violence and having the most fun when he gets to blow things up. It's a terrific performance and it's always a blast seeing him chew some scenery.

'Criminal Woman: Killing Melody' is quite possibly my favourite of all the Pinky Violence films and one that I would argue is also amongst the very best, perhaps even THE best. It's well written and directed, telling a complete story that doesn't forget to build its characters or give them motivation, while not slacking in the action or violence category either, somehow clocking in with a nice and clean runtime that doesn't waste a second of its runtime either. It's absolutely fantastic.

Teruo Ishii's cult fan favourite is a film that despite its status is still fairly misunderstood, oddly regarded as boring by some, or just pure exploitation for exploitation' sake by others still, it's a film that intends to shock, but in true Ishii fashion have something to say at the same time under it's veneer of brutal violence. Ordered to make a male version of his previous film, 'Shogun's Joy of Torture', he would go on to deliver a three part tale of Yakuza punishments taken to the utmost extreme, remarking during production that he wanted to break the curse of anthology films and give the audience a feeling that they had watched a period drama, a chivalry film and gangster action all at the same time. And he did just that.

It's interesting to note that Ishii, in his own words, didn't like Yakuza films, nor did he like the Yakuza themselves and this is reflected clearly throughout the film, as the eternally mischievous director pokes and prods holes in not just the hypocrisy of the Yakuza and their strict codes, but also in the way they were presented on-screen throughout three key movements within the genre. And in doing so, he not only delivers exactly what Toei wanted from him, but at the same time has some fun jabs at the studio, it's reliance on the genre and no doubt at the very same Yakuza who were so closely tied to the studio, laughing internally while he did so, spraying around gallons of blood, burning faces off and popping out eyeballs as he playfully exposes the inherent greed of organised crime and the constant betrayals of their own perceived morality and chivalry. Japanese critic Keiji Kataoka called the film a 'backdoor' to Toei's Yakuza films, subverting the romanticism portrayed by the likes of Koji Tsuruta and Ken Takakura, and there is really no better descriptor than that.

The first episode begins with a Yakuza face off at a riverbank as rival gangs clash in a vicious swordfight. Afterwards the victors Boss (Ichiro Sugai) checks his men's blades to make sure they had killed enough, rewarding them if they had. The cunning Mamushi (Renji Ishibashi) made sure to dull his blade on a corpse beforehand, but Shinkichi (Hiroshi Miyauchi), didn't have that same forethought, resulting in his Boss' rage. Luckily, Tsune (Bunta Sugawara), steps in, taking the blame for Shinkichi and severing his finger instantly as apology, despite the Boss wanting a more severe punishment, His second in command, Tomozo (Ryutaro Otomo), steps in and defuses the situation, saving his junior Tsune.

More betrayals and punishments follow, as the Boss takes one of his men's girlfriend, gambling winnings are stolen, Mamushi schemes his way around some stolen profits, sets up his brothers and it eventually culminates in a rebellion after ears are sliced off, tongues are cut out and eyes removed from their sockets, before Tomozo has finally had enough and draws his blade against his own family, but not without murdering them first and removing his own eye to throw at his Boss before killing him. It's arguably the best episode of all three, it's a streamlined Matatabi that gets in and out at just over half an hour and is ridiculously entertaining, boasting a superb cast that helps to elevate Ishii's vision.

The second episode is even more streamlined and easy to follow than the first. Shuji Ogata (Minoru Oki) is released from prison after serving three years for killing a rival Boss. But the trouble is, he was asked to do so by Iwakiri (Hisaya Ito), who after Shuji completed the task, decided to expel him from the Arakida Family, setting him up to be arrested in the process and denying him the opportunity to be with the love of his life, Sayo (Masumi Tachibana). When Shuji is released, he returns to find the Arakida Family now running the area under Iwakiri's command, while Sayo has married Amamiya (Toyozo Yamamoto), a former junior of the Boss Shuji killed who now wants revenge. After wounding Shuji, Iwakiri sets up the two men for a duel so that he can ambush the pair and take out both threats with minimal effort.

Its the easiest watch of the three episodes, with a simplistic narrative that takes the traditional Ninkyo formula and boils it down to a short and sharp revenge tale. It's also probably the most stylish of the three with some wonderful cinematography, particularly the Western inspired duel scene. Interestingly, it's also the least violent of the three, apart from a nasty scene that sees Shuji's hand smashed into a ceramic bottle, followed by him graphically removing the pieces and a mosquito/urine torture scene, it's fairly routine, with even the ending bloodbath, which ittedly ittedly has plenty of Toei's signature bright claret, not feeling too out of place from other Ninkyo films. Still, it excels in what it sets out to do, poking fun at the formula and is definitely helped along by its excellent cast.

The third episode, generally considered the weakest, is very interesting in its own right. Two clashing Yakuza families, The Hashima and Omura, are in a disagreement over the Hashima's safe being robbed, resulting in a large amount of gold going missing. Shimazu (Takashi Fujiki), betrays his own Boss, setting him up in a drive by shooting before murdering him in his hospital bed, taking over the Hashima Family in the process, while Tatsuo (Teruo Yoshida) is set up to be the patsy. But Tatsuo is a cunning crack shot with a pistol and escapes the police, intending to get his promised payment from Shimazu, resulting in him keeping Shimazu alive until the gold is recovered and he can get what is owed.

It's another simple to follow narrative, distilled to the bare essentials and together with its contemporary setting, is considered to be the Jitsuroku episode (the films brutal violence and realistic depictions overall leads to it being considered a transitional film). But in practice, this feels much more like a Nikkatsu film, with its Jazzy, noir-esque stylings and New Hollwoodized aesthetics, coupled with some New Toho action beats. Whilst it may be considered the 'worst', it's undoubtedly the most ambitious as Ishii throws everything at the wall to see what will stick. Car chases, helicopter torture, many explosions, pitched shootouts, people being buried alive in concrete (using real concrete) and my own 'favourite', a stomach turning scene where Shimazu's men burn off the face of a betrayer using a cigarette lighter while the rest of the men look on aroused. It's brutal. The whole episode is really quite fantastic when you look at the scope of what Ishii was trying to achieve and the action alone is worth the price of ission.

'Yakuza's Law' may not be up there with Director Ishii's best work, but it is an ambitious whirlwind of ultraviolence and action that manages to cram three distinct films into one, distilling each to the bare minimum necessary to drive his point home and taking key points from the popularity of the genre to do so. The result is an endlessly entertaining, violent thrillride that is incredibly exploitative, but serves a purpose with its exploitation in exposing both the genre, and the Yakuza themselves, laying bare the greed and hypocrisies of both, while attacking the perceived silliness of the ultra masculine values they hold.

Down on his luck gambler, Kiyoshi (Hitoshi Ozawa), is coasting through middle age courtesy of loud tracksuits and slot machines, while his brother, Kazu (Kazuyoshi Ozawa), is running his own small Yakuza outfit, The Hanaoka Family. The two are reunited after ten years when Kazu saves his brother from a mugging and offers him work as a hitman. Kiyoshi, initially reluctant due to once leaving the Yakuza life behind after stabbing a man and letting his brother take credit, takes on the job and is promised a prominent position and a better life for his long suffering girlfriend. But after bungling the hit, Kityoshi finds himself on the run with his own brother desperately sending assassins after him in order to save his own skin.

Bullet Explosion is a low budget slice of V-Cinema action that exists almost entirely to pit the real life Ozawa brothers against each other onscreen in a flimsy Yakuza themed thriller that succeeds mostly because of the siblings working so well together. On paper it's a cheap and generic as they come tale of Yakuza treachery as Boss' betray their own in archaic power plays, while bystanders become caught up in their schemes, but the film works thanks to its overly earnest nature and willingness to take itself way more seriously than it needs to.

Opening with Kiyoshi spending time prowling the streets in a red leather tracksuit, getting drunk and playing various gambling machines, while a Yakuza powerplay unfolds unknowingly to him as Kazu's Family is enlisted to assassinate a rival Boss in order to put a stop to an impending alliance between Group's, the films narrative unfolds quickly, setting up very simply and effectively for the central rivalry to take the stage. Kazu is gifted a stack of cash, which he naturally spends on a snazzy white suit and a Mercedes Benz, which he stupidly park's outside of his targets office, before blowing the rest on a night of revelry at a hostess bar.

He is then pressured into completing his task, resulting in a bumbling assassination attempt in he middle of a supermarket, with him missing every shot, falling over and putting a bullet in his own leg before escaping from the targets bodyguards. It's here the film steps up a notch, as Kiyoshi goes on the run through the bright lights of Osaka, while Kazu and his men chase him down to silence him and avoid an escalation of conflict while the Boss' try to reconcile. It's fun, pacey and works well as a cat and mouse thriller between two brothers, both of whom are adept at chaewing scenery, and even throws in some flashbacks to heighten the tension between the two, usually revolving around Kazu's cowardice as a young wannabe Yakuza.

Director Atsushi Yamamura, a semi-regular in the early 00's digital scene, is competent enough, though his direction certainly won't blow anyone away and is rather rudimentary amongst the era. Though he does put some effort into lighting and throws in some handheld action to evoke a feeling of ... yesteryear, as many did when trying to recapture Jitsuroku-esque moments and there's definitely a sense of moody atmosphere in some scenes, while his pacing helps to actually create some really rather tense scenes later on. You do get the feeling though that Hitoshi Ozawa was probably running the show as a whole, which certainly isn't surprising.

It should be mentioned too that the finale is really quite excellent, a Yakuza meeting in a restaurant is interrupted by Kiyoshi, who turns it into a media circus when he takes hostages and makes demands on live TV whilst Yakuza, the police and a host of civilians form a crowd outside leading to a ridiculously earnest face off, complete with misplaced score and a 'bubble death' scene that had me in stitches both times I have seen the film. It's so ridiculously melodramatic and sentimental that it's hard to look away and both brothers are competing to see who can chew more scenery as they scowl, growl and shout at each other. It's not your typical ending to this type of film and it's really quite glorious.

The cast is the main draw, with Hitoshi Ozawa leading and his real life brother, Kazuyoshi Ozawa facing off against him. It leads to some really great moments between the two, with both trying to one up the other in of overacting and their chemistry really does add tension at points. I guess too there's a certain interesting meta role-reversal between their on-screen characters and real careers, with Hitoshi undoubtedly being the bigger name and having a more lucrative, and varied filmography, while Kazuyoshi, despite being well known, has mostly stuck to the DTV Yakuza realm, which adds a little bit of extra flavour to the viewing experience.

On another interesting note , is Kentaro Shimizu as Kiyoshi's original target, Boss Haketeyama of the Shinzou. He plays a stoic, ultra cool hardass, which certainly isn't out of his wheelhouse per se, but he's another one of those actors I have an odd fascination with. He started his career at Toei in the 70's with a number of parts and also had a successful career as a singer, but his life has been constantly plagued by drug use, arrests, prison and various career reboots because of it. With big name benefactors like Jiro Okazaki, Tatsuo Umemiya and Rikiya Yasuoka (who would break his ribs for being arrested again at one stage) consistently helping him reinvent himself, he somehow managed to jumpstart his career a number of times, only to crash and burn each time and yet still become one of the most recognisable Yakuza actors of the 90's/early 00's, even almost breaking into 'Four Heavenly Kings' territory. Which is fascinating given Japan's strict laws with drug use, crime etc.

Overall, Bullet Explosion is a fun little time waster, it's plot is wafer thin and it's inherent cheapness certainly isn't for everyone, nor does it ever deliver the promised explosion of bullets. But it definitely has its moments, mainly thanks to its central casting of the Ozawa brothers, some utterly ridiculous dialogue and it's pacey nature. For Yakuza fanatics and/or Ozawa fans, it's a definite recommend.

After serving time for his part in a raid, Seijiro (Koji Tsuruta), returns to the Iwai Family a day after the death of its Boss (Michitaro Mizushima), and is tasked with completing an important, and lucrative, contract to build a landfill site. He must work under the leadership of Shizuka (Michiyo Yasuda), the Boss' widow and his own ex lover whom he fell in love with during her younger years in a travelling theatre troupe and was supposed to marry before he got into trouble with the law. Not only must Seijiro deal with matters of the heart, but he also must fend off the Shinjikai Family, whose Boss, Amano (Bin Amatsu), bears a grudge against him for previously killing a member of the Shinjikai, as well as answering to the Iwai's parent group, the Kanto Sakurada Group, whose new chairman (Asao Uchida), wants the landfill contract for himself.

Despite the Ninkyo approaching its final years at the beginning of the 70's and making way for a much different style of Yakuza film in the Jitsuroku, the slow death of chivalry didn't impact the quality of the films themselves, as evidenced by genre master Kosaku Yamashita (amongst others) still delivering some truly stunning works even as the audience for them waned away. 'Fate Deals the Card of Death' is just one such example, a thoughtful and melancholy journey of forbidden love, stoicism and a constant questioning of morals against the Yakuza code, with Director Yamashita utilising a cast of all time greats to tell his tale.

The opening credits depict the swearing of an oath, as the Iwai Family Boss swears his allegiance to the Kanto Sakurada Group, eschewing all ties to real family and friends in favour of servitude to his new Family, pledging to uphold both an ideal and to be ready to give his life at any given moment. It's a stylish, but subdued opening, one that perfectly bookends with its even more stylish finale that throws the ideals out of the window, as the perceived codes have been bent and broken to such a degree that they are awash with blood, depicted in an almost surrealist manner as Seijiro makes his way through a ceremonial room, imagining a brotherhood cup smashed as it falls to the floor when he drives his blade into a man, all while carrying a broken body through the room which is flanked by two literal pools of ankle deep blood.

The beginning and end are bold, stylistic flourishes of symbolism, which certainly aren't out of the ordinary for Director Yamashita who would sometimes utilise such techniques to great effect. But the purpose they serve here holds as much weight as they do in say, the absolutely remarkable Kabuki scene in 'Chivalrous Geisha', especially when provided with the context and emotional stakes that the mid section of the film provides. Working with a script from the legendary Kazuo Kasuhara, Yamashita takes his time, as he often did, delivering a poignant and melodramatic story that isn't afraid to build the necessary relationships for the narrative to really matter, in fact the only real action to speak of is contained in the films bookends, which is ittedly bloody and contains the same sense of raw urgency that Yamashita always employed, but it hits all the harder after the journey taken.

Despite a lack of 'action', that doesn't stop the film from being very memorable either and despite this only being the second time I've seen it, many scenes were still etched into my brain, particularly ones revolving around Seijiro and Shizuka's love story, which despite being a key factor in the Ninkyo as a genre, can sometimes be ittedly very hit or miss. Here though, it's fantastic and plays out in a believable way, with the earlier scenes of the pair sharing love in Naoetsu and preparing for marriage being broken by Seijiro's prison sentence and Shizuka marrying unknowingly into the same family that Seijiro serves, setting the table for their forbidden love that both must deny in service to the family name. There's a pair of superb scenes set on a beach in Niigata, one proclaiming love and another trying to end it via suicide, that are beautifully staged and acted. There's another later into the film that I won't spoil, but shows just much emotion Koji Tsuruta could elicit with just subtle facial gestures and motions that ittedly made me misty eyed on both occasions of seeing it.

Even outside of the love story, there's plenty of memorable scenes and Yamashita also makes sure to build and evolve his side characters enough to not fall into the cracks. There's a smaller scale love story involving Tsunehiko Watase's character Takeshi falling in love with a prostitute that works brilliantly, particularly in its symbolic outcome toward the end of the film that sees love being able to flourish only outside the realm of the Yakuza, which is cleverly contradicted by another side character in Tatsuo Endo's Tokuno role as a bumbling, but loveable gangster whose relationship thrives in its own unique way only by being on the fringes. And of course, when it comes to love, is there any finer than the brotherhood between Kanji and Seijiro? The mighty cinematic pair of Koji Tsuruta and Tomisaburo Wakayama, who once again conjure the kind of magic they so effortlessly portrayed in the likes of 'Big Time Gambling Boss' and 'Scarred Life', placing them easily in the conversation of greatest actor pairing in the history of film (a stance I will defend with my life), as always they are pure dynamite on-screen together, with a brotherhood cup scene that bristles with emotion and tension, aswell as the expected dying-in-arms scene that never fails to hit me right in the feels.

The entire cast is on form, with Koji Tsuruta as reliable as ever as Seijiro, effortlessly painting a man torn between love, brotherhood and the constant struggle of maintaining the Yakuza code with his own morals, while working perfectly alongside Michiyo Yasuda as Shizuka, a woman who finds purpose in love, loses it, hides it and then must come to with her new found position at the head of a Yakuza family, it's a terrific role and she pulls it off with real grace and class. Tomisaburo Wakayama encapsulates the brother role as well as he always did, blending his larger than life charisma and overflowing screen presence with an emotional side and range as a performer that he doesn't get enough credit for and Michitaro Mizushima makes an impact in his small, but excellent role as the Iwai Boss.

Bin Amatsu is on villainous duties, scheming and plotting his way through various nefarious deeds while wearing a scar gifted to him by Seijiro and he's backed up by Asao Uchida, whose role as the Boss of the Sakurada is rather brilliantly nuanced and goes beyond just being a stock villain. Special mention goes to Tsunehiko Watase and Tatsuo Endo, who make for a surprisingly superb pairing as two of Seijiro's men, they add a touch of levity early on, but also serve key purposes to the narrative overall and handle some dramatic moments excellently, despite limited screentime both add a lot to the film and end up as two of the very best characters.

'Fate Deals the Card of Death' certainly isn't for everyone, it's a Yakuza melodrama that places character building and emotion over action and probably wouldn't go down too well with newer fans, but for those invested in the genre it's a must see. A well written and brilliantly acted film that sees its perennially underrated Director (despite being one of the absolute best in the genre), working with his usual fine eye for detail in both Yakuza etiquette and protocol, as well as his skill at developing believable characters and pulling the very best from his already remarkable cast.

Released from Prison after a 15 year sentence, Junji (Hitoshi Ozawa), returns to Kabukicho and the Okawa Family to find the world changed around him. His Boss (Shinzo Hotta) and the Okawa Family have fallen onto hard times due to organised crime laws, while his Yakuza brother, Kawabata (Masami Horiuchi) is now underboss and resorting to shady dealings to keep the Family afloat. To keep him out of the way, Junji is sent to Radio 89.3, an independent station run by Yukatan (Chihiro Asakawa) that the Family has taken over due to debt owed on the property. Initially he wants nothing to do with the day to day operation, but he quickly becomes a fixture on the show and together with his underling, Taro (Yuya Matsuura), they attempt to turn around the stations ailing popularity.

This was a really pleasant surprise. A fun, low budget Yakuza dramedy that takes a semi-original premise and hinges it on the gruff scenery chewing of Hitoshi Ozawa, resulting in an at times hilarious, well paced little film that manages to be both funny and also just a little bit heartwarming, whilst also serving as something of a love letter to the eclectic inhabitants of Kabukicho.

'FM89.3MHz' opens with Junji unceremoniously being released from prison, where he is met by new underling, the ever anxious and stuttering Taro, who doesn't have a driving license, nor money for a taxi, so the pair are returned to the Okawa Family via bus. Whilst his fellow seem grateful for his service, his rough, angry demeanour quickly rubs them the wrong way, especially the senior who confess that they had hoped he might have 'softened up' by being raped in prison and feel threatened by his return, especially as he's close to the Boss. They needn't worry though, as the Boss is much more concerned with his teenage girlfriend, who sits around the office playing in a paddling pool or firing a water gun at the .

It's a fun, odd opening that sets the tone well, but the film really picks up when Junji is forced to speak on the show because the eternally cutesy Yukatan's van breaks down on the way to the station, leading Junji to take the mic. He introduces himself as a Yakuza and talks about his time in Prison as well as advertising his friends business' after taking sponsorship money from them, telling people about the various services they offer, from the cleanest girls in Kabukicho, to casino's and unpixellated VHS porn tapes. To everyone's surprise the segment is a hit and he is convinced to become a regular.

This is where the film is at its strongest, as the bulk of the story is set around Junji on the radio, announcing various Yakuza leaving Prison after lengthy sentences with words of encouragement or offering solutions to the town's drug problems. He even reports about an on-going Yakuza war and goes so far as to bring the respective leaders into the station and reconcile, ending hostilities on air for his listeners. He gives regular advice sessions too, where listeners can fax him problems that he can advise on, which of course involves how to cure drug abuse and the proper method of pinky cutting for a young member needing to make an apology to his Boss.

Director Yutaka Ogi isn't working with a whole lot, so there isn't a great deal going on stylistically, but he makes use of what he's got and the film looks surprisingly good considering its low budget, mainly thanks to utilising the bright lights of Kabukicho to further hammer home the films ending of the magical uniqueness of the district they are working in. And of course he lets Hitoshi Ozawa sing over the credits, probably because it isn't worth arguing with the man when he has an idea. Ogi keeps the film well paced though and balances the story arc with Junji's daughter and boyfriend well, never dipping into melodrama and surprisingly ending the film on a heartwarming note, without resorting to cliches when he closes off the drug dealing part of the story with a brilliant sequence involving Junji appealing for help over the radio, with the inhabitants pulling together to apprehend a man who shot Junji's soon to be son-in-law.

He also utilises his cast well, with the always operating at 110% Hitoshi Ozawa delivering a really fun performance that doesn't dive too far into off the wall scenery chewing, he even delivers a couple of monologues that are really quite brilliant and fans of his will have an absolute blast with this role as he plays with the fish out of water scenario very well indeed. Veterans Shinzo Hotta, Masami Horiuchi and Hiroko Isayama add a touch of class to the cast (kind of), while Chihiro Asakawa works well alongside Ozawa, bringing a touch of spirit and high energy to her Kitschy role.

Special mention goes firstly to fan favourite Kiyohiko Shibukawa who has a small role as Narushi, the would be husband of Junji's daughter, an odd fellow and an aspiring DJ whose heart is in the right place. And secondly to Yuya Matsuura, who is absolutely hilarious as Taro, Junji's Yakuza underling who is constantly stuttering and nervous. His role is brilliant and whilst not particularly original, he brings great energy to the character with his random outbursts and unwavering loyalty to Junji, he's fantastic and delivers some of the films funniest moments.

Overall, FM89.3MHz takes a fun look at the classic Yakuza narrative of an old school gangster being behind the times after a lengthy prison sentence. It has some genuinely hilarious moments with a runtime that flies by and is highly recommended to those looking for a nice easy watch with some laughs and even a few genuinely heartwarming scenes. For fans of Hitoshi Ozawa, of which there are many, this is a must watch.

Cargo freighter 'Frontier Titan' leaves port in the Philippines carrying some of Korea's most dangerous criminals being exported back to their country of birth. Detective Seok-woo (Park Ho-san) and his team of officers are in charge of the prisoners until a violent breakout attempt is staged by deranged murderer, Jong-du (Seo In-guk) whose men have infiltrated the ship and let all the prisoners loose, unleashing them in a whirlwind of bloodletting. Unknown to cops and prisoners alike though is that there is something else on-board, the result of decades old genetics experiments that when loose will kill and maim anything in its path.

'Project Wolf Hunting' is a ridiculous amount of fun, dumb as rocks fun, but it's undeniably a blast of excessive violence and 2.5 tons of fake blood used to great effect. If this film had been released anywhere in the past 20 years before covid hit, it would already be a bona fide cult classic on a pedestal amongst the likes of I Saw the Devil, but with a marked change in audience taste towards East Asian film over the last few years, it hasn't quite got there yet. Most reviews seem to just reel off a bunch of American films as comparison and while I'm not sure about that, it does feel like it shares some DNA with Park Hoon-jung's 'The Witch' and the awful monster film 'Musudan'. But with the violence increased by 1000%.

The films flimsy and ittedly stupid storyline involving Japanese genetics experiments in WW2 producing insanely strong, mutant super soldiers who are impervious to pain never really comes together, nor does it hold any particular weight in the way it is presented. But, crucially, it also doesn't matter one iota, because this is a film with absolutely zero pretense or aspirations to rise above what it sets out to do, deliver two hours of pure carnage with a massive bodycount and to deliver it in a way that is as crowdpleasing as possible, through colossal amounts of blood, head trauma, stabbing and ripped limbs. And on that front it delivers more than it promises.

Director Kim Hong-sun, who made the ridiculously entertaining OAP 'buddy cop' film 'The Chase' and the thoroughly underwhelming horror film 'Metamorphosis', takes an unhinged approach here, freeing himself from any preconceived notions and instead goes for broke with some pure (big budget) B-movie inspired trashy, exploitative fun. There's nothing to speak of really on a stylistic front, as the film is merely competently shot and scored on a technical front without impressing in any way particularly. But where it does impress is in its violence, however shallow that may sound, it's squishy, 90% practical effects driven tornado of bloodletting on a grand scale and it doesn't hold back, there's maybe 15 minutes or so of table setting before Director Kim drops his first corpse and it doesn't let up for the remaining runtime.

I rather liked too that Kim isn't afraid to develop characters only to have them unceremoniously killed shortly after, with no one seemingly safe. Gangsters heads literally disappear in a flurry of sledgehammer hits to the cranium, cops have their heads caved in by handcuffs, knives are slowly pushed into chests via close ups (slow stabs ALWAYS turn my stomach), limbs are ripped off and used to bludgeon men to death, hearts are torn from chests, GPMG's are fired at close range into torso's, corpses are urinated on, scalps are torn from skulls, arms are bitten off and so and so forth. And it's all buried under more blood and arterial spray than possibly ever before seen in a big budget production. I could list more and more, but in all honesty there's probably more violent head trauma and stabbings than you could count. It's wild.

Surprisingly too, this kind of violent excess is usually restricted to Z-grade indie splatter productions, but not only is Director Kim's film technically a blockbuster, but he also brings a talented, well-known cast along for the ride. Veteran actor Sung Dong-il, a huge favourite of mine, has a gloriously over the top role as Dae-woong, head of a special ops team in charge over of hunting down 'Alpha', while the always brilliant Park So-han is Detective Lee, in charge of transporting the prisoners. 'Alpha' itself is a barely recognisable Choi Gui-hwa and both Jang Dong-yoon and Jung so-min have key roles, amongst a number of others.

Special mention though goes first to Seo In-guk, who stars as Park Jong-du, an utterly deranged gangster who revels in murdering anyone in his path, gleefully cutting their throats, and secondly, my own MVP, who with a bigger role would have elevated the film to greatness (prequel please),the always reliable and thoroughly wonderful Jang Young-nam, whose female gangster Myeong-gu, is an absolute delight, bursting at the seams with attitude and sass "Never seen a woman take a shit before fucker?' , she iss by far one of the films greatest strengths, so it's a real shame she didn't get a bigger role. She also works brilliantly alongside Ko Chang-seok, who plays fellow gangster and her lover, Gun-bae. Once again, Prequel spin off starring these two please, Director Kim.

I didn't expect to love Project Wolf Hunting as much as I did, but it's hard not to ire its absolutely balls to the wall nature. The script may be stupid and a lot of characters may make highly questionable decisions, coupled with even more questionable actions. But it's not often you'll see a big budget production like this throw all caution to the wind and deliver two hours of pure carnage in the most violent, bloodiest way possible. If violent thrillers are your thing, then this is an absolute must watch.

Famous Tennis player Mimura (Tomokazu Miura), is living the high life as Japan's top professional in the sport until he spends the night with a beautiful westerner and is greeted the next morning with pictures of his sordid encounter by professional blackmailer, Kishii (Renji Ishibashi). Kishii orders Mimura to pay 30 Million Yen or be exposed in the press and accused of rape by the mysterious woman. After refusing to pay, Mimura loses everything overnight as the tabloids get hold of the story, his career is over along with lucrative advertising deals and his only choice for the ordeal to end is to pay up the ransom. Instead, he chooses to expose his blackmailers and hunt down the truth, leading him on a journey filled with murder, kidnap and revelations of the figures who set him up.

Toru Murakawa has long been something of a cult favourite in the West, known mostly for his collaborations with Yusaku Matsuda, but he's a director who has never quite clicked for me on the whole, despite being strikingly inventive visually. 'Hidden Trail of the Beasts' however really worked and easily became one of my favourites from his filmography, ranking just behind 'Resurrection of the Golden Wolf' and 'Delicate Skillful Fingers' as perhaps his best work behind the camera. It's a tightly wound, twisty and well paced thriller that sees Murakawa back relative newcomer Tomokazu Miura with a number of Toei veterans, resulting in an excellent, often violent and extremely stylish thriller that is definitely something of an 80's gem.

Based on a novel of the same name released in 1978, which is apparently much more erotic and hard boiled than its big screen cousin, the film version was originally meant to star the mighty Yusaku Matsuda, but Toei President Shigeru Okada brought Miura onboard instead due to his popularity and squeaky clean image, hoping to raise him up to the point where he could be a star that could "Succeed Ken Takakura" ( which never happened and despite Okada's intentions, most of Miura's films at Toei ended up flopping). Miura's casting is a boon to the film though and it's certainly a role that wouldn't have 'fit' Matsuda on the whole, though the planned sex scenes were apparently cut at Miura's request and those that remained were dumbed down significantly as he didn't want to sully his popular image or insult his wife.

Despite the apparent 'dumbing down' though, which obviously came with the era and the new method of casting popular idols/singers in blockbuster productions, the film still manages to be very moody and really quite bloody and violent at points, with a nasty extended rape sequence (that results in the films most heartbreakingly tragic moment) and a scene involving trident stabbings that even made me wince at one point with its realistic portrayal. Director Murakawa constantly ups the stakes and tension throughout too, as the initial scandal leads to murder, kidnappings and set pieces that see it's fish out of water lead thrown into many situations where he resorts to violence or action to get himself out of hot water (or get himself into) and there's a particularly impressive car and boat chase around the halfway mark that is sure to please fans of Murakawa as it's definitely a foreshadowing of his later film 'Break Out'.

Perhaps the films greatest strength though is Director Murakawa's striking visuals, with his usual sense of style being a definite highlight. You get the sense throughout that every shot is planned to the most miniscule of details and the result is a feast for the eyes. He was a director that at his best had an almost singular vision and that is reflected brilliantly here through his excellent use of shot placement, blocking and framing to near perfection and with a terrific eye for lighting his scenes in a way that serves to heighten the tension and atmosphere at every turn through clever use of both natural and artificial lighting. He also takes full advantage of location shoots and some absolutely brilliant set design, with gothic-esque offices painting a perfect contrast to the likes of the purpose built gaudy casino that serves as the blackmailers hideout. It's an impressive production all around and it's most definitely a feather in the films cap that it is both designed and utilised so very well, which makes it something of a shame that the film is paired with some painfully generic stock 80's music and sound cues, which is probably my biggest complaint with the film on a whole.

Pacing-wise the film is very tight too, which is notable as it's always been one of my personal arguments with Director Murakawa's work (though ittedly I was much younger when I saw the majority of his subtitled films and all are long overdue revisiting), with even his most loved work in his 'Game Trilogy' feeling rather dull in their frequent periods of downtime. Here though, there's no such downtime and every piece feels like it matters, with characters developed just enough to matter and action/violence used cleverly throughout to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, whilst gradually revealing plot points and revelations to consistently keep the stakes high. Murakawa also cleverly directs around Tomokazu Miura's skillset to offset any lack of prowess physically and utilised him very well on the whole, pulling a solid performance that reflects his characters nature rather brilliantly.

Tomakazu Miura as Mimura is really quite perfect casting for me, at first I thought he was perhaps trying a little too hard, coming off the back of his small screen popularity in the 70's and as a second lead at Toho where he built up a considerable fan base working alongside his future wife Momoe Yamaguchi. But his popularity actually contrasts his character here superbly and he injects a sense of cocksure brashness that gives Mimura a distinct lack of likeability early in the film, which works wonders as the film builds, gradually stacking the odds more and more against him and there's a raw, grim determination that he portrays in a terrific manner, lending the character a hard edge that certainly isn't present at first glance. He's also perfect opposite Renji Ishibashi, already a Toei veteran at this stage in his career and who gives a thoroughly slimy performance the likes of which only he can pull off, manipulating and scheming his way through the runtime and long time fans of his will enjoy him immensely, I won't spoil anything but I wonder if the likes of Takashi Miike and Takeshi Kitano had this film in mind when it came to utilising what I like to call 'Injured Ishibashi Mode' (this will make sense after viewing).

There's also a strong ing cast on show, with Mikio Narita, Goro Ibuki and Rikiya Yasuoka ing Ishibashi on villainous duties, with notable (but very small) turns from fellow veterans Toru Minegishi and Tadao Nakamura. Jun Fubuki is great in a small role as Mimura's jilted ex lover and there's a standout performance from Rei Natsuki as his sister, who gets caught up in the plot to absolutely heart breaking results, serving as one of the films main catalysts and despite limited screentime she leaves quite the impression overall. Keiko Usami's role as bar manager Yoko though is a little half baked, which is a bit of a shame as she also plays a key role in proceedings, but that's a minor complaint on the whole. Also worthy of note, particularly to fans of American film, is the presence of Darlanne Fluegel, whom ittedly I wasn't familiar with, but had a successful career as a model turned actress and had a number of roles in big films such as Once Upon a Time in America, To Live and Die in L.A. and The Eyes of Laura Mars, interestingly too she would return to Japan in 2010 to produce a documentary about the countries love of Baseball, so she came a long way from getting naked in front of Tomokazu Miura in 1981 when he refused to take his pants off, that's for sure.

'Hidden Trail of the Beasts' really surprised me in a good way, it's tightly scripted, brilliantly acted and Murakawa's direction is sharp and stylish, making this a definite recommend and yet another unearthed 80's gem from a country whose filmography in the era is so often written off almost entirely. Special thanks to those that worked hard in tracking this down and putting the effort into making this available with English subtitles, they are a crack team who for years now have being doing the Lords work in making films that otherwise would be all but forgotten in the West available to us all and often at great expense to themselves, it's a lengthy, involved process and their tireless efforts are much appreciated.

Released after an 8 year prison sentence, Jiro (Akira Kobayashi), returns to find the Ichimonji Family all but gone, his aging Boss is sick and all the have left apart from his junior, Joji (Jiro Okazaki). After visiting the Hazama Family Boss (Jotaro Togami), he is offered work and a chance to revive the Ichimonji by going to Takagawa City, a boom town on the rise thanks to its farmland being bought up for industrial use, where he must take over from the rival Tono and Aoba Gangs, who are clashing over land. Given a ragtag crew of ex singers, actors and Hazama member Hino (Jo Shishido), who wants revenge for the killing of his brother, Jiro sets into motion a plan to escalate the conflict whilst swooping into to buy the contested land for himself.

Yasuharu Hasebe's 'Retaliation' is a stylish and simplistic transitional genre film from Nikkatsu, bridging the gap between the Ninkyo and the Jitsuroku effectively, while at the same time not quite being as revolutionary as it's made out to be. While it does feel somewhat ahead of its time, it is more a reaction to the success of similar films being made at Toei at the time, with Hasebe moving away from the polished, jazzy, ice cold noir and New Hollwoodized Nikkatsu aesthetics as the studios profits began to falter, and step towards the more realistic, or authentic, stylings that it's rival was perfecting. The result is a fun, but flawed film that sets the groundwork for Hasebe's later, and much better genre entries 'Bloody Territories' and 'Blood for Blood'.

Opening with Jiro's release from prison, only to be met immediately by rival Hino, who wants to kill him for the earlier murder of his brother, Retaliation quickly and effectively sets up it's narrative of clashing Yakuza Families, with land deals for construction forming the backdrop for its eventual bloodletting. It's a simple premise, albeit a very generic one, but it's simplicity is a benefit to the viewer in keeping its story remarkably easy to follow, with its politicking, backstabbing and a hefty roster of characters never getting convoluted, even if many are left by the wayside in of character development. Which is the films biggest downfall.

Director Hasebe is working with quite a cast that includes many of the 'Diamond Line' and while it never gets confusing, most are underdeveloped to a fault. One of the films very best moments comes towards the end when Jiro and Hino reconcile (after a couple of knife duels, naturally) and Hino declares "Love is a failing of mine. Never fell for a man before though", to which Jiro, slowly replacing his aviators responds.. "Sorry about that" before the pair head off for the inevitable office raid of retribution. It's a terrific moment and of course both Akira Kobayashi and Jo Shishido are excellent as a pairing, but the film never justifies such a moment, their 'brotherhood' is a simple byproduct that has never been capitalised on through development sadly, which is surprising considering how brilliantly Hasebe worked with the concept in his later, better genre entries.

The films greatest strength probably lies in its crowdpleasing nature which provides a healthy amount of action and some moderately shocking violence. Beatings,cigarette torture and ultra sweaty sex scenes break up Yakuza scheming effectively and there's a couple of standout action scenes, most notably an office raid that sees the power cut and lit solely by the attackers flashlights (or torches for us Brits), as Tono Family rampage through the Aoba offices in revenge for the murder of their Boss. It's a very effective scene and brilliantly constructed, much like it's finale, which again sees an office raid take centre stage, this time as Jiro exacts his own revenge on those who betrayed him. It's thrilling, bloody stuff and a cornerstone trope of the genre, though again it's not quite as 'ground-breaking' as some reviews make it out to be, with Hasebe borrowing heavily from elsewhere, which of course doesn't take anything from the film per se, but it is something that should be kept in mind.

Stylistically, the film is rather good too, which is to be expected of Director Hasebe and this is certainly no exception. Accompanied by a really quite stellar score from veteran composer Hajime Kaburagi which serves to amplify the coldly distant atmosphere that Hasebe conjures up, there's a wonderful blending of sets and location shoots through his usage of long lens and some stunning Birds-eye shots that are regularly employed to emphasise the insignificance of his characters in relation to the world around them. There's a particularly effective one during a back alley brawl that zooms out to such a degree that his characters are left as mere specks on the screen as Tokyo goes about its daily business below which is really quite striking in its effectiveness. He also blocks his characters behind everyday objects a lot throughout, which serves to distance viewer and character, giving a sense of an outsider looking and once again hinting at the insignificance of their actions on a grand scale, though he does have a tendency to overplay his hand quite a bit with this particular shot to the point that it becomes a little annoying. But that's a personal problem rather than with the film as a whole I guess.

Casting-wise, Hasebe is working with some of Nikkatsu's finest and the mighty guy himself, Akira Kobayashi, takes centre stage as Jiro with Jo Shishido and Hideaki Nitani in . Kobayashi is good, though its not exactly his finest hour and despite his inherent stoicism that he blends with a certain cut throat ruthlessness, it's hard to fully quantify the barely contained homoerotic loyalty that he inspires from other characters given that none are ever fully developed enough. Shishido's apathetic Hino is fantastic, spending much of his screen time hanging around picking holes in Jiro's plans or prodding him towards confrontation and the pair share a great chemistry on-screen which makes it more of a shame that more emphasis wasn't placed on their relationship. Hideaki Nitani is also very good, though in a thankless role that again is never developed enough despite getting one of the films best scenes when he confronts Jiro in the rain under orders to kill him, leading to a brilliantly stylish showdown.

The ing cast is strong, though none really get the time to properly shine. Meiko Kaji is most noteworthy for fans as Saeko, daughter of a farmer unwilling to sell his land and caught between warring Yakuza factions. Naturally she's a charismatic addition, but ultimately her role is mostly filler despite being a catalyst for Jiro's eventual rampage. Tatsuya Fuji is great as the ice cold gambler Shinjo whom Jiro sends to infiltrate Aoba gambling dens in order to create some chaos and Tamio Kawachi is also solid as Naruse, who Jiro places in the Aoba as an undercover, though both are underused to a fault. Jiro Okazaki gets a bit more to do as Jiro's loyal underling Joji, which is a bonus, as is the inclusion of the likes of Ryoji Hayama, Eiji Go, Jotaro Togami and Keisuke Yuikeaoka in small roles. But again, with so many personalities on-screen without the focus, or runtime to dedicate to them, most are half baked, leaving the viewer wanting more sadly.

On the whole, Retaliation is good, breezy fun that relies on a few decent performances with some stand out action and violence to get by, making it ittedly very watchable. But it's lack of focus and never capitalising on its best characters make it able genre entertainment at best and it pales in comparison to its big brothers 'Bloody Territories' and 'Blood for Blood'. It does however stand as a perfect entry point into the genre thanks to its accessibility in both ease of viewing and it's easy accessibility, which makes it a solid recommend for those looking to dip their toes into the world of Yakuza cinema, bridging a gap between the Ninkyo and Jitsuroku whilst delivering some solid genre thrills and spills.

Young Lord of the Owari Domain, Oda Nobunaga (Takuya Kimura), is forced into marrying Nohime (Haruka Ayase) of the Mino at the behest of their fathers in an attempt to avoid escalating conflict between the two regions. The two are like oil and water, consistently arguing and grating each other, Nobunaga sees her as a spy and possible assassin, whilst Nohime sees him as nothing more than a childish country bumpkin. When their fathers away and war is on the horizon, they form a grudging respect when Nohime provides Nobunaga with a cunning strategy to fend off an impending invasion, setting him on course to become one of Japan's most important historical figures and sparking an interest in each other that would eventually blossom into love.

Produced as the celebratory film for Toei Studios 70th Anniversary, The Legend and Butterfly is a grand and lavish Jidaigeki with no expense spared in its production. Gorgeous costuming and stunning location shoots on top of magnificent sets and an all star cast provide it with all the ingredients to honestly be a masterpiece, but sadly it falls far short of that mark. Marred by a rushed narrative that tries to cram far too much into its almost 3 hour runtime, some mixed performances, an abysmal ending and a few baffling decisions along the way, instead it becomes something of a missed opportunity, yet still very watchable.

The life of Oda Nobunaga is well trodden ground and not just cinematically, but also on the small screen as well as across various forms of media owing to his legendary status in Japan as one of the leading figures of unification. This is both a blessing and a curse to the film as while much of his life is fairly well recorded historically speaking, much is also rooted in theories, myth and legend and this applies even more so to his wife Nohime, to whom very little is known as actual fact. This gives Director Keishi Otomo (of Rurouni Kenshin fame) and writer Ryota Kosawa, the wriggle room necessary to interpret events their own way and focus on Nobunaga and Nohime's relationship, of which again very little is known.

This is where the film loses it's way for me personally, it posits itself as a love story first and foremost, with Nobunaga's many battles and events merely forming the background for the two lovers tumultuous relationship. There's no action scenes to speak of really, bar the films ending which takes place at the infamous Honno-ji Temple and honestly it isn't particularly well done, so the focus is almost entirely on Nobunaga and Nohime, with both actors (Kimura and Ayase) doing an irable job of selling a rocky love story, they share a decent chemistry together and even seem believable at points with some truly touching scenes.

The trouble is, a 3 hour runtime is there to cover 33 years of two peoples lives, so just when you think a certain historical event is about to happen, it's glossed over entirely and instead some bizarre narrative decisions are made. In all fairness despite it being a flaw, the narrative is never confusing and is simplified very well to allow the film to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. But it gives the film a too neat and episodic structure, with vast periods of time often covered by a single, brief scene and on-screen text telling you the year in almost bullet point fashion, which is a real shame and honestly left me with the feeling that film really needed to be a trilogy to fully let the two actors grow and evolve into their roles, helping to raise the emotional stakes in the process, rather than just fizzling out.

Director Otomo crams in many details and events both factual and theorised, but the aforementioned baffling decisions are never more apparent than in the egregious '7 year split' which sees Nohime, divorce, remarry and eventually return to Nobunga unceremoniously towards the end, which brings me to her demise, which is ittedly unknown outside of a few popular theories, so here he chooses to have her arc end in the most boring, undramatic way that doesn't fit the character in any way, shape or form, which when combined with a shockingly saccharine and cringeworthy, lengthy dream sequence about living happily ever after, really bring the film down a notch quality wise. It's actually almost insulting to the character, especially as it has no basis in reality, when he could of chosen any one of a number of theories that would have served both character and narrative much better overall.

Whilst events and important characters are either dropped, forgotten about or left out almost entirely, with Nobunaga's sons who aren't even named here, despite appearing onscreen and serving barely any function. Its perhaps Akechi Mitsuhide's betrayal that is the worst, its the subject of much conjecture in history but here its presented in an.... Odd way. It isn't known why he chose to betray his Lord and attack him at Honno-ji, but a long held belief is that a falling out between he and Nobunaga over rotten fish served to Tokugawa Ieyasu could have served as a catalyst for the attack, but here it's presented as a planned show of strength to prove that Nobunaga was still a force to be reckoned with after spending too much time with his wife. On paper it works I guess, but on-screen it doesn't at all, with the scene changing from Nobunaga itting that he took it too far and then going straight into Mitsuhide leading an army against him. It just doesn't feel right and is too rushed, especially as Mitsuhide is presented earlier on as one of his most devoted and loyal Lords. Oh and on the subject of Tokugawa Ieyasu, I have no idea when he only has two minutes of screentime that Director Otomo would feel the need to cast Takeru Satoh in the role, plastering him in some awful prosthetics when literally any slightly portly middle aged actor would have sufficed.

There's also the much talked about 'market massacre' which sees Nobunaga and Nohime in disguise shopping in a Kyoto market. When Nobunaga's candy is stolen from him by a pickpocket, he follows the thief into a slum, resulting in the pair fighting for their lives after Nohime jams her knife into a gropers neck, they then go on to slaughter a dozen or so peasants before escaping into an abandoned hut and still covered in blood have sex for the first time whilst hiding from a lynch mob, realising that they have grown feelings for each other for the first time. It's a bizarre scene that both serves to undercut the notion that Nobunaga was at home amongst people of any social standing, whilst also showing the early stages of a man who would wholeheartedly earn the nickname 'Demon Lord' when he ordered every man, woman and child put to the sword on Mount Hiei to quash a Buddhist Warrior Sect who stood against him, its just another of the films muddled parodoxical grandstandings that doesn't seem to know where it stands.

Casting wise the film is mostly very good, with the ever popular Takuya Kimura stepping into the shoes of Oda Nobunaga and giving it a fine showing. The early parts of the film are when he is at his best (despite the obvious discrepancy in age) as he portrays Nobunaga in full bumpkin mode, known as the idiot of Owari, his energy is apparent and he perfectly pulls off the young, brash and cocksure Lord perfectly. But in later sections of the film, particularly when centred around events involving the Enryako-ji Temple and later in the final ambush he seems a little out of his depth, though this is more the fault of director/writer in not giving him enough to work with, in my opinion, rather than his own. There's a number of smaller roles that are really quite good too, with cameos from Kinya Kitaoji(!) and Hirotaro Honda being a nice surprise while Hideaki Ito excels in a rather thankless role as Nohime's stoic chamberlain.

It is Nohime herself though where the film is as it's absolute peak. Despite some ridiculous turns for the character and a lacklustre ending, Haruka Ayase gives the role her absolute all, acting circles around the rest of the cast and rising above the mediocre writing that plagues her character. She's tough, cunning, outspoken and honest providing the film not only with its best character and performance but also with the emotional stakes, getting some of the films best scenes in the process as she tries to come to with her own feelings as she falls for a man she once intended to kill, taking his territory in the process. It's an honest , believable and really quite revelatory performance that deserves a much better film centred around it. Special mention goes to Miki Nakatani, who plays Kagamino, Nohimes maid/confidant and an actress who was no stranger to the Nohime role after playing her previously in a 1998 Television series.

For all my complaining, The Legend and Butterfly isn't a bad film per se, merely an underwhelming one. It's competently directed, mostly very well acted and is worth watching for its sumptuous production values alone, which I can't stress enough are spectacular, lacking the sanitised and highly strung comic bookiness of other high profile Jidaigeki/Chanbara of recent years. But I can't help but think that with a different director at the helm and a stronger script this could have been a true masterpiece instead of just a watchable Jidaigeki that both adheres to, and skewers, it's historical figures in some truly odd ways that never truly satisfy or add up. A missed opportunity that I have rated very generously for its sheer spectacle and superb performance from Haruka Ayase. But Toei's 70th Anniversary deserved much more than this.

Guilt ridden Yakuza, Kondo (Noboru Ando), operates a small fishing boat that he uses to transport Korean girls across the Genkai Sea for Sawaki (Jo Shishido), a small time Yakuza Boss working for a larger Tokyo Group who exploit the women and force them into prostitution. After taking in Taguchi (Jinpachi Nezu) as a sort of underling, the pair make the journey by boat to pick up a fresh load of women and end up with two extra stowaways in Kojun (Reisen Ri) a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to someone from Kondo's past and Mr Kim (Hosei Komatsu), who seems to be a form of caretaker for the women, but both have their own agendas for voluntarily making the journey and soon force a series of events that makes both Kondo and Sawaki come to with their previous actions working in Busan just after the war.

'The Sea of Genkai' is Playwright/Theatre director/Writer Juro Kara's single feature film, a scathing drama that simultaneously shines a light on the horrific treatment of Korean women at the hands of the Japanese, as well as a complete deconstruction of the Yakuza mythology and romanticized beliefs. It's a shame that this is his only feature film, as it's something of a masterpiece, an unflinchingly brutal 2 hour journey that skirts the line between full blown exploitation with its extreme violence and nihilistic subject matter, but is also an intelligent and fascinating arthouse-esque drama that doesn't shy away from exposing and asking some very difficult questions, which I guess shouldn't be surprising coming from an award winning playwright who would be a key forerunner in establishing an 'underground ' theatre movement in Japan.

Juro Kara, who wrote and co-produced the film alongside ATG, presents the narrative in a non-linear way, which is apparently a key feature of his stage work, gradually revealing key points that has the audience scratching their heads up until a grand (and utterly devastating) reveal in the last third of the film that comes as quite a shock, effectively smashing audience expectations with a cinematic about face that hits hard emotionally even on repeat viewings. The film opens on an almost comedic level for the first twenty minutes or so, spending time with Jo Shishido's gang who are the epitome of the bumbling, incompetent Yakuza stereotype but escalated to a theatrical degree as they unload clams at the docks, clash with striking railway workers and hide said clams in a warehouse where the owner lives with the corpse of his wife. They are just generally falling over themselves in their own stupidity as Kara presents them in as much of a buffoonish way as he can conjure up. I mention this as it seems to be a key point in many criticisms of the film, but is clearly an important metaphor for where the film leads.

After this the film quickly settles down into MUCH more serious territory, as Kondo and Sawaki's backstory is told in flashbacks, starting with their time as medical students working on corpses from the war, before being offered a job by US soldiers that takes them to the slums of Busan in 1951. Here the pair spend their time raging drunk, delivering dog tags of fallen soldiers to widows whilst using their 'power' to effectively run riot over the local populace. It's grim, nasty and Director Kara isn't afraid to wallow in the muck cinematically, it's not often you'll see Noburo Ando half conscious in a pile of his own vomit mumbling incoherently, or having sex with corpses, whilst Jo 'the ace' Shishido throws dog tags at women before brutally raping them and choking them to death. As I said, this is a tough watch and one that doesn't hold back in its uncompromising vision.

The events in Busan form the backdrop of the story, as Chunseon/Kojun (Reisen Ri, who crucially was of Korean descent herself and was married to Juro Kara), turns up as a stowaway on Kondo's boat and looks just like a woman that Sawaki murdered in Busan. To mention much more than that would invite spoilers and this is a journey that is best served as cold as possible, but the way the narrative unfolds is both clever in its structuring and keeps the mystery for as long as possible, whilst never falling too deep into the arthouse well or getting too abstract for its own good, thankfully. It also very cleverly, and fascinating delves into the plight of Koreans and their exploitation, both mentally and physically, even subtly diving into racial epithets via its dialogue, which isnt always apparent at first glance because of the films many subtle details and nuances, which is a bold move, especially with Reisen Ri as one of its leads and adds another absorbing layer of context into its already captivating presentation.

I can't stress enough either, that is indeed a difficult watch, even by modern standards. It doesn't quite reach the depraved depths of say, Junya Sato's 'True of the Ginza Enforcers', but it does drag the viewer down into its murky, oppressive atmosphere, one that is actually heightened by Juro Kara's theatrical staging. There is a plethora of nasty violence and a lot of rape within, but to Director Kara's credit it never feels *too* exploitative or gratuitous, instead serving it's purpose to raise the stakes and to get his scathing point across. The sex scenes are tastefully done (for lack of a better term) and not there as mere titillation, whilst the violence is almost absurdly overdone, particularly a gruesome bullet removal (that turned my stomach) and a 'headsplosion' that if not for the way the scene was shot and edited would almost seem comical (side note without spoilers but I do wonder if Takeshi Kitano borrowed from it for one of his most famous scenes).

Director Kara's theatrical background is evident throughout, from the way he stages scenes to the way he directs his cast and it really helps to give the film a 'different' feel, actually heightening the effects in many ways. At first glance the film feels like somewhat routine ATG fare (if there even is such a thing), but it's really packed with some interesting stylistic flourishes, long takes, terrific editing and a real eye for detail. There's also the sense that Kara planned everything down to the most miniscule of details, even extending to the marketing, where he apparently 'staged' an event in which he and Noboru Ando were arrested by the Police for using a real handgun purchased from the US military, with Ando later revealing that they planned it and even invited a newspaper reporter on set to document the arrest.

This sense of planning is sprinkled liberally throughout the film in a number of unforgettable scenes, whether it be Jinpachi Nezu symbolically trudging through waist high mud and filth or drinking from a disgusting urinal. The suggestive scenes involving Jo Shishido's impotence that see strategically placed sex toys scattered around his bedroom, or the phenomenally shot, but shockingly brutal flashbacks set in the Busan slums. My particular favourite though has Reisen Ri desperately navigating the bustling streets, shot guerrilla style as onlookers stop and stare at her to varying degrees of bewilderment, some look on in almost disgust, whilst others are clearly perplexed, but most look on in a brief moment of judgment, before carrying on with their day. Further hammering home Kara's central theme in a subtly devastating way.

The casting too is largely excellent, with a stacked roster of talent. Noboru Ando is technically the lead as Kondo and Juro Kara, much like the mighty Tai Kato, manages to pull the very best from him as an actor with a very subtly nuanced performance that shows off his inherent ability to be much more than just an authentic presence, while Jo Shishido commits entirely to his almost absurdly over the top, heinous scumbag role that sees him deliver a performance that will shock even his most dedicated fans. The pair of heavy hitters are backed by a solid showing of favourites in roles including a sublime turn from Jinpachi Nezu as Taguchi that almost steals the whole show in a blisteringly energetic and unforgettable role, while regulars Bin Amatsu, Renji Ishibashi and Koen Okamura all have small, but excellent showings.

Reisen Ri though is phenomenal as Chunseon/Kojun in a role that is difficult to accurately depict without again inviting spoilers, but suffice to say she runs the whole gamut of emotions in an absolutely stellar role that has to be seen to be believed. From almost lunacy to pure innocence, banshee-like revenger to broken beauty, there is a real power behind her performance that is really something to behold, it's a brave and difficult role that she plays, but she handles it seemingly effortlessly when I imagine it was anything but and I really can't praise her enough. It would also be remiss to not mention Hosei Komatsu, who plays Mr Kim, the second stowaway who heads to Japan with a clear purpose that also isn't immediately clear. He's not often an actor that is praised for his dramatic performances, but here even in a semi-smallish role he shows that he had a long, varied and storied career for a reason, some of his scenes are absolutely tremendous and his performance is as energetic as it is tragic.

'The Sea of Genkai' is a really difficult film to review, not just because of my own failings as a reviewer of it, but to write about it is to spoil its journey, and to describe it's many intricacies would also do the same, which would do the film a disservice considering it's incredibly niche and underseen status. Nevertheless, it's a film that despite its divisive nature, is one that absolutely deserves a much bigger audience and one I would wholeheartedly recommend. It's meticulously crafted and well written, brilliantly performed and raises some fascinating (and devastating) social commentary that is still very much relevant, though be warned, it's also a very difficult watch that goes to some truly dark places. An absolute hidden gem.

After a 15 year sentence in prison, Komoro (Kiyoshi Nakajo), returns to Tokyo and is reunited with his Boss (Hideo Murota), the Head of the Akita Syndicate. He finds the world changed around him in his absence and the Akita is under pressure from the Sanyu Family, who are making inroads into their territory. His old brothers try to keep him out of the gradually escalating conflict but his new found friendship with Mano (Ken Kaneko) and his girlfriend Kasumi (Miho Nomoto) threatens to pull him back into his old violent ways. Komoro tries to live the quiet life after meeting a new girlfriend in nurse Akie (Noriko Hamada), and even contemplates relocating with her, but as the Akita/Sanyu rivalry heats up, he can't stay out forever, especially when an old junior betrays the Akita.

Veteran Director Eiichi Kudo's final film is a methodical and melancholy character study that follows the tried and true Yakuza 'fish out of water' narrative, elevated by a sense of introspection and authenticity thanks to being based on a novel written by legendary Yakuza turned actor Noboru Ando, whose shadow looms heavily over the production. It's a slow and brooding film that relies heavily on a stellar performance from singer/actor/politician Kiyoshi Nakajo who also draws much inspiration from Ando's life and unique on-screen persona, which when combined with Kudo's rich sense of characterisation leads to a fascinating end result.

On paper, 'Tale of a Scarface' really isn't anything new, taking a generic storyline and presenting it in a somewhat meandering way over the course of two and a half hours. It's certainly not a film I would recommend to those new to the genre, particularly those who have cut their teeth on the likes of Kinji Fukasaku's 'chaotic' and kinetic brand of filmmaking, lacking the violence and sex that is all too often attributed to the genre, that's not say there isn't any either, as it's there of course, but it's purely a byproduct of the life, so to speak, rather than being presented in an 'exciting' way, but for those who like the journey and are willing to step into the shoes and immerse themselves into Komoro 's world, there's a hell of a lot here to enjoy.

Perhaps the films most fascinating aspect, for me at least, is the writer behind the original novel and the films willingness to parallel itself alongside him. Anyone who knows me will know I have something of an obsession with Noboru Ando, once a Yakuza Boss in charge of his own Family, a Family which would disband on his release from prison and see him then turn his hand to acting, a field where he excelled and used his real life experiences with fascinating results. It was also a life that has long had an influence not just on the genre in its heyday, but has persisted throughout the years, with just about every important Director in the genre utilising the man himself at some point or another, from Fukasaku to Miike and everyone inbetween, with microbudget DTV productions still tipping their hat to him to this day.

Yet the man himself was something of an enigma, disbanding his Family after meeting the mother of one of his dead men, while the people I have talked to that actually met him paint very different pictures, he could be found in his office surrounded by every stereotypical gangster cliche imaginable, or on the flipside a quiet man who would appear melancholy, expressing deep regret and a sense of pensiveness that comes with much retrospective soul searching over the course of his life, making him all the more fascinating. Director Kudo and star Kiyoshi Nakajo settle here on presenting the character Komoro as someone who is clearly based on Ando, not in his real life exploits, but as a man who accepts his past, someone who was drawn into a life of crime through circumstances not entirely under his control and regrets not having the chance at normality.

This is where Kudo's film comes into its own, whilst not being directly based on Ando's life, that sense of introspective view bleeds from the screen as Komoro explores the lack of normality in his life, you can feel Ando's pen expressing regret at the same time as a hint of ego stroking based on his own almost mythical status to be read between the lines (a common denominator throughout his work, both directly and indirectly) and you get the sense that had he not found acting, then Komoro's story could well have easily have been his own. Kudo delicately reflects this in Komoro's actions, he's a man who expects a hero's welcome on his release from prison yet at the same time doesn't want one, he's a man afraid of change yet also desperately wanting it and it's this inner conflict that propels the film forwards towards its inevitable end, one marked by gunshots, death and a single tear shed on a park bench.

Kudo's rich sense of characterisation is on full display here, taking his time to develop Komoro, spending as much time with the character as possible while the people that he meets that matter to him, drift in and out of his life, with the exception of new girlfriend Akie, and are presented in a somewhat minimalistic way, which works very well in reflecting that Komoro craves human connections, but his persona, life experience and isolation in prison keep them at arms length. He's at once a loyal to a fault Yakuza, but also one that tries his utmost to steer others away from the life, rather brilliantly explored by his relationship with Mano, a young pimp whom he sees promise in and organises for him to be let go from his Family, a move which inevitably ends in tragedy, because no-one escapes the Yakuza untarnished.

The film is directed rather well too and while stylistically it's nothing necessarily to write home about, Director Kudo utilises the melancholy feel well, with a traditional approach that is marked by some excellent lighting and usage of wide angles, utilising static angles and long takes to reflect Komoro's inner turmoil and create a real sense of atmosphere that permeates the film throughout. Fans of downbeat 90's Japanese film will feel right at home and there's a very effective classical music score that works wonders in heightening the mood of the film overall. He also pays particular attention to shooting violence when it happens, which ittedly isn't a lot, but is presented in a matter of fact way and not glamourised, even when someone is having their skull caved in via breeze block or being stabbed by an ice pick, it's shocking but it's yet another byproduct of the life the characters have found themselves in, an accepted piece of 'normality' that comes with living between the cracks.

The rather underappreciated Kiyoshi Nakajo leads the cast as Komoro in a terrific, subtle performance packed with nuance. At once drawing and heavily leaning into Noboru Ando's persona, but also giving it a unique brand of his own stoicism, something lacking from the genre at the time for a number of years. Komoro is a complex enigma, one quick to violence but also gentle and tender, desperately seeking connection yet afraid of it and wanting solace. It's a fascinating character and Nakajo pulls off the role effortlessly, it's his film and easily marks the finest performance he ever gave on-screen for my money, he really was one of the better actors to be introduced to the genre at the time and it's a shame there isn't more from him out there.

Backing him up is an on form Ken Kaneko as Mano, a young pimp and Shinjo Family member, while V-Cinema favourite Miho Nomoto plays his girlfriend Kasumi, both are excellent and give spirited performances, working well together and forming an excellent relationship that serves to heighten the emotional stakes. Toei legend Hideo Murota is Boss Akita and while he doesn't get a great deal of screentime, he gets some brilliant scenes, particularly when he's reminiscing on growing up alongside Komoro in juvenile delinquent facilities, yet another Ando connection. Fellow Toei luminaries Tonpei Hidari and Kentaro Shimizu both have small, but crucial roles as Komoro's brothers from before prison, one now in an executive role in the Akita Family, the other a broken man eking out a living carrying advertising signboards.

While I would hesitate to recommend 'Tale of a Scarface' to just anyone, I think it has a lot of appeal to both those that are well versed into the Yakuza genre as a whole, with a good line of comparison being I guess something along the lines of Yasuo Furuhata meets Rokuro Mochizuki, but I think it also has a lot to offer fans of slow and melancholy 90's Japan 'mood' films, with its meandering pace and almost arthouse-esque atmospherics. For me, it's a film that's grown on me a lot second time around and I really found myself lost in Komoro's journey with this viewing, it's very well written and has a stellar performance from Kiyoshi Nakajo to carry it, with the fascinating backdrop of Noboru Ando's writings and life to help give it some context.

With police crackdowns on gambling, The Aramasa Family and it's Boss (Takashi Shimura), look to construction and a change in leadership to keep up with the times. Citing his old age, Boss Aramasa decides to retire and must choose from one of the so called 'Aramasa Three', sworn brothers and childhood friends consisting of Sakurai (Ken Takakura), Sekine (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and Kunieda (Minoru Oki), to take his place and lead the Family in a new direction. Sakurai is the natural choice, but with a year left to serve in prison, Kunieda becomes the new leader instead and despite protests from Sekine, dedicates himself to the new role, securing vital construction contracts and even working hand in hand with rivals, The Tanuma Family, whose Boss (Fumio Watanabe) has a grudge against Sakurai, for almost killing him in a raid six years previously.

Technically an entry in the long running 'Bakuto' series, a completely unconnected and episodic in nature series of films spanning 7 years that consisted of stand alone films depicting Yakuza gambling families, Shigehiro Ozawa's 1970 entry 'House of Gamblers' is a grand, late cycle Ninkyo epic in every sense, with top tier Toei talent at every turn in its sublime cast, and behind the camera some of the most important names in the business orchestrating, with the ever underrated Ozawa in the directors chair being backed up by (in)famous producer Koji Shundo, legendary Yakuza scribe Akira Murao on writing duties and maestro Toshiaki Tsushima providing a wonderfully understated traditional score.

'House of Gamblers' is a film that takes its time, depicting the slow disintegration of a Yakuza Family from within, as it's honourable intentions and strict adherence to the code becomes it's ultimate downfall. It's a highly emotional journey that runs down a checklist of Ninkyo tropes and cliches (in a good way) along it's slightly elongated runtime, but leaves no stone unturned in depicting it's characters, giving them ample space to grow and breathe, forming a backdrop that serves to consistently up the stakes and create characters that the viewer can not only feel, and root for, but present them in a manner that feels believable.

This mainly comes from Director Ozawa pulling the best from his remarkable cast, knowing each ones strengths and weaknesses intimately by this point in his career and utilising each to their fullest, even more so when he's given a script with the strength of which he is working from here, a script that not only gives him rich and multi dimensional characters to work with, but also has a foothold firmly in reality thanks to prep work done by both Ozawa and Murao, who together conducted a number of interviews with real life Yakuza (facilitated by Producer Shundo, of course) which would form the backbone of his entries into the 'Bakuto' series, giving them a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, and allowing them to semi-accurately depict customs and etiquette onto the screen (which apparently lead to a number of housewives protesting outside Toei theaters).

While the film may be longer, and objectively 'slower' than some of its contemporaries, placing its emphasis firmly on character, rather than action. That's not to say either that it doesn't contain all the hallmarks of the Ninkyo genre either, with politicking and backroom dealings scattered amongst its many ceremonies and greetings, while a number of really quite brilliantly constructed raids, severed pinkys and stabby murders serve to break up its narrative very well, with some of its key showdowns being highly memorable scenes that hit hard emotionally, particularly as the Aramasa Family starts to implode from within, pitting brother against brother in stunningly shot midnight duels, or it's extended raid finale, preceded by a gorgeous and emotive 'long walk' that shows off the Tsuruta/Takakura bromance beautifully, leading to an expertly choreographed sword duel in the snow.

There's a number of such unforgettable scenes, all composed magnificently but my particular favourite is of Sakurai, who has been released from jail and had his territory stripped from him to make peace with the Aramasa's rivals, and instead of fighting back, decides to take what is technically a demotion and pledge as a junior to his brother Kunieda. A ceremony follows and Aramasa guest, Seijiro (Tsuruta) oversees it, with Director Ozawa very carefully staging the scene and blocking it to perfection in order to cram his incredible cast into frame, resulting in a mind boggling array of talent.

There's a number of such scenes and Ozawa is firing on all cylinders stylistically throughout, employing a number of flourishes amidst some outstanding production design and lighting effects, serving to up the emotional skates at every turn and give the film a legitimate, authentic feeling throughout. There's some very Kato-esque usage of angles, with the low to the ground, wide angle viewpoint used to great effect during action and the old isometric Ninkyo favourite carefully used also at key points, interestingly mainly for discussion here. There's another Kato-esque touch in extreme close ups to portray emotion and tension, particularly in a key scene when Sakurai awaits punishment at the hands of Tanuma after his frustrated men botch an assassination, Ozawa zooms in and out repeatedly on both men's faces as Toshima's score swells up overhead, it's simplistic of course, but remarkably effective when it comes to creating a really edge of your seat moment as Sakurai awaits his fate and serves to invest the viewer wholeheartedly into the scene.

As mentioned, the cast is across the board superb and comes with a dizzying amount of names to the roster. Ken Takakura leads as Sakurai, delivering a multi faceted performance that sees his chivalrous act come with a distinct world weary edge to it, while Koji Tsuruta's stoic Tachibana is permeated by an air of deep sadness brought on by losing his place in the world after the death of his wife, along with a good degree of guilt attached to the fact that he can't 'fix' the Aramasa's problems, despite his best efforts and intentions. Minoru Oki gives his all as Kunieda too, a man thrust into a position he didn't want and shouldered with the responsibility of taking care of a historic Family while juggling his moral obligations to said Family against the love he has for his brothers, it's a subtle performance, but he pulls it off brilliantly.

It's perhaps the mighty Tomisaburo Wakayama who steals the show though as Sekine, the hot headed but earnest brother whose loyalty to Sakurai never wavers. He is by his own ission 'a true Yakuza' for whom loyalty and integrity is paramount. It's another in a long line of truly towering performances by him that really gets to show that his range matched his larger than life charisma and screen presence. From childlike giddiness announcing his wife's pregnancy, blackout drunk, raging Yakuza charging blindly into trouble, chivalrous brother and back again, he runs a gamut of emotions effortlessly and proves, once again his one of a kind status amongst the pantheon of great Japanese actors.

That's without even mentioning Fumio Watanabe's subtle villainous turn as Tanuma, punctuated by his ever wry, slimy smiles as his always two spaces ahead character schemes and manipulates at every turn, backed up by the likes of Hiroshi Nawa, Tatsuo Endo and Nobuo Yana for extra added scumbaggery. Or Takashi Shimura and Asao Uchida bringing in their very own brand of classy stoicism, and last but not least, the ethereal beauty of Junko Fuji, in a thankless at first glance role as Sakurai's would be wife, who adds another layer of emotional stakes in an understated role that certainly doesn't bring the best from her as an actress, especially in 1970, but her presence alone is of course wonderful. My one complaint casting wise is that Hiroko Sakuramachi is more or less forgotten about, which is a shame somewhat in a film that places such emphasis on its characters, but it's a minor complaint and she still makes an impact in her very small role, which is a credit to her as an actress.

Overall, 'House of Gamblers' comes with the highest of recommendations, and is essential viewing for anyone with a ing interest in the Yakuza genre as a whole. A terrific director working at his prime, with a strong script full of rich characters and a fascinating look at the strict adherence to rules, policy and code bringing about the downfall of a Family from within, performed by a cast of many of the best to ever work in the genre, any self respecting Toei fan couldn't ask for more. It's possibly a film that is better on rewatches to really take in its many details and subtleties, as personally it inches further up my favourites list with every viewing, but either way, it's a truly brilliant film.

After Kanto's leading Yakuza association, The Sakura Clan, disbands, it's sub families head off into new, legal white collar ventures, leaving the Onogi Family to fend for itself after refusing to dissolve on a matter of honour, unwilling to leave their historic Shinjuku territory open to foreign invaders. Boss Onogi (Yoshi Kato) and his right hand men, Seeichi (Tadao Nakamura) and Yuji (Akira Kobayashi) quickly find themselves in trouble when Kansai based Yakuza, Masakichi Jinno (Hiroshi Nawa), moves into the area, setting up shop and harassing the Onogi Family at every turn in an attempt to incite an all out war.

'Bloody Territories' remains a jewel in Nikkatsu's crown, a near forgotten Yakuza gem with the beating heart and thematics of a Ninkyo, but presented in a modern setting and replete with the kind of raw grit and dynamism that would come to embody the Jitsuroku genre, serving as something of a transitional piece that would bridge the two together, and arguably doing a much better job, as well as being a much more accomplished film, than Yasuharu Hasebe's other, better known transitional film 'Retaliation' from the same year.

Opening with a ceremony of disbandment, as the head of the Sakura Clan announces his retirement alongside all the Families of the association being dissolved, Director Hasebe quickly and efficiently sets up his plot as precisely as possible, with clear cut introductions of the main players in order to keep things nice and simple, leaving him with 80 minutes to propel the plot forward to its inevitably bloody conclusion. It's a credit to him how simple he keeps his narrative, as the 'good' Onogi Family are quickly inundated by the 'bad' Jinno Family, in classic Ninkyo fashion, while setting his backdrop and the paralleling of the Yakuza against Capitalist corporations in somewhat cynical fashion.

Working from his own script, it's the simplicity of the main story that really makes this work, giving Hasebe plenty of time to build a bond between the Onogi Families main players, giving the film a layer of emotional stakes on top of its otherwise boilerplate narrative that serves to define its three main characters, crucially also giving the actors plenty of space to deliver stellar performances that elevate the film greatly above some of its studio peers. It's also paced rather brilliantly too, as the usual Yakuza politickings and backroom dealings are broken up by a steady increase of street clashes, leading to an impressive reconciliation ceremony that shows that Hasebe had a much finer eye for detail and protocol than some of his contemporaries, before heading towards the bloody denoument, but not without a slightly subverted 'long walk' of course, it is a Ninkyo at heart after all.

There's a number of highly memorable scenes too, with the reconciliation ceremony paying special attention to detail being a highlight, alongside its brilliant ending, which doesn't quite deliver the stylishly bloody maelstrom of revenge that one might expect, but still delivers plenty of retribution fuelled dagger murder amongst 'questioning of the code' driven killings. My own favourite though is an extended sequence that sees Akira Kobayashi and Tadao Nakamura's characters hit the road in a desperate quest for money while their Boss is losing big in a gambling den, unable to stop for fear of losing face in what is his round, while the stakes are raised to such a degree that they have to offer up the Onogi estate to a loan shark, effectively putting the life of the Family on the line. It's tense, funny, chaotic and even delves into sleazy territory, but perfectly captures the chemistry between the two leads.

Another feather in the films cap, depending on personal taste of course, is in it's setting and stylings, with the film having a much more grounded and realistic feel than other Nikkatsu offerings, eschewing the Jazzy cool infused, noir-ish New Hollywoodized aesthetics in favour of a production that is much more in line with rival studio Toei's output. I often call this film, Retaliation and his 1971 masterpiece Blood for Blood, the 'Should have been made at Toei' trilogy and that's probably why I love all three films in all honesty, especially as Hasebe felt a little ahead of the curve in of where the genre was going as a whole, as he quite cleverly drew inspiration from elsewhere and tried to bring some of that succesful Toei flavour over as Nikkatsu was on a steep decline.

The film looks and sounds great, with composer Hajime Kaburagi's killer Jazzy overtures perfectly complimenting Hasebe's aesthetics, blocking and framing some of his scenes to perfection amongst the rainswept neon of Shinjuku, conjuring a wonderful sense of atmosphere that works wonders into buying the plight of the Onogi, and he even goes handheld at points too, adding to the more practical and downbeat nature of the film, and ramping up its proto-Jitsuroku feel. He doesn't hold back either (unsurprisingly) with plenty of bloody violence, some of which is really quite strikingly shot, and naturally he throws in some super sweaty sex and nudity on top, including an eyebrow raising lesbian scene that foreshadows the direction his career would take in the 1970's.

Akira Kobayashi is technically the lead as Yuji (though the screentime is actually shared quite fairly) and he delivers a fantastic, understated performance as a loyal, but hot headed-tough guy Yakuza, moving away from some of the atypical stoic trappings in a role that was slightly ahead of its time and he works perfectly alongside Tadao Nakamura, who plays Seiichi, the right hand of the Boss, in the films standout role. Seeichi is the level headed one, loyal to a fault and preferring to settle matters without reaching for a blade when possible, which of course leads to more problems as he has to rein in the younger under his care. He effortlessly delivers his performance, showing off some real range as a man with the world on his shoulders, juggling his adherence to a dying code with his responsibilities, while his sworn brother sits on the opposing side, leading to more emotional strife.

Yoshi Kato is the honourable leader of the Onogi, a man stuck in the past and being swept up in the changing times of both society and the Yakuza, and there's a great small role for Tatsuya Fuji as a suave guest of the Onogi Family who spends much of time his time cuddling a kitten. Hiroshi Nawa is on top form too as the villainous Jinno, whose character has a really quite brilliant arc that plays out interestingly by the end, and Ryuji Hayama is also excellent as Seeichi's sworn brother gone 'straight' Itakura. There's a number of great small roles too for the likes of Bontaro Mimyo, Yumiko Hime, Jiro Okazaki and Fujio Suga, all of whom excel, even with limited time onscreen.

'Bloody Territories' is a fantastic little film that deserves much more attention, it's a tightly paced, taut ride that's well written, shot and brilliantly acted by a stacked cast that rises above its peers thanks to its grounded nature that combines gritty aesthetics with a Ninkyo narrative to great effect. I enjoyed it a whole lot more on a rewatch and while it's not as good as Blood for Blood, it's a significant step above Retaliation and should be considered absolutely essential viewing for Yakuza fans.

After killing a rival Boss and blinding his daughter in a raid, Akemi (Meiko Kaji), the head of the Tachibana Family, is cursed by a black cat. She spends a short time in prison and then returns to the Tachibana, only to find her territory under threat from both Aozora (Ryohei Uchida) and Dobashi (Toru Abe), who are scheming to take down her Family. Not only must Akemi deal with a curse and two rival gangs trying to take her spot, but the arrival of blind swordswoman , Aiko (Hoki Tokuda) and her hunchbacked companion (Tatsumi Hijikata) further complicate things when they team up with the Dobashi Family and begin hunting down Tachibana , skinning them for their tattoos in a campaign of terror.

Teruo Ishii's cult fan favourite is a film that I've never fully connected with, mainly due to its disparate elements never really coming together, but I certainly ire its dedication and ambition. Originally intended as the third part of Nikkatsu's 'Rising Dragon' trilogy, with the studio themselves ordering Ishii to include macabre elements after he had already started filming, a decision which apparently he never got an explanation for as to why, though Japanese friends I've discussed it with seem to think that it was a case of Nikkatsu trying something radical to try and set apart their lacklustre Ninkyo efforts thus far to try and combat Toei's undisputed dominance in the genre, which actually makes a lot of sense.

Director Ishii had little interest in the Ninkyo genre and would go on to call the film 'nonsensical', while in interviews Meiko Kaji would define it as a straightforward Ninkyo and not even the majority of the Bakeneko elements, outside of the cat quite literally scarring her for life during filming, and on the whole it's not hard to see why. If you take out Ishii's incredible direction, there is little here left in all honesty. It's a tonal mess of the highest order, characters are barely developed or even dropped entirely, there's no real stakes involved and sadly it features a disappointing finale, the Ninkyo aspect of the film is as generic as they come and the horror elements feel shoehorned in, without even knowing the fact that they actually were.

BUT, crucially, despite the films glaring flaws and shortcomings, it's still a blast of breezy, all over the place fun, and not quite in an ironic way either, but in a genre mashup smorgasbord of two separate genres being run down in a bullet point manner as Director Ishii throws everything at the wall in the hope that something will stick. And quite a bit does. If you list everything down on paper that happens in this film, it's not hard to see why it enjoys the reputation it does, with Yakuza raids, swordplay, bizarro theatre troupes, decapitation's, possessions, exploitation, broad comedy, extreme bloody violence, hunchbacks, opium dens, stoic wanderers, skinned tattoos, nudity and more thrown into the mix. Taken scene by scene, it really is a cult film fans dream come true.

Thankfully too, Teruo Ishii is Teruo Ishii, and that means for the most part, the film is beautifully shot and composed, with the Directors vision, energy and even playfulness being by far the films greatest asset. Opening with a gorgeous, rainswept raid as the Tachibana Family go into action against the Goda, infamous tattoos on display as moonlight glints off their blades, with bright red arterial spray already in full effect, Ishii's visionary eye and artistic direction carries the film almost entirely and he keeps up this momentum whenever he isn't shooting the films disappointing Ninkyo scenes, further reinforcing his disinterest in the genre I guess, with some truly standout moments and he conjures up a real sense of wonder and atmosphere throughout.

Ishii had a real eye for detail and set design, whether it be a staged hunchback dance or the way his camera slowly drinks in all the bizarre details of the theatre, as he slowly moves past displays of odd curiosities and decapitated heads while a man boils dismembered bodies, or the way he shoots an opium den from below, cruising leisurely past naked addicts in the throes of chemical ecstasy and stained glass windows lead to a Yakuza Boss' trap laden torture dungeon. There's also a brilliant recurring gag throughout involving Ryunei Uchida's character Aozora where Ishii chooses to shoot much of his screen time from the perspective of his almost naked buttocks, while characters recoil from his smelly demeanour, it's hilariously brilliant and inventive, and the film is a real visual treat almost in its entirety.

The cast is a mixed bag, with Meiko Kaji (in her first lead role) starring as Akemi and while of course she is an iconic actress with charisma to spare, in all honesty she doesn't leave much of an impact here. Thats not necessarily her fault either in such a hodgepodge production, but I also think she never quite found her feet as an actress until Lady Snowblood/Female Prisoner, with her straightforward Ninkyo roles in both this and the second Wandering Ginza film not really suiting her at all. It's clear that she put in a lot of practice in those three years though with regards to her skill with a blade, as here it's evident that she's out of her depth and there is a marked improvement in her swordplay as she got to some of her more iconic roles,which is a real credit to her work ethic.

Outside of Kaji, Ryuhei Uchida's gang Boss with questionable hygiene is a real highlight and it's a treat to see him hamming it up to such delightful results, so it's something of a shame that his character is dropped entirely. Toru Abe is on form doing his slimy, scummy act that he had honed to the sharpest of points by this time in his career and another standout is Tatsumi Hijikata whose transformative performance as the hunchback is quite the feat. Hideo Sunazuka is on dopey, lovable comedic duties and both Yoshi Kato and and Makoto Sato are in stoic mode, though Sato does get to go against the grain a little at times with some attitude and even a little light humour which helps the character somewhat from being forgettable, especially with barely any development or backstory to speak of.

Overall, 'Blind Woman's Curse' is a complete mess, but a really fun one that should be considered essential viewing for Japanese film fans. It's disparate genre elements might not gel together at all, it's cast is a mixed bag and the writing is completely forgettable, but it's director is a one of a kind auteur with an almost singular visual style that shines brightly here, making the film more than watchable on that basis alone. Much like it's macabre theatre at the centre of its story, it's a real cabinet of curiosities that has to be seen to be believed.

After serving another sentence at Akagi Reform School, Rika (Reiko Oshida), heads to Shinjuku to return a keepsake to a fellow inmates father, Muraki (Junzaburo Ban), who runs a small garage. He offers Rika a job and she soon learns that he is deep in debt to local Yakuza, Boss Ohya (Nobuo Kaneko), who is trying to use the debt to seize the land Muraki's garage sits on. Rika soon starts clashing with the Ohya Family, especially when she finds out that they are exploiting one of her friends from Akagi, Midori (Yumiko Katayama).

The final and most popular entry in the 'Delinquent Girl Boss' series (though completely watchable standalone) thanks to a US release, isn't just my favourite film of the series, but by far the best overall. It's a real shame that there wasn't a few more made after this one as this feels like the first time where all the elements came together in near perfect harmony. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi is working with his strongest script thus far, balancing the comedic moments alongside some wonderful melodrama with well handled side plots that matter, and brings the absolute best out of his cast at the same time as directing with all the style and energy he can muster.

'Worhtless to Confess' opens on a high note, as Rika and the girls are enjoying film night in Akagi but instead of the planned Hokkaido documentary, the screening is of Ken Takakura in one of the Abashiri films, whipping them up into a frenzy of excitement as Ken cuts down his enemies and they shout how much they love him and how cool he is, with the excitement spilling over into a bathhouse scene straight after. Not only is it another one of Toei 's great in-jokes (there's also posters of Ken visible in a later scene), but it sets the tone brilliantly and parallels the superb Ninkyo -esque ending later on, bringing the film full circle as Director Yamaguchi proudly wears his influences on his sleeve.

The film keeps up the momentum throughout, with comedic moments peppered between the brilliantly balanced melodrama and for the first time in the series it really works all around, mainly thanks to some excellent writing. Tonpei Hidari can be drinking water from a urinating cherub one minute, or hilariously taking abuse from his wife Masumi Tachibana (who wouldnt?!), then the film can effortlessly segue into a heartbreaking sideplot as Mari (Yukie Kagawa) is working in a pervy art studio whilst pregnant and her Yakuza husband, Arai (Ichiro Nakatani), lies at home desperately ill thanks to a prison sentence and abandonment by the Ohya Family, who later go on to manipulate him into once again performing murder.

It's the fact that all the elements are brought together so well into a cohesive whole that really makes the film such a success compared to some of its flawed predecessors, with Director Yamaguchi reuniting all the main characters and also defining his villains subtly. While Nobuo Kaneko may not get as much scenery to chew as his appearance in the first film, his recasting here as a scar faced and effeminate (complete with eye liner) Yakuza Boss is terrific and there's an air of menace to him that doesn't need too much dedicated screen time to define, as his actions and their consequences ripple across several subplots, leading to a cathartic and absolutely sublime action finale.

After a lacklustre third entry that looked like anyone could of directed it, Yamaguchi's style is back in full force too, with all the colourful sets and aesthetics that is expected of the series. Wild nightclubs and neon nights perfectly play against Muraki's dirty old garage and Mari's dilapidated apartment above an odd florist run by a one eyed Shinto priestess(?), perfectly complimenting its narrative and once again Yamaguchi let's his camera run wild, switching angles and views regularly, shooting guerrilla style a couple of times in the bustling Shinjuku streets and with some terrific use of coloured filters and even a glass floor during the finale, it looks (and sounds, compliment of maestro Toshima) fantastic and really sees the series out with a bang.

The sleaze and violence quota is upped significantly above its predecessors too, almost earning its rather arbitrary 'Pinky Violence' tag, with *some* nudity, a handful of murders and beatings and a fantastic ending that sees Yamaguchi break out some good ol' bright red Toei claret to be thrown around. Speaking of the ending, not only is it the best of the series, but also deserving of mentioning as legitimately a top tier office raid, an essential staple of Yakuza films regardless of era. Starting with the Ninkyo 'long walk' as the girls unite, resplendent in red trenchcoats and march slowly through the Shinjuku night towards the Ohya Family office with the theme song overhead, once there, the expected whirlwind of retribution happens and it's brilliantly composed and choreographed, with each actress getting a time to shine as the villains are cut down, with Yamaguchi really paying attention to framing and making the scene cohesive, with the glass floor shots being a particular highlight as Rika fights above, with her prey finally bleeding out overhead. It's tremendous.

The cast is damn near perfect here too, with Reiko Oshida giving her best performance yet as Rika, effortlessly blending Sukeban attitude with chivalrous hero and she is backed up by all the key players of the series. Yukie Kagawa is superb as Mari, who is down on her luck, her gaunt eyes and exhausted expressions as she poses naked for perverts paralleling brilliantly with her loving wife persona before becoming ultimate badass by the finale, while Masumi Tachibana, Mieko Tsudoi and Yumiko Katayama deliver sass and stoicism in equal measure, with Katayama particularly impressing with her dramatic performance in a tragic side plot.

The male cast sees Tsunehiko Watase return and despite limited screentime, leave quite the impression thanks to his abundance of charisma and Junzaburo Ban is also terrific as Muraki, an ex Yakuza trying to live the straight life and juggle his relationship with daughter Midori alongside pressure from the Ohya. Tonpei Hidari and Minami Toshiaki are once again excelling on comedic duties and naturally Nobuo Kaneko is brilliant as the villainous Boss Ohya, seemingly having a whale of a time in his effeminate role. Special mention though goes to Ichiro Nakatani as Mari's husband Arai, perfectly gender flipping a Ninkyo stereotype on its head and adding another layer that serves to up the emotional stakes brilliantly.

'Delinquent Girl Boss- Worthless to Confess' isn't just the best of the series, but an essential viewing by itself (and watchable as such) and I had actually forgotten just how good this one is. A perfect blend of super stylish 70's aesthetics, melodrama and comedy wrapped up in a Ninkyo/Sukeban narrative with just enough sleaze and violence to keep any viewer engaged throughout its breezy, excellently paced runtime. Essential viewing for fans and definitely ranks amongst some of Toei's best work in gender swapped crime.

Once again released from Akagi Girls Reform School/Juvenile Detention, Rika (Reiko Oshida) heads back to her hometown of Yokohama and stays with old friend Tsunao (Tonpei Hidari) who is running a Pornography business and needs protection from the Z-Gang, lead by old Akagi rival Mon (Yukie Kagawa),a fierce biker gang who work for local Yakuza, the Nakao Family. Rika also takes the time to reconnect with her Uncle and ex Yakuza, Ryu (Akicho Soganoya), the man who raised her after her parents died as a child. It's not long though before buried family secrets and a plot to sell girls into prostitution leads Rika into trouble as she scuffles with both the Z Gang and Boss Nakao (Asao Koike).

The third 'Delinquent Girl Boss' film (though completely watchable standalone) continues Rika's escapades, more or less following the events of the previous films, bringing back a couple of characters alongside a few new cast and recasting a couple more still in typical Toei fashion. The result is another mixed bag that still manages to be a lot of breezy fun as Kazuhiko Yamaguchi once again fuses together Ninkyo elements into a Sukeban film, adding a more serious tone than before but still containing enough silliness to break up the melodrama nicely.

Opening, once again, with Rika in Akagi and establishing her rivalry with fellow inmate, Mon (a recast Yukie Kagawa), the film quickly skips a year (short sentence for the annihilation of a Yakuza Family) and has Rika released and heading back to Yokohama with her new underling Yuki (Yoko Ichiji) in tow, the girls are picked up by 'Henry' (Toru Yuri) and whisked off to Tsunao's sex shop which has once again been attacked by the Z-Gang, who managed to break through a brick wall via motorbike and beat up the inhabitants. It's a fun, breezy opening that quickly switches to a more serious route once Rika meets her elderly Uncle, ex-Yakuza 'Ryu the Jack-Knife' who is quietly running a bar in town alongside his girlfriend (Nijiko Kiyokawa!), but of course the dastardly Nakao Family want to take over his bar.

It's here that Rika's backstory is finally fleshed out, told via scenes with her uncle and a series of flashbacks that saw the young Rika lose her parents, one of which was a Yakuza Boss, and end up in an orphanage until her Uncle rescued her and quit a life of crime. Secrets are revealed regarding her father's murder that serve to enhance the central rivalry between Rika and the Nakao Family and there's a much more melodramatic leaning then there was in previous entries, though that's certainly not a complaint as it works well in developing the character of Rika as a whole. There's also an interesting side plot that involves the Nakao Family charging Vietnam deserters to escape the US military, but in actual fact selling them back to MP's in the process, that adds a dash of social commentary as well as a little attack on America, particularly when Rika declares ''There is no ethics in the US" as she helps an African-American escape to meet his long lost mother in Brazil.

It's not all serious though and the comedic elements that helped the previous entries in being such easy watches are still very much present. The Z-Gang all chew plenty of scenery and series veterans Toru Yuri and Tonpei Hidari are both on hand to add plenty of levity to proceedings, particularly in a fantastic sequence that sees them selling pornography to sailors at the dock. They hold screenings on the ships, driving sailors wild and promising to bring in prostitutes to release tension should they buy the films, while outside (in my favourite scene of the film), Toru Yuri and Mieko Shu have set up shop and sell sex toys to bewildered looking Gaijin sailors as they pick up dildos and other such delights.

Thankfully too, this time around Director Yamaguchi ed that villains have to be... villainous. After Koji Nanbara's lacklustre turn previously, here Asao Koike steps up to the plate, resplendent in dandy shirts and sporting a pencil moustache, adding plenty of sass to his scummy Yakuza Boss character. Not only is he selling deserters, extorting businesses and selling girls into prostitution, but he's also a murderer and backstabber, giving the film a bad guy worthy of the films final machine gun riddled whirlwind of retribution, as Rika and the girls head to the docks armed to the teeth for the final showdown.

On the flipside though, for all the film does right, it does feel rushed somewhat, like Yamaguchi was on a ridiculously tight schedule and in the process forgot to add any style or flair to proceedings. The colourful aesthetics and energetic shooting of previous entries is more or less gone entirely, with Yamaguchi instead opting to toe the studio line as closely as possible and the result is rather a bland affair that feels like it was thrown together in a hurry and could of been shot by any AD that was hanging around the studio lots that day. Even when the film gets down to its chaotic finale and Yamaguchi goes handheld amongst the handlebar mounted machine guns and katana attacks via motorbike, it feels *too* chaotic and all over the place. It's still a fun scene of course, but it lacks any real cohesiveness.

The cast is once again fantastic though, with Reiko Oshida excelling as Rika and getting to flesh out her character a lot more with some emotional backstory while also handling the badass and comedic moments with real gusto. Yukie Kagawa is recast as Mon, which is a bit of a shame as I loved her previous character but she's terrific as the conflicted leader of the Z-Gang and Rika's rival. The rest of the female cast is rather sidelined though, with key characters gone and while both Yoko Ichiji and Mieku Shu are great, both characters are underwritten to a fault, as is the mighty Nijiko Kiyokawa, a huge favourite of mine and a criminally underrated actress on the whole, who has a small role as Ryu's girlfriend, she's great when she's onscreen, cracking jokes about sleeping with sailors and winding up Ryu, but her character is all but forgotten about in the grand scheme of things.

The rest of the cast is decent, with Akicho Soganoya stepping into the stoic male character as Rika's uncle and doing a great job, adding a real touch of class and gravitas to the film, while Asao Koike and Harumi Sone take on the villainous duties as only they could, with Koike's spiciness and dandy wardrobe being a real highlight. Tonpei Hidari and Toru Yuri are on comedic duty, which of course is a big bonus, though Hayato Tani's Tony character is still rather nondescript, not to mention questionably adding another wrinkle to the series' already shaky continuation, but hey it's Toei, so that explains that.

Overall, it's business as usual for the 'Delinquent Girl Boss' series. A fun, but slight watch that breezes through its lean runtime with a well balanced mix of melodrama and wild comedy. It takes itself more seriously than previous entries, but it's added backstory and well handled sideplots, coupled with a spirited cast, more than make up for its many flaws. Still a solid recommend, though as before those looking for a film that will live up to its 'Pinky Violence' tag, will almost certainly leave disappointed if they're expecting any exploitation, as this is firmly a Ninkyo run through a Sukeban filter and with very little violence or nudity to speak of.

Rika (Reiko Oshida), is once again released from Akagi, a reform/juvenile detention school for girls and heads back to Tokyo looking for work. After leaving a Toy Factory because of the sleazy owner, she is offered a job by Boss Gaseranko (Chikako Miyagi) of the Gasetora Family, an honourable, but down on their luck outfit of street vendors. She quickly fits in and is soon reunited with some old friends and fellow Akagi inmates, who band together to try and rebuild the Gasetora to former glories. But they soon fall foul of the Kuroe Family, whose Boss (Koji Nanbara) is desperately trying to destroy the Gasetora so he can take their signboard and with it, their important place in an festival.

The second film in the 'Delinquent Girl Boss' series (though completely watchable standalone), does a semi decent job of following the first film, minus a few questionable continuation discrepancies (explained by being a Toei film) and this time around Director Kazuhiko Yamahuchi doubles down on the Ninkyo influences, taking a traditional Ninkyo narrative of the honourable street vendors and pitting them against the dastardly modern Yakuza, while running it through a Sukeban filter and the result is once again a fun, mostly playful film with a runtime that flies by.

After opening with Rika still in Akagi being subjected to lectures on the female reproduction system and the dangers of STD's by a slimy doctor, followed by a brawl ending in the doctor stripped naked and a staged breakout to reunite a pregnant inmate with her boyfriend, 'Tokyo Drifters' hits the ground running and maintains its tone, and pace, right up until the last fifteen minutes, resulting in a much more comedic film overall than its predecessor, while still ending in a whirlwind of female revenge and retribution for its finale, with the Ninkyo influences once again rising to the surface as the girls go on the classic 'long walk', resplendent in matching red trenchcoats and raid the Kuroe Family for some stabby, slashy action after revealing their matching Yakuza tattoo shirts underneath the coats. It's actually kind of glorious.

But up until that point, it's mostly a light affair, with the camaraderie and bonds between the girls and Boss Gaseranko being the main focus, and the catalyst for revenge a poorly written side plot of one of the girls and her Kuroe Family boyfriend trying to escape the life, which sadly lacks any emotional impact or weight and feels somewhat shoehorned in. But thankfully where the film excels is once again in said bonds between the girls and their escapades, with some really hilarious, colourful scenes and it's something of a strength for the film that it never really earns its 'Pinky Violence' label, with little sleaze or violence to speak of until the finale, which is probably why the series remains rather divisive amongst fans.

For me though, I love the lighter tone and mood which results in some truly hilarious moments and the inclusion of Chikako Miyagi as Boss Gaseranko more than makes up for some of the films shortcomings. She gets some truly brilliant moments, with the highlight being her going to an odd birdcage themed male escort club where she aims to get her wicked way with 'Jimmy' (Tonpei Hidari) and after taking him to a hotel room, it's revealed that Jimmy is really Tsunao from the first film, who is once again paired with Masumi Tachibana's character Choko and together they try to extort Gaseranko, who in turn reveals her Yakuza tattoo and legendary reputation to which Choko and Tsunao immediately surrender and beg for their lives. It's such a great moment and reveal, and it's moments like these that really make the film such a fun and easy watch.

Director Yamaguchi, once again co-writing but not doing quite as good a job as last time, with poorly written sideplots and wholly uninteresting villains letting the film down, redeems himself from that misstep with his colourful style, directing with real verve and energy. It's not quite as stylish as the first film and he borrows a little more liberally from his Ninkyo influences, but it's still a great looking film, packed with 70's flair and aesthetics that is sure to please any fan of the era, even more so as it's paired with a brilliant score from maestro Toshiaki Tsushima.

The cast though is the highlight, with Reiko Oshida again doing a wonderful job as Rika, though there's more of a stoic air about her this time and less the streetwise Sukeban, it actually feels more in line character-wise with Meiko Kaji's Wandering Ginza Butterfly which is interesting and further hammers home Yamaguchi's Ninkyo influences. She also pairs brilliantly with the absolutely terrific Chikako Miyagi who is by far the films greatest asset in a role where she owns the screen every time she appears in a hilarious showing. Yukie Kagawa and Masumi Tachibana reprise their roles and both are again fantastic, stealing the show whenever they appear, but sadly both are underused massively, with Kagawa only turning up at the end (she kicks a LOT of ass in the finale though) and Tachibana, whose ridiculously cute and spirited performance is superb, but barely gets any screentime, which is a real shame.

Elsewhere, the mighty Tsunehiko Watase steps into Tatsuo Umemiya's male hero shoes and as welcome as he is, he does feel underutilized to a degree, with just a few minutes screentime and barely any chemistry in a brief and baffling almost-love story. Tonpei Hidari is great as the bumbling Tsunao, adding another layer of comedic value to proceedings and there's a great cameo for Toru Yuri as the pervy toy factory owner. Sadly though, Koji Nanbara is rather terrible as the villainous Boss Kuroe and it's not really his fault as he is given so little to work with, its generic 'Bad Yakuza Boss' material to a fault and he pales in comparison to Nobuo Kaneko's scenery chewing from the first film.

'Delinquent Girl Boss: Tokyo Drifters' is a flawed film, with less than impressive writing, stock villains and underutilized characters, but at the same time it's pacey, colourful, at times hilarious and saved by its spirited female cast who are for the most part, an absolute joy to behold. It's made further interesting by its Ninkyo/Sukeban hybrid narrative and it's consistently light tone and 'toned down' genre elements make it an easy watch. I kind of loved it, despite its glaring flaws, but it's not hard to imagine others being let down. Still a solid recommend and as a whole I prefer this series to Stray Cat Rock, but those looking for something more exploitative will definitely do better to look elsewhere.

After being released from Juvenile detention/reform school, Rika (Reiko Oshida), finds work at a nightclub under the leadership of Umeko (Junko Miyazono), whose staff is made up of other female delinquents given a second chance. Rika quickly fits in, but with the appearance of her old rival, Oharu (Junko Natsu), who is dealing drugs for the Ohba Yakuza Family, things take a turn for the worse, especially as Boss Ohba (Nobuo Kaneko) is trying to take over the nightclub using shady means.

The first in the 'Delinquent Girl Boss' series, a set of four films starring Reiko Oshida and often attributed as Toei's first proper 'Pinky Violence' film is a fun and stylish ride that manages to finely balance a playful tone alongside some quite heavy hitting dramatic beats, resulting in a stylish and entertaining film that never devolves too far into exploitation, riding a fine line that never really crosses into full Pinky Violence territory, which serves in the films favour and makes it a great starting point for those unfamiliar with the genre.

Opening in the 'Okagi Girls Detention School', a detention centre where delinquent Sukeban are supposedly reformed ready for release, with a series of brawls and a hilarious lesson in preparing to become a bride, director Kazahiko Yamaguchi effectively sets up his colourful cast of characters ready to unleash them onto 90 minutes of mostly fun shenanigans which take a turn for the serious in the films last third as the rivalry between the staff of Umeko's nightclub and the Ohba Family reaches a crescendo, resulting in the good old Toei favourite of a redemptive office raid, with a side helping of Tatsuo Umemiya thrown in for good measure.

I say that the tone is light as for the first 45 minutes or so, the film is a mostly comedic affair with Rika getting into various scrapes as she and the other ex Okagi girls conduct their business at the club, ripping off sleazy rich businessmen and pervy laundromat owners while Nobuo Kaneko hilariously chews scenery, sporting a gold grill of teeth and having his men spoonfeed him watermelon, or the absolutely wonderful Masumi Tachibana fends off the advances of barman Tonpei Hidari. Its great, breezy fun for the most part, while Rika's rivalry with Oharu and a tragic side plot involving underage rape and drug addiction with a fellow club girl's sister simmer in the background.

Then the second half get serious, and it's really well balanced so as not to feel too exploitative or out of place, as the Ohba Family use the aforementioned drug addict to try and cheat Umeko out of her club by way of stolen drugs and rising debt. Director Yamaguchi handles the switches really damn well, even bringing in semi-honourable Yakuza Shinjiro for the finale without it feeling shoehorned in, and the final 15 minutes is brilliantly effective as the raid ends and the girls are transported back to Okagi in a light hearted final scene. It's a shame that the finale itself is so heavily criticised as I think it brings the film full circle really quite well indeed and adds to the central camaraderie excellently.

Director Yamaguchi infuses the film with some real style and colour, giving it that effortlessly cool 70's style and flair that is so beloved by many with terrific use of blocking and framing to bring the films eccentric cast alive (that parrot!), and there's also some really surprisingly effective individual scenes where he shoots flashbacks with single colour schemes, either red or yellow, that are superb. Not to mention a fantastic drug den sequence that has almost a horror, Kwaidan-esque feel to it complete with a chanting Priest whose body is covered in mantra.

It is the female cast though that really drives the film, with Reiko Oshida as Rika in the lead delivering a fantastic performance, she's tough, charismatic and streetwise, but there's also an air of vulnerability to her that makes the character fascinating and help to stand out from her contemporaries. She also works brilliantly alongside the ever underrated Junko Miyazono, whose magnetic presence and grace is on full show as Umeko, the kind but strong nightclub owner in the films best performance next to Oshida's. Yukie Nagawa is Mari, whose sibling is the catalyst for the films central conflict and the always delightful Masumi Tachibana is wonderful as fellow bar employee, Choko in a hilarious role, while Junko Natsu rounds out the female cast as Rika's rival, Oharu, in another terrific role.

A number of Toei regulars turn up to fill out the male portion of the cast, with Nobuo Kaneko's over the top Ohba being the highlight in an excellent bit of scenery chewing where you can see he's relishing every moment. Tatsuo Umemiya is Shinjiro in full Ninkyo mode and he's a very welcome addition to proceedings, however derivative his character may be, and while they are the only two with significant roles, the likes of Tonpei Hidari, Hayato Tani and Harumi Sone have ing roles, with only Tani feeling out of place.

Overall, 'Blossoming Night Dreams' is a great start to the series and a film I enjoyed much more on a rewatch. It's light and breezy, but serious when it needs to be and the runtime flies by. It's a great Sukeban film that serves as a solid entry point into the 'Pinky Violence' genre thanks to never fully veering into the more exploitative side of things and is driven by a simply fantastic cast of actresses that make it a high recommend, even to those who don't usually indulge in the genre.

Released from prison, Nami 'The Red Cherry Blossom' (Meiko Kaji), once again returns to Ginza, saving a young woman named Hanae (Tamaki Mitsukawa) from being delivered into prostitution on route. This time around, Nami has vengeance on her mind as she prowls the gambling halls of Tokyo searching for the man who killed her father. Along the way, she meets local hustler Ryuji (Sonny Chiba), a fellow gambler who takes a liking to her and together they run afoul of Aiboshi Enterprises, the local Yakuza who control gambling and prostitution in the area and want Nami to them as a dealer.

Released just five months after the poorly performing first film, and with Toei still unsuccessfully marketing Meiko Kaji as Junko Fuji's successor, 'Wandering Ginza Butterfly: She-Cat Gambler' doubles down on its Ninkyo influences, pushing Kaji further down the chivalrous route and wearing even more Red Peony on her sleeve as her pool hustling skills and street smarts from the first film, are replaced here with a set of Hanafuda, making her into a gambling expert as she searches for her father's murderer. The result is a deeply flawed, yet enjoyable film that can't quite decide what it wants to be.

Once again directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, who also collaborated on writing the screenplay and armed with another fantastic Toshiaki Tsushima score, aided by Meiko Kaji herself again singing the theme song. 'She Cat Gambler' has all the ingredients it needed to succeed, especially with a top tier Toei cast backing up Kaji, with Sonny Chiba and Shingo Yamashiro thrown into the mix this time, but it just never reaches the highs of the films it was trying to replace, mainly because it feels like Toei was pushing for the film to be something it never could be, even moreso after the poor showing of its predecessor earlier in the year, forcing everyone involved to take a more traditional route while Junko Fuji's name was still on everyone's lips.

That's not to say that this film doesn't have it's merits, as taken on its own it's still an entertaining 86 minutes, particularly when the mighty Sonny Chiba is on-screen and Director Yamaguchi injects just enough style to stand out, utilising some excellent sets (Toru Yuri's bar being a real highlight) and a slightly different shooting style than was the norm with some excellent blocking and usage of zooms/close ups to heighten tension in key scenes, adding a sense of verve and flair to proceedings, excelling once again in the action packed finale that inevitably ends in a bloody, hand held office raid that sees Nami and Ryuji reap havoc on the Aiboshi Family, this time aided greatly by Chiba's inherent skill with a blade.

But the tone of the film is all over the place. Which certainly doesn't go against the grain per se, as it can be seen in many films of the era, but it swings from taking itself way too seriously and irreverent comedy on the flip of a card. For me, strangely enough, I think the film is at its best when it's embracing its fun side, with Norifumi Suzuki-esque colourful comedy sprinkled liberally throughout (actually Suzuki would have been a better choice of director in my opinion). There is some legitimately hilarious scenes, with highlights being a stuttering Sonny Chiba jamming his hand into Meiko Kaji's kimono 'for luck' before trying to trade his tros for more gambling money, or a brilliant bath scene as Chiba is having his back washed by Toru Yuri only for Shingo Yamashiro to be thrown in, landing face first into Chiba's crotch! It's moments like these that break up the otherwise too serious tone that is chasing bygone glories far too hard.

The cast is a big saving grace, especially Meiko Kaji herself, whose charismatic presence and towering persona manages to outweigh the fact that she feels a *little* out of her depth here, not talent wise of course, but in the sense that her street-wise and inherently tough character Nami has been backpedalled in favour of a more chivalrous gambler, which doesn't work nearly as well as the first films Nami. But this certainly isn't her fault and lies solely with Toei themselves and while the superb chemistry that she shared with Tsunehiko Watase isn't as prevalent here with his replacement in the mighty Sonny Chiba, they still make for a great pairing, especially in the excellent finale. Chiba is on fine form, elevating the film a notch with his ridiculously fun character Ryuji, stuttering and owning the screen with his singular energy whenever he appears, even if he is a little underutilized.

On the subject of underutilized, Shingo Yamashiro as 'Chilli Pepper Monjiro' is a fantastic addition to the cast, hamming it up to the absolute max and chewing scenery like no-ones business, reining it in by his final scene when he declares "being a Yakuza isn't all it's made out to be", but sadly his role is far, far too short and probably only adds up to about five minutes on-screen total, which is a real shame as he adds a wonderful sense of fun to proceedings whenever he appears. Fujio Suga and Hideo Murota are on villainous duties and doing a great job with it, especially Murota who seems to be having a blast in his role and there's a really great small role for Junzaburo Ban as the father of Hanae, who gets the best subplot of the film. Sadly though, both Yukie Kagawa and Tamaki Mitsukawa are underused, both are great to their credit, but their roles leave a lot to be desired, which is a real shame when the first film excelled in its female-centric narrative.

Overall, 'Wandering Ginza Butterfly: She Cat Gambler' is a fun, wafer thin Ninkyo that pushed too hard to recapture the glory of a genre that had all but died at this point. As the late, great Kosaku Yamashita once remarked, it ended with Junko Fuji, and no amount of pushing for a replacement could of worked, even moreso with the shift in audience taste towards more modern Yakuza depictions that was happening even before Battles Without Honour and Humanity would rock moviegoers less than a year later. It's certainly not hard to see why Wandering Ginza Butterfly would end after just two films, despite plans for a series, but that's not to say there isn't a lot to enjoy here either, both films are entertaining, stylish and pacey, with a remarkable star finding her feet before going on to make her mark in other, better films.

After being released from prison for killing a Yakuza Boss, Nami (Meiko Kaji), heads back to Ginza and takes a job as a hostess in order to send money to the wife and son of the Boss she killed. She befriends local hustler Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase), who gets her the job at Club Bronco and quickly becomes embroiled in a rivalry with local Yakuza outfit, The Owada Group, whose Boss (Koji Nanbara), is using the bar Madam's debt in order to take over the business, inevitably leading to a bloody confrontation.

It had been many years since last seeing Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's 'Wandering Ginza Butterfly' and it's still a film that holds up rather well, a fun and colourful romp through the Ginza nightlife courtesy of some rock solid direction from Yamaguchi and a slick, jazzy soundtrack from maestro Toshiaki Tsushima. On paper, it's a wafer thin Ninkyo whose influences are plain to see, but in practice it's saved by a wonderfully spirited cast lead by the charismatic Meiko Kaji and featuring a ing cast of interesting characters helped along by an on form Tsunehiko Watase.

I've always been fascinated by Toei's attempt to sell Meiko Kaji as Junko Fuji's successor, which are impossibly large shoes to fill and thankfully Kaji had the presence to go in her own direction, despite the marketing department going into overload as Fuji formally announced her retirement during production of this film, leading to the semi-iconic and rather unflattering alternative poster of Kaji in a kimono being hastily thrown together to hopefully assuage crestfallen Fuji fans that a new player was in town, with Kaji herself having the wherewithal to change the setting to present day (though s differ as to whether this was Kaji, or producer/planner Kimio Yoshimine) in order to set the film apart.

Realistically, if you break down the film it's a modern reboot of Junko Fuji's seminal Red Peony and the film is every bit a Ninkyo dressed in modern clothes. A chivalrous female criminal with a flower based nickname and a well meaning male underling is trying to make amends and help a family in need, whilst simultaneously helping her workplace, leading her to clash with some dastardly Yakuza that will eventually lead to everything on the line in a single gamble which goes her way, but still ends in a whirlwind of violent and bloody retribution? It's a Red Peony storyline through and through and while Toei themselves certainly didn't try to hide it whatsoever, I mention it as it's not really factored into the film when viewing nowadays.

Because of its influences and Ninkyo thematics, the film is a rather 'tame' affair, which I mention as many still seem to try to label it bafflingly as Pink/Exploitation, of which it is obviously neither, with little to no sleaze and the violence mostly limited to its climactic bloodbath, which is ittedly excellent, in a Red Peony-esque raid that sees Meiko Kaji,resplendent in traditional dress and hair down, wreak havoc on the Yakuza with a little help from Tsunehiko Watase along the way as they slash and stab their way through the Owada Group.

The rest of the film is a well paced, but objectively 'slow' ride through Nami finding her feet after prison, working a new job and helping her colourful co-workers out of various scrapes as the rivalry with Owada slowly ramps up towards the final third of the film. Director Yamaguchi keeps the tone loose and free, helping the lean runtime tick along quickly and shoots with a lot of verve and style, making full use of some superb indoor sets and the neon lightlife of Ginza to come alive. The film may not be as stylish as some of his other work, but it's confident enough to not fall into studio trappings and his decision to go handheld (borrowing from his peers) works wonders for the finale.

It must be said too, that the pivotal gamble, set here in a pool hall instead of a gambling den over a traditional card game is a smart move. Not only is the scene itself delightfully tense, especially as the surrounding Owada employ various tricks to try and throw Nami off her game, but it's shot brilliantly, employing a variety of jaunty angles and some great lighting to heighten the effect, with Nami's opponent 'Three Dragons' (Matasaburo Niwa, who also taught Meiko Kaji how to play for the film) delivering a great performance, particularly when he starts tripping and needs to shoot up for a quick fix to continue. It's a really fantastic scene and bar the finale, easily the films best moment overall for me.

The cast though is the films greatest asset, with Meiko Kaji's performance being an absolute highlight. Often reduced to just the 'badass queen' moniker, her role here requires her to show off her range as an actress and she does it effortlessly, switching from kind co-worker and guilt ridden murderer, to truck stealing debt collector and chivalrous revenger on the flip of a coin, and it's a joy to behold for the viewer. She also works brilliantly alongside the mighty Tsunehiko Watase, whose streetwise hustler and underling role as Ryuji is elevated greatly by his committed and energetic performance. It's heart breaking that he is still so underappreciated as an actor nowadays, he was a rare talent.

That's not to say that the film is entirely built on Kaji or Watase either, as there's a cast of great characters to back the two stars up. Tatsuo Umemiya is excellent as the initially slimy, but quick witted and good at heart Shin, Ryuji's mentor and friend to many in Ginza, while Hajime Shimizo has a small role as Nami's uncle who let's her stay at his billiards hall after her release. The rest of the cast is made up by a series of brilliant, in of both performance and character, actresses who all deliver solid . Mieko Aoyagi as Saeko, the ill and grieving wife of Nami's victim, Tomoko Ishii as Kyoko, a larger than life and endlessly energetic fellow hostess, Akiko Koyama as the Club Bronco madam with a lot of pressure on her graceful shoulders and 'Flower Meg' (an idol I believe) as another streetwise hostess. It's actually really irable how many great female roles there are and all are superb in their respective roles.

Wandering Ginza Butterfly is a fun, but slight film that whilst wafer thin on paper and possibly not quite deserving of the reputation that precedes it, is made essential viewing by Director Yamaguchi's breezy direction and charismatic performances not just by its two fantastic leads, but by a highly spirited cast that make the film an entertaining ride. Whilst I still may not love it as much as most, it's hard not to fall for its charms and it's interesting place in history makes it all the more fascinating.

Hishakaku (Koji Tsuruta), is released after serving another 4 years in jail and returns home looking forward to finally being reunited with the love of his life, Otoyo (Yoshiko Sakuma). But when he finds her gone with no clue as to her location, he falls back into his old ways and instead ends up helping Sakata (Hiroyuki Nagato), whose Kikkyo Family are locked in a rivalry with the Domoto Family over the rights to sell cotton at market stalls. After solving the dispute, with a little help from the Domoto Boss' daughter Osumi (Yoshiko Sakuma in dual roles), who just happens to be a doppelganger for his missing wife, he receives word that Otoyo is working as a prostitute in Manchuria, so he rushes off to find her, getting tangled up with corrupt Japanese businessmen and friendly horse bandits along the way.

After the rousing success of the first film, it's no surprise that Toei launched immediately into a sequel, picking up pretty much where the first film left off and continuing the adventures of Hishakaku, once again drawing from events and characters in Shiro Ozaki's semi-autobiographical 'Jinsei Gekijo' novels and having star Koji Tsuruta further refine his classic Ninkyo character. The result is a film that takes a slightly different approach, eschewing the beautiful but tragic melodrama that defined the first film and pursuing a more 'masculine' route, laying the groundwork for what ends up feeling like a much more traditional Ninkyo in the process. And that's no bad thing either.

Theatre of Life 2 certainly puts it's Yakuza antics front and centre this time, following Hishakaku as he navigates rivalries and unites families via marriage by the end,popping over to Manchuria in the mid section for some brothel based crime with corrupt businessman and noble horse bandits clashing, resulting in a film that is structured almost in an episodic fashion. It's interesting to see how it differs from the melodramatic first film that centred on its love story first and foremost, whereas this time around it's working with themes and tropes that would go on to become invaluable cornerstones of the Ninkyo genre.

Director Sawashima is once again on top form, with some stunning cinematography that is surprising considering his overall disdain for the genre. Whilst not quite as beautiful as the first film, he certainly doesn't hold back here either with some truly masterful blocking, isometric brawls and terrific use of lighting and set usage that elevate the film from being just a routinely shot studio piece. There's a scene in particular that is really quite striking in its overall construction that sees Hishakaku petition a New Years meeting of Yakuza Bosses. Sawashima's careful positioning of camera, switching between over the shoulder perspectives and long shots, coupled with some clever sound design really serves to emphasise the distance between Hishakaku and his seniors, not just physically but in their values, creating a void between them before uniting them by the appearance of a woman, who closes the distance by sheer virtue of her fairness, which makes for a fascinating comparison with some of the thematics of the first film.

This film ups the action and Yakuza violence quota by a good margin too, with street brawls, back alley beatings, brothel stand offs and shady stabbings sprinkled liberally throughout. This is both a blessing and a curse, as while it's entertaining and fits the more masculine billing that was intended, it does lose focus a touch on the central love story between Hishakaku and Otoyo, with Otoyo being absent for much of the film until the pair are reunited in a Manchurian inn, one of the films absolute best sequences, that sees Koji Tsuruta slowly revealing himself from the shadows and shortly afterwards breaking down into uncontrolled sobbing in an absolutely terrific performance. I must say too that while the doppelganger aspect of Osumi probably sounds a little lame on paper, it's executed rather well and while Osumi herself could of done with more development as a character, the outcome of her story is rather touching and makes an interesting parallel to the first films own love triangle.

The cast is largely the same as the first film, with Koji Tsuruta leading as Hishakaku and once again doing a magnificent job, he's less rogueish this time and sliding naturally further into the stoic, chivalrous hero that would define him, but he gets to show off his remarkable range too, with the aforementioned scene being a real highlight. Once again though, he's outshined by the wonderful Yoshiko Sakuma, here playing two roles as both Otoyo and Osumi, Otoyo the guilt stricken and remorseful 'wife' of Hishakaku who has once again fallen back into prostitution as a profession, but also she excels as the fiery and ballsy daughter of the Domoto Family, Osumi, a tomboyish woman who has grown up amongst the Yakuza and has the attitude to prove it, an attitude that is quelled when she meets, and of course falls in love with, Hishakaku.

Tatsuo Umemiya, looking young and handsome, returns as Hyokichi and the brilliant Ryonosuke Tsunigata also reprises his Kiratsune role, though sadly in a much smaller capacity. Hideo Murata also returns as Terakane, who turns up very briefly as a member of Hishakaku's former Group in Tokyo. But Rinichi Yamamoto plays a different character this time, a horse bandit leader named Ching in a brilliant, if all too small role that sees him initially embrace his wild side, but then turn out to be a good guy, helping prostitutes to escape a corrupt Japanese businessman and taking a liking to Hishakaku. New cast member Hiroyuki Nagato does his thing as Sakata, a key character that swings effortlessly between comic relief and loyal junior to Hishakaku, while veterans Takamaro Sasaki and Eijiro Tono are both Yakuza Bosses in a pair of great roles.

'Theatre of Life 2' is both a great sequel and a really solid genre offering that while lacking the emotional impact of the first film, makes up for it by being an early adopter of themes and tropes that would come to define a hugely influential and important genre for the next decade. Brilliantly acted and directed, this is a film that once again comes with the strongest of recommendations, not just for genre fans, but also for Japanese film fans in general for its execution and historical importance.

Mid-Taisho period. Hishakaku (Koji Tsuruta), falls in love with prostitute Otoyo (Yoshiko Sakuma) and whisks her away from her Yakuza overlords in Yokohama to the relative safety of the Kokin Group in Tokyo. Boss Kokin (Yoshi Kato), takes the pair in and grants them shelter despite the fact that he is preparing for a war with his own rivals, a war which ends when Hishakaku kills the rival Boss in a raid, with a little help from fellow Kokin member, Miyagawa (Ken Takakura). Afterwards, Hishakaku hands himself in and is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, a period which will see his life turned upside down as his wife Otoyo gets with another man and his Boss is murdered.

Theatre of Life - Hishakaku is the cornerstone of the Ninkyo genre, kicking off a second golden age for Toei and setting in motion a good 15 years or so that would see the Yakuza film (in its various forms) reign supreme at the studio, ushering in new stars and forcing its rivals to follow suit (an area which arguably none ever succeeded). Based on Shiro Ozaki's famous, semi-autobiographical novel 'Jinsei Gekijo' and using characters drawn from real life, the film was a huge success and it's not hard to see why.

Directed by Toei veteran and Jidaigeki master, Tadashi Sawashima, in all honesty the film is more a romantic tragedy than your typical Ninkyo, a fact which works in its favour and was apparently a conscious decision by Sawashima, who was a notoriously vocal critic of the Yakuza due to his own run-ins with them in real life and insisted on shooting the film as a melodrama if he was to take the job, a fact that definitely works in the films favour as Sawashima subtly jabs at the hypocrisy of the Jingi code throughout the narrative, resulting in the questioning of a man's pride when it costs a woman everything.

The story centres around a love triangle, with Otoyo, Hishakaku's 'wife' saved from prostitution, only to fall back into the profession when his obligated murder of a rival Boss, spurred on by his 'pride as a man' lands him in prison, separating the pair and seeing her saved once more from the Yakuza by Miyagawa, who in a cruel twist of fate is unknowingly to her, and him, a fellow Jokin Group member who actually participated in the raid that saw her husband have his freedom taken. This tragic love triangle forms the emotional crux of the narrative and one could actually argue that Otoyo herself is the main character, with her plight painting the backdrop and her lovers Yakuza ties serving as both her saviour and downfall in equal measure, once again tying into Sawashima's subtle, and not so subtle, criticism.

That's not to say either that this isn't a traditional Yakuza narrative, as there's plenty of backstabbing and politicking driving the film, with the Boss of the Kokin's murder at the hands of his ally, Boss Narahei (a brilliant Michitaro Mizushima) and Hishakaku's friend/mentor character Kiratsune (Ryonosuke Tsukigata) both playing key roles, with Kiratsune in particular as an elderly Yakuza who gives Hishakaku shelter after the killing playing a crucial (and terrific) character to the story, one who arguably is just as hypocritical despite his stoic and chivalrous adherence to the code, by sheer virtue of his reluctance to let go of the old ways.

Considering that Director Sawashima may have been reluctant to direct the film, that certainly didn't hold him back from giving it 100% either, resulting in some stunning location shoots and utilising his sets to the full extent of his power. There's some stunning framing and tracking shots, with masterful use of crane and even some Kato-esque extreme close ups, used in particular on Koji Tsuruta whose incredibly emotive eyes become a tool that Sawashima utilises to the maximum for impact on some beautifully emotional scenes, there's two in particular that are absolutely unforgettable, both involving Tsuruta and Yoshiko Sakuma.

The first takes place after Hishakaku's murder of Kokin's rival, Boss Jotoku (a small role for Akikane Sawa). After hiding from the police for the evening with new found friend, Kiratsune, he returns to spend time with Otoyo. He informs her that he has to turn himself in to be a man and the two argue, with her begging him not to, while backing away from him on all fours around the room, while he begs her to wait for him, following and arguing that it's only five years. While it may not sound all that impressive on paper, in practise it's a masterfully constructed scene and beautifully shot, with both actors delivering absolute masterclasses in their craft.

The second sees Tsuruta, Sakuma and Ken Takakura in a stunning sequence shot on a beach. Hishakaku has been released from jail and meets the two lovers for the first time since his incarceration. Miyagawa has been agonising over how to apologise to his Yakuza brother and Otoyo keeps distance behind the two. Miyagawa prostrates himself before Hishakaku, stricken with guilt and remorse, offering his life by way of an apology instead of a mere finger. It's powerful and tremendously shot, with Sawashima switching perspectives to great effect, lingering his camera before having Hishakaku walk away slowly. It's a remarkable scene that really serves to hammer home the emotional turmoil that has beset all three main characters and is brilliantly performed by all involved.

Koji Tsuruta is on top form as Hishakaku, delivering an incredible performance that is both subtle and nuanced while not being quite as chivalrous as the norm for the genre, there's an air of rogue-like charm to his character that cuts against the grain and the same could be said for his junior, Ken Takakura, who is equally as brilliant, but also not as stoic as his persona would become on his ascension to super-stardom, with his character even forcing himself on a woman at one point in an explosion of pent up emotion. Both are superb, though it's Yoshiko Sakuma who steals the show from both with a terrific performance as the lover caught between two men, whose professions are both her saviour and curse. She is simply stunning, bringing real weight and gravitas to the role with a constant poignant air of longing hanging over her and ends up giving the best performance of the film by far.

Elsewhere there's roles for Yoshi Kato, Akikane Sawa, Michitaro Mizushima and Rinichi Yamamoto as various Yakuza Bosses, while a young Tatsuo Umemiya has a small role as Hyokichi, a university student and aspiring novelist (which I believe is inspired by Shiro Ozaki), and Hideo Murata also gets a small part alongside singing the theme song, which apparently Tsuruta wasn't too happy about until the pair hit it off after meeting in a Ginza club. It would be remiss though not to mention Ryonosuke Tsunigata's excellent role as Kiratsune, an elderly Yakuza who becomes a mentor to Hishakaku, bringing his immense on-screen charisma to a stellar, key role and special mention goes to a clever scene where he talks down some over zealous policemen at his door in a brilliant way.

Despite its relegation to bootleg status in the West, Theatre of Life-Hishakaku is an important film, not just to the genre, but to its studio too, becoming such a hit that it would bring in almost 20 years of incredibly important and influential cinema the likes of which haven't been matched by any other the world over, and I'll die on that hill. Aside from its importance though, it's a superb film in its own right, one that is well written, beautifully shot and features a trio of sublime performances from its leads. resulting in a highly emotional experience that comes with the highest recommendation. Essential viewing for fans of Japanese film.

Bohachi Hijikata (Akira Okamori), is a 'Psychosist', a form of alien hunter working for the secretive Japanese Society for Environmental Protection and tasked with hunting down ASH, or Abnormal Species Humanoids, a race of aliens who first appeared in the 80's and whose goal seems to be protecting their own race by engaging in random sexual encounters with humans, and whose powers include a powerful form of telekinesis that causes human bodies to literally explode. Thanks to Hijikata and the rest of the Pyschosists, the threat from ASH has mostly been contained by the 90's and their efforts are mostly on hunting down the few remaining in Tokyo. But all is not as it seems, as threats loom from within Hijikata 's own agency and a shadowy genetics research company also get involved, causing Hijikata to question everything he knows.

After a shitty week that just kept getting shittier, 'Skyscraper Hunting' aka 'Hunting ASH' was just what the doctor ordered, a brilliantly ambitious V-Cinema sci-fi gem packed with bloody action and a healthy mix of practical special effects married with some early digital work. Based on a novel by Baku Yumemakura and directed by Mitsunori Hattori, whose ambitions rise far above his meagre budget, the film is often compared to the likes of Blade Runner and Scanners (I can't comment on this having seen neither, not enough office raids for me), but personally the best way I can describe this is, is if PM Entertainment ever made a film in Japan, then this would be it.

After opening with a special forces raid on an abandoned factory that breaks up an alien orgy, complete with the ASH's vagina-like pulsing appendages on the top of their spines on full display, a machine gun massacre ends the fun, only for the last survivor to use her powers on the human leader, with his torso exploding in a gloriously bloody squibfest, (said leader returns later on in the film as a head on a robot body) setting the stage for what is to come, with plenty more gory torsosplosions, legitimate practical effects and wonderfully ambitious early digital effects/green screen that even goes so far as a telekinesis battle with characters floating amongst the Tokyo skyscrapers later on, with murder by dinner fork thrown in for good measure.

Sadly, for as much fun as this film is (and trust me, it's a LOT), the middle of the film sags a little with a touch too much needless exposition that has ideas above its station, characters are killed off with little development and there's some melodrama that feels like unnecessary filler, hampering an otherwise solid pace, but this is a minor complaint really for a film that sets out to excite, and does exactly that with Director Hattori instead pouring his efforts into some clever set pieces and wildly confident cinematography that serve to elevate the film greatly from its humble beginnings.

The cast is mostly solid too, everyman hero Akira Okamori as Hijikata delivers a confident leading performance with just enough early 90's scenery chewing for it to be a blast and not come across as too glum, while Mio Takaki impresses as a female ASH whose efforts to communicate with Hijikata form the main narrative beat. Tomomi Nishimura gives a decent performance too with a sprightly idol-like role that is decent, despite feeling like the character itself was desperately underwritten. Elsewhere there's roles for Masumi Horiuchi and Kenji Fukuda, while my Toei loving heart skipped a beat with the presence of veteran Minken Karasawa, so no complaints here.

Skyscraper Hunting is a hell of a lot of fun in a V-Cinema kitchen sink way. If you're in the market for some horror/sci-fi action complete with lasers, big squibs, bigger torso explosions, legit prosthetics, weird bending of time and space effects, telekinesis battles, gun fights, sleaze, nazi dominatrix stripteases, torture and more low budget shenanigans then you're in luck with this one, just watch out for a touch of melodramatic filler. Kinda loved it overall.

Sudo (Pierre Taki), is an ex Yakuza on death row for committing a number of murders. After finding God and trying to appeal his sentence, he sends a letter to investigative journalist Fuji (Takayuki Yamada), detailing the crimes and exposing the mastermind behind them in a man named 'Doc' (Lily Franky). With Doc still free and apparently planning more murders of vulnerable elderly people in order to claim insurance money, Fuji sets out to expose the cases and bring Doc to justice.

Based on a true serial murder case, Kazuya Shiraishi directs this cold and mean thriller that boasts a pair of terrific performances from Pierre Taki and Lily Franky that goes to some really dark places. The first two thirds of the film, as nasty as it gets, is really quite compelling, despite some surprisingly uninspiring direction from Shiraishi (a favourite of mine) that sadly fizzles out to a lacklustre ending that is lacking in any kind of emotional impact and feels rushed.

The Devils Path opens really quite brilliantly, as Sudo is seemingly on a night long rampage, throwing a handcuffed Yakuza to his death from a bridge, burning a young couple while they're still alive (after a nasty rape scene) and finally shooting his underling to death in his car. It's a bold and bloody opening with Pierre Taki at his terrifying best, before moving swiftly into his arrest and confession to journalist Fuji, who is initially sceptical of Sudo's claims, but begins his investigation anyway.

The film then moves into its best part, as Fuji hits dead ends and a lack of evidence forces him to put the pieces together meticulously. What follows is an hour long flashback section that follows Sudo and Doc, detailing each of their murders. It's cold, dark and really nasty, not necessarily in of graphic violence (though it certainly has that too) but in how much they seem to enjoy working together and take great pleasure in the killings. Initially bonding after Sudo nonchalantly helps Doc dispose of a body of a man that he choked to death, the two joke causally with the corpse propped in the enger seat of Sudo's car before casually dismembering the body to fit it into an incinerator, with Sudo becoming even more impressed when Doc takes the watch off a severed arm not wanting to waste it.

The two form a small crew, with Sudo taking on an underling in expelled Yakuza, Igarashi, and another young man named Hino. Together, they run another scam where they disappear an old man in order to sell his land, by gleefully burying him alive, 'help' a fellow Yakuza whom Sudo knew in jail when his family don't pay him on release, and move into their greatest scam yet, torturing an elderly debtor to death by forcing him to drink alcohol quite literally until he expires. This, for me at least, was the most shocking part of the film as the men joyfully torture the man, forcing alcohol down his throat whilst beating him and simultaneously electrocuting him for fun, taking enormous pleasure whilst doing so, with the simple fact that the man's family were in on the scam, making it all the more tragic.

But for all its cold, nihilistic violence the film remained engaging, slowly revealing its hand and coming full circle to the events from the beginning, and despite Shiraishi's rather generic direction the performances from Taki and Franky keep the viewer glued to the screen. But after this the film swings back to Fuji, it's smouldering tension fizzles out for its final 30 minutes which basically amount to Shiraishi saying "Ok I'm done here". A brief arrest, a briefer court trial, the result of which is already known, and that's pretty much it, which is a real shame.

The cast though is superb for the most part. Pierre Taki is terrific as Sudo, the terrifying and imposing ex Yakuza for whom violence is second nature and he makes a pitch perfect pairing with Lily Franky as Doc, who is all the more terrifying with his icy demeanour, usually so calm and composed which breaks down into almost childish whimsy when he commits heinous acts. The two on-screen are brilliant and easily carry the film almost singlehandedly with their performances.

Less impressive though is Takayuki Yamada, an actor I really like and would consider one of the best of his generation, but here is rather one note and *almost* phoning it in. He fails to capitalise on the bit of backstory he is given, which ittedly is partly the weak scripts fault, ending up feeling like mere filler, but which is compounded by Yamada's seeming lack of interest, which is a real shame as technically, he's the backbone of the film overall. Special mention goes to Kobayashi Katsuya as Igarashi, Sudo's right hand man, whose unwavering loyalty covers his moral com in a brilliantly understated role.

For all its faults, I would still recommend The Devils Path, particularly to those who like their Japanese film with a darker, colder edge and I enjoyed it quite a bit despite its glaring flaws. Perhaps my expectations were a little high given its director, but the film was saved by the strength of the performances from Taki and Franky, not to mention it's directors willingness to not hold back. But a better finale and performance from Yamada could of easily tipped this into greatness.

Yasuda (Hiroki Matsukata), is a founding member of the Soryukai, an Osakan criminal organisation known for their fighting prowess and wild nature whose clashes with Osaka Yakuza have put them near the top of the food chain. But this changes when the Kobe based Kawada Family, Japan's largest Yakuza group sends one of its young executives, Yawaji (Akira Kobayashi), to expand their territory into Osaka. The Nanbara Family try to make a stand against the invaders, but when an assassination attempt goes awry even they swear fealty to the Kobe giant, leaving young firebrand Takayama (Tsunehiko Watase) expelled for his efforts, forcing him to team up with Yasuda and the few young they can muster in an effort to wage war against the Kawada.

Sadao Nakajima's ferocious 'Osaka Shock Tactics' remains one of the most undersung gems of the Jitsuroku genre (much like it's hugely influential and effective director), despite being a lean and very mean genre exercise that excels thanks to its kinetic nature, raw violence and world class roster of stars, particularly it's electric combo of Hiroki Matsukata and Tsunehiko Watase whose dynamic chemistry light up the screen. It also boasts quite the pedigree of authenticity, being based on a real gang war that occurred in 1960 and shocked the Osakan citizens with its bloodletting.

Originally conceived after Director Nakajima made his remarkable 'Memoir of Japanese Assassinations' in 1969, but shelved when Toei President Okada couldn't see an audience for it. The project resurfaced after the success of 'Third Generation Yamaguchi-gumi' in (1973), only to be delayed several times, with Tetsuya Watari dropping out because of illness and being replaced by his brother, Tsunehiko Watase and Bunta Sugawara, who was originally meant to lead, also dropping out after complaining of being overworked. Legendary Yakuza scriptwriter (who later called the film Nakajima's masterpiece) Koji Takada was brought in to write the script and no doubt had a little help from Producer Mitsuru Taoka, who was the son of the actual Third Generation Leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi (and played rather generously by Tetsuro Tamba in the film), whose exploits inspired so many of the Jitsuroku genre.

The film itself is based on the 'Meiyukai Incident', where the month of August in 1960 saw Osaka rocked by gang violence as the Yamaguchi made themselves a foothold into the region, only to be opposed by the Meiyukai, a 'Gurentai' (street level thugs, gangsters etc) gang made up of many ethnic Koreans, Chinese and Japanese who united under one banner, forming a powerful organisation whose ruthlessness was well known. The month saw regular beatings and attacks, businesses ruined and the escalating violence ramped up to torture, pitched gun battles, murders and even lynchings, before the Meiyukai eventually surrendered to the might of the Yamaguchi, with the remaining executives presenting their severed fingers as an unconditional surrender, effectively disbanding in the process.

Director Nakajima and Scriptwriter Takada follow events semi-closely, changing dates and names whilst trying to paint the battle in an even handed way, with the films protagonists, The Soryu, depicted as brutal wild men who think nothing of their actions and violent nature, while The Kawada, are treated almost as honourable invaders, resorting to violence as a last resort after first offering deals and fair treatment to the Osaka gangs. While this was no doubt done to appease Kazuo Taoka, who both himself and his Yamaguchi had a number of deep rooted links to Toei historically, it also adds an interesting edge to the film, as a classic 'David vs Goliath' storyline is made in a way that the typical heroes are almost presented as the villains through their violent actions.

Outside of his other masterpiece 'Okinawa Yakuza War', this could be Nakajima at his most confident level, shooting with real style and flair, using oblique angles and some stunning framing to capture the madness he portrays on-screen, pulling the viewer into his vicious world, a world permeated with pure unbridled masculinity and marked by violence. Its unforgiving and unflinching in its kineticism and much like the aforementioned film, Nakajima doesn't hold back on the violence, with bloody murders, shootings and stabbings vividly depicted amongst oil drum torture and men nailed to posts, forced to give up their brothers. It's raw and unforgiving, and eerily parallels it's real world influences, giving the film an edge that makes it all the more powerful.

There's also some hugely memorable scenes that stick with the viewer long afterwards, whether it be male bonding by way of testicle biting during a fight, or the stunning montages of violence as Kawada hit squads are sent out to clean up, a staggering zoom in on Hiroki Matsukata at a scrapyard after a key death that is absolutely perfectly framed for maximum impact, or the tremendous ending as the remaining Soryu all present their fingers at a gathering with an unforgettable scene of Hiroki Matsukata in an elevator that is simply stunning in its execution. But my personal favourite is a brilliantly edited sequence that sees Matsukata and his men let loose before battle, succumbing to their primal instincts in an orgy of sex and alcohol, which is paralleled against the Kawada, also preparing for battle, but treating it like a military operation, with maps and pictures of targets on a board as the men sit listening to their commander who has planned the operation with military efficiency, asg squads sectors of the city to search and armed to the teeth, with a clear cut hierarchy and chain of command.

The casting is perfection, which could be surprising considering its rocky start, but not surprising at all with the gathering of Toei's finest that Nakajima ended up with. Hiroki Matsukata is at his fierce best, bristling with energy and sweaty masculinity as Yasuda, it's a fiery performance that sees him once again working at 200% capacity, giving it all he's got, while also showing off his inherent talent at conjuring up magical chemistry with whoever he worked with, which is the ever underrated Tsunehiko Watase in this case. Watase also gives 200%, practically overflowing with attitude as Yakuza Takayama, a swaggering firebrand who is quick to violence, but fiercely loyal to his own cause. Both are terrific in their respective performances, but together they are pure dynamite that fills the screen with charisma and pure screen presence.

Elsewhere, there's a murderers row of Toei talent, with Akira Kobayashi turning in a superb and very slick performance as Yamaji, while Junkichi Orimoto also impresses as Boss Nanbara, a conniving and somewhat cowardly Boss to which he based his performance on Nobuo Kaneko's Yamamoto from Battles, but with his own unique spin. The mighty Mikio Narita is Daito, a fellow Osakan Boss and the first to throw his lot in with the Kobe Kawada and there's a brilliant, but small role for the inimitable Renji Ishibashi. Rounding out the cast is the usual suspects, consisting of the likes of Takuzo Kawatani, Tatsuo Umemiya, Hiroshi Nawa, Tetsuro Tamba, Hideo Mirota, Hosei Komatsu and even Goro Ibuki, making it a near perfect line up for any self respecting Yakuza film fan.

Overall, 'Osaka Shock Tactics' is utterly essential viewing for anyone who has a ing interest in Yakuza films and for my money stands as one of Master Nakajima's finest hours as a filmmaker. A ferocious and unflinching slice of Jitsuroku-eiga whose real world influences help to make this raw and violent ride a film that fascinates as much as it excites. Add in its strong script, authenticity and a class of genre greats working at the height of their powers and you are left with an undisputed masterpiece of the genre that not only still has relevance and impact almost 50 years later, but one that offers a rewarding experience on subsequent rewatches.

A bored young man (Yoji Matsuda), living in an apartment block semi-comfortably from the sales of a software he designed becomes obsessed with his fellow residents and decides to bug their homes, allowing him a glimpse into their private lives. After setting up various mics and cameras and drunk on the power it affords him, he gradually upgrades to a headset that gives him an almost complete view of the residents private sanctums. But the one he is obsessed with the most is next door, a filthy, garbage riddled apartment occupied by a salaryman whose only visitor is high school girl Mika (Misa Aika), whose regular visits remain a mystery.

Takashi Komatsu's 'Scan Doll' was quite a surprise. A tightly wound and near perfectly paced thematic exploration of loneliness and obsession leading to madness, by way of an arthouse-ish slice of V-Cinema filled with sleazy voyeurism and some fantastic aesthetics. I don't usually like comparisons to other films, but this one really reminded me of a combination of Cat III sleazefests 'Dont Stop my Crazy Love for You' and the more recent 'Tenants Downstairs' with a Hisayasu Sato-esque edge.

After starting with the protagonists boredom leading to him bugging the rooms of his neighbours, Scan Doll quickly gets down to business, as he quickly upgrades his set ups to allow him deeper into the homes around him, exposing the loneliness and accompanying 'weirdness' that comes with such an emotion as the residents try to overcome their own problems, all while the unnamed (I think?) lead character invades their privacy, giving his life a sense of power and purpose through his own obsession.

A pretty schoolteacher whose loneliness and loss of a lover is consuming her, a housebound writer who finds company in a blow up doll, a female office worker with a voracious appetite for sex and the ever mysterious salaryman next door give the lead a glimpse outside of the norm, whose own supposed intelligence puts him above them, oblivious to the fact that his ever deepening obsession with school girl Mika, whose regular visits next door are kept a mystery to him by blindspots created by mounting piles of rubbish, is dangerously consuming him.

It's a fascinating film, that while not necessarily particularly original is so well staged and put together that it becomes really quite an engaging, and compelling, viewing experience elevated by some truly brilliant set design and lighting that help to conjure a scuzzy, sleazy atmosphere with some excellent visual design that gives the film a dreary and depressing art house feel.

This is a big recommend, a surprising and cleverly written hidden V-Cinema gem marked by excellent performances from both Yoji Matsuda and Misa Aika, whose spirited and committed roles perfectly compliment the abstract feeling that Takashi Komatsu's direction conjures up. A big thank you goes to Renkls for his hard work and time spent on digitizing this diamond in the rough.

Senkichi Kotetsu (Bunta Sugawara), is a wandering gambler exiled from his native Osaka for murdering a man. When he is ambushed and wounded in a gambling den brawl, his life is saved by a beautiful blind woman, Orin (Mitsuko Baisho), who heals him and the pair quickly fall deeply in love. On the road to Kyoto, the pair are attacked by rogue Samurai who try to rape Orin and Senkichi proceeds to kill all three in a fit of rage, an action which changes his life as he vows to bet his life on Orin, renouncing his ways and promising to make her happy any way he can. To this end he settles in Kyoto, first selling snacks to gamblers under the Ogaki Family, whose Boss (Tomisaburo Wakayama) has taken a liking to him, but when he eventually opens his own gambling hall in disputed territory, his actions inadvertently lead to the death of Orin, an event which once again changes the course of his life irrevocably, forcing him to devote his life to the Ogaki Family, and by extension be caught up in the turbulent events that would surround the Shinsengumi.

Master Director Tai Kato's final feature film is a fascinating piece of semi-revisionist history, wrapped in genre stylings that skirt around the Jidaigeki/Ninkyo/Matatabi/Jitsuroku (if taking the term literally) genres and ends up being something of a bold and ambitious masterpiece, one that takes the viewer not just on an emotional journey with a complex and interesting character at it's core, but in typical Kato fashion, one that cleverly uses its backdrop and historical setting as almost a character itself, painting a vivid picture of turbulent 1860's Japan and the events that would eventually lead to the Meiji restoration, with Bunta Sugawara's Senkichi getting caught up in the Shogunate/Imperialist clashes via the Shinsengumi.

Writing the screenplay himself, but adapted from Koiichi Iiboshi's (of Battles Without Honour and Humanity fame) novel 'Aizu no Kotetsu', which in turn was based on real life figure Senkichi Kosaka. Tai Kato armed himself with an independent production company, interestingly made up of employees from Toho, Toei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku and Daeiei, forming a melting pot of talent who could draw on a deep well of experience, much like his principal cast, who by 1981 should of been replaced by younger, 'better looking' actors in keeping with the times, but instead Kato decided to stick with experience and go his own way, eschewing the newer practices and going with what he knew, while trying to create a 'different' film to what he had made before, one with a slightly different approach and even imbueing it at times with an almost unrealistic, art house quality to it.

But of course, Tai Kato is Tai Kato, and his work would not be complete weere it not for his signature stylings. Low angles and wide frames, accompanied and accentuated by almost extreme close ups on his principal cast to convey emotion are used to great effect as always and his tremendous eye for detail is ever present. After reading about how he wanted to take a 'different approach' to this film on the whole, it was kind of surprising just how familiar it felt with his unmistakable aesthetics, even nodding his head to his previous masterpiece 'Cruel Story of the Shogunates Downfall' at one point (a moment for eagle eyed fans of his no doubt), with the only real difference outside of some of the dreamlike sequences, being his music choice, which is one of the main critiques against the film from what I can see, as he chose soft 80's electric guitar for the most part as an accompaniment, a bold and indeed somewhat odd choice for a period film, but one that I thought personally worked very well indeed, though maybe that's me being biased as what's not to like about Bunta Sugawara bloodily gutting Samurai to some soft rock!?

There's a surprising amount of action and violence for such an epic, emotionally charged period piece too, with Kato, who was no stranger to depicting some viciousness on-screen, portraying such a troubled time through montages of political assassinations and murders as pro imperialist/shogunate factions clashed in Kyoto leading up to the eventual Ikedaya and Hamaguri Gomon incidents and having Senkichi engage in some rather bloody and violent episodes himself. From his aforementioned dispatching of the rogue Samurai, to stabbing gamblers for assaulting women and even revenge killing the head of the Shinsengumi himself in a scene involving wild arterial spray and a decapitation, Kato's depiction of violence feels raw, ugly and urgent, which is another signature of his, if you will, that serves to make his work so uniquely special.

For me though, the films real strength lies in its characterisation and some beautifully human moments, mainly between Senkichi and Orin, with their relationship painted in a wonderful, if heartbreaking way and the quiet moments that they share. Gentle scenes of Senkichi confessing his love or simply falling asleep drunkenly in her lap, or even the lighter moments such as a hilarious scene where Senkichi announces himself to the Ogaki Family without knowing how to perform a Jingi greeting, leading Orin to play her Shamisen as an accompaniment to help him. It's these scenes that really help to cement the emotional core of the film, especially with Orin's eventual death having such a large impact on not just Senkichi's character arc, but by extension the film itself, as he narrates events to her via voiceover or has visions of her after a bloody battle.

Bunta Sugawara himself is another of the films greatest assets, leading the film more or less single handed and delivering an energetic, yet subtly nuanced performance in the process. Often criticised for being 'over the top', something I disagree with deeply, I think he injects a youthful naivety and natural zest for doing whats right that is exactly what the character needed, giving Senkichi an air of innocence that is perfectly contrasted by his quick to violence nature when it comes to protecting those around him, marked deeply by his troubled childhood and a need to see women treated properly. Plus, Tai Kato was a notorious taskmaster and perfectionist, even going so far as scolding Sugawara for not being dedicated enough to the role during early filming as he was simultaneously starring in NHK's 'Shishi no Jidai' at the time, an act which no doubt spurred him on and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Kato would have ever settled for a 'lesser' performance. The man even went so far as losing his patience with some of the student extras on set who weren't performing well enough, launching into an impromptu lecture on the Meiji restoration to capture their attention and compel them to give their best.

The beautiful, and incredibly gifted, Mitsuko Baisho is also terrific in her role as Orin, the blind Shamisen playing wife of Senkichi, and despite having much less screen time than Sugawara, delivers an incredible performance that forms the emotional bridge of the film, crucially leaving just as much of an impression. It must be said too that she uses her voice to incredible effect, which I'm positive must have been one of the key features to her casting, as her natural, husky tones lead to some phenomenal line delivery and she gives a great physical performance at the same time, which is not always an easy feat when playing a blind character by any means, but she pulls it off effortlessly. This is a role that she really deserves much more recognition and praise for.

Elsewhere, there's a menagerie of genre greats included and used to great effect. The mighty Tomisaburo Wakayama is brilliant as the Ogaki Boss in a great little showing that shows his utterly unique talent in a brief role, while Tamao Nakamura also impresses as his wife despite limited screentime. Tetsuro Tamba, Hiroko Sakuramachi, Tatsuo Endo, Goro Ibuki, Kanbi Fujiyama, Hiroshi Nawa and Akira Shioji all turn up in brief, but memorable roles, lending their talents to an already stacked cast of veterans, but it's perhaps Makoto Sato who fares best as famed Shinsengumi officer (and eventual leader) Kondo Isami in another small, but crucial role as a fellow Osakan who befriends Senkichi when he realises that they share swords that form a pair, it's a fantastic performance that brings an air of warmth and humanity to what could of been a very cold role, balancing out the Shinsengumi perfectly and lending a moral weight to some of their actions.

Overall, 'Flames of Blood' is another masterpiece by a Director who made many, adding another masterwork to a filmography that is both criminally underappreciated in the West, and desperately in need of rediscovery, which bafflingly, despite available materials, hasn't yet happened. It's a film that has a little something for everyone, skirting genre lines and armed with both a strong script and a phenomenal roster of talent makes it the strongest recommendation to Japanese film fans across the board. At times heartbreaking, others hilarious and sometimes absolutely brutal, yet also beautiful and all wrapped up in a finely balanced narrative that juggles historical fact and fiction with a very even hand. It's Tai Kato at his best, and therefore it's absolutely incredible. I loved it.

Teruyoshi Ishii's The Slit Mouthed Woman isn't quite what I was expecting, being less a Kuchisake-Onna film and more an anthology that begins with a Priest/Monk introducing the titular legend and going on to host a number of other horror themed tales, all varying in length and tone. It's a quick and breezy 50 minute blast of V-Cinema horror that ends up being a lot of fun.

With a distinct lack of office raids, tattoos and severed fingers I'm somewhat at a loss on how to review this, so I'll just briefly describe each segment, starting with the main event of the Slit Mouthed Woman, which is a fun retelling of the legend via 16 minutes of corporate office politics, cosmetic surgery and a scumbag boss getting his comeuppance.

The film then segues into a brief, TV advert-esque sequence of a mother making a child a tasty smoothie containing "all his favourite things", when he tries to make one himself, he takes the brief a little too literally and includes the family cat, which doesn't quite have the same effect.

The next segment is a longer tale again, with a husband killing his wife so he can concentrate on his new girlfriend, this doesn't work out for him though as the soul of his wronged spouse follows him around, causing him to see slugs (yes actual slugs) everywhere he goes, even spitting them out of his mouth after kissing his new squeeze. This one made me feel a little queasy.

Back to a TV advert(ish) short now, as a little girl finds a baby in a box under a bridge, she takes it home and asks her mother it they can keep it, but her mother doesn't believe it's real, so she orders her daughter to put the box out with the rubbish.

Next up is a young boy whose single mother is pregnant, leaving her with little time to spend with him and getting bullied by local kids. So he takes up a pastime of killing small pets and burying them in his backyard, working his way up from goldfish and hamsters to kittens before eventually buying some pesticides from the local garden centre and upgrading his murderous tendencies yet again. This one is quite mean spirited and contains a nasty scene where he pokes his hamster with a stick, which pissed me off, but otherwise it's really quite effective and definitely goes places, probably the best segment of the bunch if you can stomach the poking scene.

The film then ends with our intrepid host revealing his true nature. It's a really fun, tight and quite inventive little film that is a definite recommend to East Asian horror fans, I'm having a blast with this Teruyoshi Ishii resurgence and am looking forward to seeing more from this interesting filmmaker. Huge thanks to my good friend Bjorky for the recommendation on this one and to Fernando for his hard work in subtitling it and making it accessible.

Mid level Yakuza, Ise Sadao (Hiroki Matsukata), of the Kobe based Minoura Group, is a key player in the distribution of Heroin across the region, working under the shadowy S-Group. When he is caught in a sting operation with 300g grams of product, the police manouver him into becoming a mole for them with the intent of uncovering and arresting the secretive head of S-Group whose outfit is trafficking for the Minoura via Hong Kong. On his release, Ise is paired with G-Man Ryusuke Akutsu (Tatsuo Umemiya), an upright undercover agent assigned to infiltrate the Minoura alongside Ise, keeping him on the level while the pair prepare to intercept a large shipment due into the port of Nagoya.

Eiichi Kudo's noir tinged Jitsuroku, 'Yakuza vs G-Men: Decoy' aka 'Dangerous Trade in Kobe', is a stylish and atmospheric ride that eschews the more conventional Jitsuroku structure in favour of a noir-esque character piece, dripping in style and based very loosely on a true story. The result is a film that's aging like a fine wine, an underrated gem elevated greatly by the performances of its brilliant leads and it's directors fine eye for detail, it's actually a much more rewarding film on a rewatch, with many subtle touches that I didn't pick up on first time around.

Opening with some truly stunning night time cinematography, as Director Kudo's camera follows Harumi Sone's policeman through the neon drenched streets of Kobe, accompanied by a subtle funky jazz soundtrack as undercover police make their way to sting Hiroki Matsukata's Ise with a large bag of Heroin, the film wastes no time in getting going, quickly ending up with the young Yakuza trying to stay loyal to his Bosses under intense interrogation and a few nights spent behind bars. With Ise realising what he's missing out on when he receives a package of his girlfriend's pubic hair, in a scene that sees him furiously masturbate whilst smelling them, he makes the decision to cooperate, ratting on his Yakuza Family in a bid to get back to the real world.

This is where the real meat of the narrative comes into play, Ise's decision to turn mole and his pairing with partner Akutsu, the stiff and upright G-Man. Ise is a quick witted and silver tongued young man whose zest for life and loyalty to himself comes before any code of perceived 'honour' in the Yakuza, he's selling drugs because it's easy money and gets him the luxuries and lifestyle he wants. Whereas Akutsu is the rigid government agent, whose blind loyalty to the government has stifled his personality and cut him off from enjoying his life. The two make for odd bedfellows at first (a purposeful choice of words considering the two end up sharing women in the same bed later on) but it's the dynamic between the two that carries this film almost entirely as they end up questioning their own morals and beliefs by the blistering end of the film.

For the most part, the film is a character piece, relying on the interactions of the two and the various scrapes they get into to propel the story forward, with each serving a role in helping the other out, whether it be Akutsu viciously beating two cops in a Yakuza bar who are trying to buy Heroin off the barman, or Ise murdering said barman in cold blood by shooting him and then throwing him off a roof to his bloody end (special note to a wonderful dummy death, man I miss those) on the concrete below, the two are constantly forced into situations where they have to rely on the other, building a terrific dynamic between them on the road to the films inevitably tragic, but action packed ending.

While the film may be almost wholly character driven, that's not to say that it doesn't contain its fair share of bloody beatings and murder, because it has that too, but it's probably not enough to satisfy those who crave the raw chaos and kineticism of a 'traditional' Jitsuroku entry, instead opting for character and style over a deluge of action, which is just fine by me, especially when you have a Director as aesthetically pleasing as Eiichi Kudo, a consistently underappreciated name amongst the Toei legends, whose sense of style here is in full force with its noiresque overtones and magnificent framing really serving to elevate the film stylistically above some of its peers.

But the films strongest aspect is without a doubt it's cast, a roster of undisputed Toei champions with the endlessly gifted Hiroki Matsukata leading the charge as Ise. He gives a terrific performance, packed with energy and getting to show off his range, going from suave Yakuza and silver tongued conman, to a youthful naivety and zest for life that sees him embrace life to the fullest by having sex as often as he can (leading to some hilarious, yet important scenes) before his life goes full circle by the stunning end scene in the back of a car. He also shows off his inherent gift for working with others here, as an actor who could create chemistry with anyone he worked with exemplified by his inspired pairing with Tatsuo Umemiya, whose performance I appreciated a LOT more on a second viewing.

First time around, I thought Umemiya's somewhat stiff, albeit intentional, performance was just that, a little too rigid and workmanlike, but that changed here, noticing the subtle nuances he brings to the role as he transitions from upright government agent to having his personality 'unlocked' (for lack of a better term) by his blossoming partnership alongside Matsukata, with the two actors leaning into each other really quite brilliantly. Especially by the fantastic ending sequence as they find themselves engaged in a car chase and he must make a fateful decision, with Matsukata 's heart breaking line 'You never once called me brother" changing the trajectory of their lives.

Elsewhere, of course, there's a majestic parade of Toei regulars backing the two stars, with Director Kudo quite cleverly making use of his secondary cast. Bunta Sugawara's character is often maligned for being underdeveloped (somewhat understandably), but I think by sheer virtue of his casting in such a small role, at this point in his career, adds gravitas to the character that serves the 'reveal', really quite excellently overall. Harumi Sone and Fumio Watanabe serve as cops on the trail of Sugawara, while a holy trinity of Hiroshi Nawa, Tatsuo Endo and Nobuo Kaneko all turn up in various executive roles along the way. And of course, no film of this type would be complete without the likes of Takuzo Kawatani and Seizo Fukumoto getting beat downs, so on that front, it's business as usual for the boys.

Overall, 'Yakuza vs G-Men: Decoy' makes for something of a nice departure from the 'Jitsuroku norm', whilst containing a little something for everybody. A world class cast at the top of their game in the pairing of Matsukata/Umemiya and a strong script (from no less than the mighty Koji Takada) serve to make this an underrated gem that deserves a bigger audience. A film that's a strong recommend to genre fans, as well as one that's slightly different structure and stylings should hold appeal to those who don't usually dip their toes into the wild world of Jitsuroku-eiga.

TV reporter Kyoko (Kazue Ishiyama), is filming a documentary on idol Emi Kato, whose new song 'Love Craft' is gearing up to be a big hit. Following her around on her day to day activities and meeting with various directors and producers, Kyoko soon finds there is more to the story than meets the eye when the composer of the song cannot be found and strange happenings begin plaguing the various stages of the construction of the song and it's promotion, leading up to a grand reveal when the stage is set for the filming of the music video.

Teruyoshi Ishii's 'Psychic Vision: Jaganrei' is definitely something of an oddity, for a number of reasons, and certainly lived up to its lofty reputation that it's built up over recent years. Shot in a mockumentary style, with comparisons to Ghostwatch and Noroi being very apt, Director Ishii's film is grounded in realism, building a believable and tragic tale that gradually leads to an insanely brilliant, over the top finale by the end of its brief 48 minute runtime, resulting in a very effective and cleverly constructed horror film.

Director Ishii, an early adopter of the 'found footage' style, a much maligned (and loved) concept that has evolved into a genre all its own over the course of time, manages to use the format really quite brilliantly here, keeping its use confined to a stunning finale and using it to effectively heighten the already excellent sense of atmosphere before smashing it to pieces with a balls to the wall sequence that sees a music video shoot go very, very wrong indeed. The first two thirds of the film sticks to a very grounded and rooted in reality mockumentary that incorporates subtle detail and gradual reveals to disarm the viewer before it's eventual slap to the face, and it's a fantastic concept that certainly works in its favour.

It's also a film that is credited by fans as a precursor to the 'J Horror Boom', both in its own effectiveness and in having an influence/inspiration on 'The Ring' with evidence of its writer, Hiroshi Takahashi being a big fan and I can certainly see this being true myself, especially when it's hard to imagine the bigger V-Cinema auteurs having NOT seen it, especially with its use of technology, measured pacing and subtle details being used to build dread through sheer atmosphere becoming key traits in many others work. Though hopefully this is something expanded upon more in the J-Horror documentary.

Perhaps more fascinating than its impact on others though, is it's alleged loose inspiration (or perhaps exploitation), in the real life suicide case of much loved idol Yukiko Okada, who threw herself to her death from an office building just two years before, leading to a wave of similar suicides and much controversy surrounding her death. I must it I wasn't too familiar with Okada's story, outside of her tragic death and possible links to actor Toru Minegishi, but having read into the story a little more I can definitely see the similarities posited within the film, particularly in Emi Kato's stylings, fashion choices and some key points set within the backstory of the film that surrounds the composer. It makes for a fascinating, if exploitative contrast to parallel with real life events, but also does have an effect on both the believability of Jaganrei's story and on its commentary around the commoditization of idols.

It has to be mentioned too, that viewers should definitely stick around for not one, but two, brief post credits scenes that are really superb. There's one involving film critic Haruo Mizuno talking about poltergeists (the films and supernatural phenomenon) that adds another layer of credibility to the films grounded nature. Then there's one with the mighty Naoto Takenaka, who plays Kyoko's cameraman, that... well... doesnt. But it is a glorious moment, that's for damn sure.

I really loved this film and it was great that it lived up to expectations (big thanks and credit to the kind soul who subtitled it) and genuinely hope it finds a bigger audience, as it's a film that deserves much more attention. It's a fantastic little film that builds a general sense of unease and wonderful, tense atmosphere through its grounded nature and believable setting before flipping the script and going with a shockingly effective ending. A strong recommend not just for fans of East Asian horror, but one that should definitely find a home amongst general horror fans.

After being sold to a gambling den by her father, Oden (Terumi Azuma), is saved by a wandering Ronin (Goro Ibuki), whom she falls in love with. When the Ronin is arrested and imprisoned, Oden hits the road and assembles a gang of misfits with her lover Ichitaro (Kentaro Maki), debtor Matsusuke (Yoshinobu Hirose) and drunken ex nun Suzutsuki (Yukiko Tachibana). Together, they quickly make names for themselves robbing gamblers and rich people until a bank robbery gone wrong puts them in the sights of Detective Yoshizu (Akira Shioji), who will stop at nothing to bring them down.

After making 'The Yakuza Code Still Lives' Yuji Makiguchi would go on to make a number of fillers, quick 60 odd minute films involving Pink and/or Exploitation elements that would pad out double features. Of those the luridly titled 'Decapitation of an Evil Woman' is probably his best known, a 'Jidaigeki Western' inspired very loosely on real life Dokufu (Poisonous Woman) Takahashi Oden, who was the last woman to be put to death by beheading in 1868. Originally meant to double with Kinji Fukasaku's 'Last Days of the Boss' and star Tomisaburo Wakayama, the film was shelved and then resurrected by Makiguchi, with Goro Ibuki replacing Wakayama and doubling in theatres with Sadao Nakajima's incredible 'Japanese Godfather' in 1977.

While the film may be inspired by the real life of Takahashi Oden, in reality it has very little to do with her story, with the main similarity being that of course, it ends with Oden being decapitated. Which interestingly was meant to feature in the original poster, until star Terumi Azuma protested, not wanting to appear naked and headless on a film poster and Toei opting to go with other artwork instead. Instead, Decapitation... is very much in line with its 'Jidaigeki Western' description, an almost caperish, tonal whiplash of a film that swings between tragedy, comedic elements, a touch of Pink and plenty of shootouts, before ending with some gnarly blood and gore. It's also a really damn good time.

While slight thematically and distinctly lacking in character development, the film does succeed in packing plenty into its lean 61 minute runtime and Director Makiguchi keeps up the pace all the way through. Opening with Takuzo Kawatani getting his moustache sliced off, some sexy times and a chaotic gambling takings robbery before quickly moving onto bank heists, rich people humiliation, stealing guns from police stations, curing erectile dysfunction and a number of high stakes set pieces that involve a very large number of policemen being massacred by Oden and her trusty Winchester, and it never let's up until it's heart breaking, yet stunning finale.

It's also quite well shot for what it is, with Makiguchi's confident, if slightly routine shooting style complimenting a funky, jazzy Western inspired score backing it all up, which certainly helps the film in of its all over the place tone, which is actually really balanced quite well overall as it swings around wantonly between it's varying genre elements, from broad comedic overtones to dark tragedy and bloody violence, with a cast that compliments the tonal shifts brilliantly.

The absolutely lovely Terumi Azuma leads as Oden and with all things considered, it's a damn good performance overall, with her deftly handling everything that Makiguchi throws at her and carrying the film almost solo. She's equal parts naive abused young woman, femme fatale and psychopath all wrapped into one neat bundle and she really effortlessly encapsulates the role, also having good chemistry with fellow lead, Kentaro Maki as Ichitaro, who not nearly as impressive as her, still manages to get the job done with a spirited and energetic showing. Backing them up is Yoshinobi Hirose, as the larger than life Matsusuke and Yukiko Tachibana as Suzutsuki, a heavy drinking ex nun, and both are brilliant in their respective roles, even if mostly there as comedic relief.

Elsewhere there's Goro Ibuki, (who I'm a staunch defender of), as Yamada Asaemon, the wandering Ronin who saves Oden. An ex Shogun bodyguard who by a cruel twist of fate ends up being Oden's executioner in a small, but crucial role and Akira Shioji as Detective Yoshizu, a slimy and conniving policemen who ends up getting his just desserts via chopstick eyeball removal. And of course no good Toei cast would be complete without the likes of Takuzo Kawatani, Masaru Shiga, Seizo Fukumoto and Tetsuo Fujisawa turning in various smaller roles.

While nothing groundbreaking, Decapitation of an Evil Woman sets out to do what it aimed to, deliver a quick blast of 'fun' via a number of genre elements without ever becoming boring. And on that front it succeeds, especially in having a little something for everyone. There is a LOT of worse ways to spend an hour of your time than this one.

1976, Hiroshima. Released after an 8 year stint in prison, Jinno Hiroshi (Hiroki Matsukata), returns home intent on leaving the Yakuza life behind him, despite his best friend Hojo Akimitsu (Akira Kobayashi) now being the de facto leader of the Shinwa Rengo Group, a conglomerate of previously warring Families who have united under one banner. Jinno instead embarks on a journey of becoming a corporate fixer, or Sokaiya, with the help of Okimoto (Hideo Murota), a fellow ex Yakuza now making good money blackmailing large companies. But when Jinno's interests clash with those of Akimitsu, he finds himself drawn back into his old Yakuza life.

Yuji Makiguchi's 'The Yakuza code Still Lives' is Jitsuroku eiga by way of a financial thriller, in a very similar vein to Sadao Nakajima's 'Violent Money Network', but where the latter focused more on the Sokaiya life, that of corporate blackmail and fixing, Director Makiguchi 's film is much more a traditional Jitsuroku, packed with chaotic action , Yakuza backstabbing and a stellar turn from the mighty Hiroki Matsukata that despite sagging a touch in the middle, still manages to deliver a tightly wound slice of 70's action courtesy of a stacked Toei roster.

Opening in classic Jitsuroku style, with a raid on a rival faction as Matsukata and Kobayashi go to war in the chaotic landscape of 60's Hiroshima, Director Makiguchi quickly and efficiently sets up a backstory by way of a montage credits sequence that details, via narration and Battles-esque musical cues, a conflict that leads up to Jinno's release from prison. While it may feel slightly derivative of other, ittedly better films, that came before it, it works well and sets up concisely what could otherwise be perceived as a convoluted tale of factions vying for the top dog spot.

Thankfully though, Makiguchi keeps things nice and simple, allowing him to move on quickly and focus on the meat of the story, that of Jinno's release and eventual rise in the Sokaiya world and backed by his friend Akimitsu's now all powerful Yakuza Group. He's also helped along by his background in exploitation films, which he uses to up the violence quota considerably, with some very bloody murders and set pieces. There's one in particular that is more striking than most, as Takuzo Kawatani's character, a drug dealer in the Shinwa Group, finds himself in trouble and lacking a blade of any sort, hammers his little finger off before being shot to death in a dingy underground garage. It's moments like these that make the film stand out from the pack, especially when coupled with the superb finale that sees Hiroki Matsukata go on a shotgun rampage in a scrapyard, cleverly using his environment to his advantage against a much larger, in numbers, enemy. Interestingly too, Makiguchi stages this scene after a rather brilliant small moment where he invokes memories of the classic Ninkyo trope the 'long walk', symbolically playing death off against the birth of new life in a maternity ward.

While the middle section of the film ittedly does drag a touch, leading to it being rather unfairly maligned as a whole nowadays as newer genre fans tend to call it boring or convoluted, this isn't really the case. In its defence, with Makiguchi resorting to montages and brief scenes of Jinno's business practices as a Sokaiya, it's actually kept rather pacey and effectively moves time forward while not sacrificing character development, especially as some key scenes involving Jinno and his girlfriend, who desperately wants him to leave the Yakuza life behind, occur during this part and raise the emotional stakes when Jinno, of course, resorts to reforming his old Yakuza Family.

Stylistically, the film doesn't do too much to stand out, with Makiguchi borrowing from his peers quite heavily and leaving the film in all honesty feeling like rather routine studio fare, but then is that really a big problem when you look at the studios output at the time? Not to this viewer at least. Plus, there is some stunning shots later on and in his defence, Makiguchi makes wonderful use of some wide angle framing and employs some interesting angles at points, particularly when he shoots action, riding in cars handheld or brilliantly using the scrap yard environment to his advantage as he shoots low down and inbetween obstacles to raise tension. Sure he's no Tai Kato or Kosaku Yamashita, but there's some really confidently shot moments in here that compliment the atmosphere magnificently.

The cast though may be the films biggest asset, with Hiroki Matsukata leading, and once again delivering an energetic, multi faceted role full of nuance, effectively portraying the struggle that his character faces as he tries to go straight, but slowly gets pulled back in to his old ways. You may not be able to reach an old dog new tricks, but Matsukata would try his damndest. He's also ed with an understated and brilliant turn from Yutaka Nakajima, who plays his girlfriend Ryoko, who provides the emotional backdrop to the narrative as not just Jinno's lover, but also as Akimktsu's sister, forming a bridge between the two friends. While Akira Kobayashi himself excels as the suave Yakuza Boss, an intelligent man trying to keep the various factions together under his control whilst balancing his relationship with his friend. It's interesting that he's never painted as a villain, with both mens individual struggles forming the basis for the conflict that will tear them apart by the end.

Elsewhere, Hideo Murota gets a small part as a fellow ex Yakuza, now banished from Hiroshima and making a living as a Tokyo Sokaiya, there's one scene where he's screaming at a Karate match "KILL HIM" that is hilarious in its delivery and wonderful proof of the unique energy he brought to the screen. Takeo Chii and Kenji Imai are both great as slick execs under Akimitsu and Takuzo Kawatani's role, however brief, is terrific. Special mention though goes to Isao Natsuyagi who plays Akimitsu's right hand man, Takemori, in a brilliant role that sees him at his snazzy best, replete with a magnificent haircut and never not willing to do some dirty work, He's such an underrated actor and his turn here is fantastic.

I'd been meaning to revisit this one for some time and I'm very glad I did as it's aging like a fine wine and really deserves rediscovery by genre fans. A neat and tightly wound Jitsuroku film that blends bloody Yakuza action and tropes with an emotional core that sets the stage for a frenetic finale and performed by a top drawer cast of Toei regulars. A great time and a strong recommend to those with more than a ing interest in the genre overall.

After being acquitted on corruption charges, businessman Gojo (Lily Franky), announces his intention to become mayor of Kaiko City. With Korean Crime Boss, Seung-gi (Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi), in his pocket and a number of connections to politicians and prosecutors, Gojo's rise to the position looks to be all but certain until a special investigation team lead by disgraced Captain Torada (Hitoshi Ozawa) is set up to take down Gojo and expose his crimes. Torada is a tough as nails cop suspected of murder and is promised to be cleared of his accusations if together with his small team of Violent Crimes detectives, he can bring Gojo down.

Bad City is not quite the V-Cinema homage/throwback/love letter that its being touted as, sure it's low budget and captures a similar spirit and rambunctious energy that gave birth to a generation of auteurs, but it is also very much, for better or worse, a contemporary Japanese action film, with all the trappings that come with it. First and foremost though, it's a Hitoshi Ozawa vanity project, seeing the 60 year old genre veteran punch and smash his way through hordes of bad guys and thankfully on that front, its an absolute blast of a film, packed with lots of fun set pieces, violence and snarling genre faces who for the most part are excellent. But it's certainly held back from greatness by a bloated runtime and one instance of absolutely woeful miscasting.

The film couldn't open in a better way, as after Gojo is cleared of corruption charges, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi's Seung-gi, naked and sporting a full body tattoo, massacres a bathhouse full of Yakuza, leaving the Sakurada Family almost annihilated and in ruins. In all honesty it's such a strong start that I was ready to go all in and give the film full marks straight from the get go, but the film quickly settled down after that and established itself as a nice and simple cops vs bad guys thriller as Director Kensuke Sonomura establishes a simple narrative with one purpose in mind, no doubt with his star and producer constantly looking over his shoulder. Have Hitoshi Ozawa be an absolute badass.

And this is where the film excels, despite promising a 'throwback Yakuza' storyline (it's neither of those things), it's ALL about Ozawa. In fact the Yakuza barely even feature in the story, outside of an excellent recurring character in Kazuki Namioka, who plays a Sakurada Yakuza out to avenge his Boss, this is all about the Korean mafia, with Director Sonomura seemingly taking a lot of cues from the incredible 'Asura: City of Madness' and using a similar plotline to put Ozawa in as many set pieces as possible. Despite getting the sense that he may be trying a little too hard and expecting fanfare after delivering every line, it's hard not to be impressed by him at 60 years old throwing down and performing some brilliantly choreographed fight scenes.

From using a megaphone to antagonize (and smash in the face) the remaining of a crime outfit, to fighting off knife wielding assassins and brawling his way through an army of hired goons, Ozawa is doing it all himself, pulling from his years of experience and giving an excellent physical performance that goes above and beyond many other 'old man' action films, especially in the films breathtaking finale, I was particularly impressed to see him fighting his way up a flight of stairs, falling in some awkward, painful positions and taking it all in his stride. There is no doubt in my mind that any fans of his (of which there are many) are going to get a real kick out of this film.

It must be said too that Director Sonomura is a real talent to watch, not only does he have an excellent knack for directing action scenes, but the film as a whole looks and sounds great with special mention going to his editing of the fight scenes and keeping a focus on the action with a steady hand. Though one of my biggest complaints lies in the runtime, he could easily stand to lose a good 20 minutes of narrative filler here and the result would of been a much tighter and well balanced film overall, especially in some of the completely unnecessary sequences involving a reporter that are not only unnecessary, but really quite boring, which is a real shame when they're sandwiched inbetween such excellent action scenes.

My other complaint is the complete miscasting of Tak Sakaguchi. Mercifully, Director Sonomura has him be mute throughout the entire film, not even uttering groans, but he just doesn't have the intimidating presence that he's trying so very hard to convey, with neither the on-screen persona or physical presence to play the right hand man of a fearsome Korean Crime lord. He also makes his fight scenes feel very out of place and borderline silly/cringeworthy with his fighting stance. Sure, his feline-like stance and quick fluid movements are impressive when it comes to martial arts, but in a film that excels in its brawler action, with street fights and everyday weapons giving the action a gritty, grounded feel, it's contrasted so very starkly by Tak moving around like a cat and throwing such quick stabs, movements and dodging bullets(!?) that whenever he appeared I was taken out of the experience completely, sadly.

The rest of the cast though, to the films credit, is excellent almost across the board, with a number of genre veterans showing up throughout. Hitoshi Ozawa is terrific physically, but not only that he manages to rein himself in somewhat and deliver a decent performance, he's not chewing scenery and spitting it out and the film definitely benefits because of it. Opposite him as the villains, is Lily Franky, who gets the job done as the corrupt wannabe politician Gojo and Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi is brilliant as Korean gangster Seung-gi, an ambitious and bloodthirsty man who will stop at nothing to crush any who oppose him (full disclosure though, I'm a huge fan so probably biased).

Elsewhere there's Hideto Katsuya and Masanori Mimoto as Violent Crimes cops under Ozawa and both are very good, especially when on-screen together and special mention goes to fellow cop, Nohara, played by Akane Sakanoue, who is fantastic as the rookie cop on their team, trying to make her way in all male world and getting some terrific action scenes in the process, she's absolutely one of the films best assets. There's also smaller roles along the way for the likes of Masaya Kato, Dan Mitsu, Taro Suya and the aforementioned Kazuki Namioka (who is brilliant), and cameos for Hideo Nakano and Hitoshi's brother Kazuyoshi Ozawa. It's an impressive cast across the board and a real treat for genre fans.

Overall, Bad City is a great little film that succeeds in more places than it fails and despite its bloated runtime, it's packed with action that is very impressive for the most part. A strong recommend for action film fans and an essential watch for those of Hitoshi Ozawa, though if it was a little shorter and didn't have Tak Sakaguchi this would of been at least an 8/10 for me, possibly a touch higher even. Nevertheless though, when all is said and done, this is an impressive action film and if Sonomura can keep delivering like this, then he's a real talent to keep an eye on.

Ongoing. Favourite films and surprises watched for the first time in 2023.

• Goddamn!!
• Three Gamblers
• Three Yakuza
• Showdown of Men 4: Tetsu, the White Tiger
• Dogfight: Stray Dogs' Elegy
• The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
• Gamblers and Racketeers
• Lone Wolf Cop: The Sex Doll Case

• The Book of Fish
• Hostage: Missing Celebrity
• Limbo
• The Medium
• Raging Fire
• Hand Rolled Cigarette
• The Day of Destruction
• Midnight
• A Family
• Escape from Mogadishu

All the Miike I've seen, ranked by favourites, and NOT 'best' (that would be a very different list).

Notes:
Will probably jiggle the order as I revisit older titles.

Only including what I've seen that is on Letterboxd and loggable, so no Kabuki,Kids TV, docs, music videos etc.

Honestly there's only maybe five or so at the bottom that I would consider straight up bad, the rest are all worth watching at least once, even middling Miike is more interesting than a lot of things nowadays.

Agitator ranking based on full cut, same with Sukiyaki.

1. Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
2. Dead or Alive 2: Birds
3. Young Thugs: Nostalgia
4. Agitator
5. Graveyard of Honor
6. Rainy Dog
7. Dead or Alive
8. Yakuza Demon
9. Young Thugs: Innocent Blood
10. The Way to Fight

...plus 85 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ongoing.

• Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast
• Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity
• Deaths in Tokimeki
• Gambler's Legacy
• A Legend of Turmoil
• Alone in the Night

Ongoing

• Miss Baek
• Default
• Herstory
• Parasite
• The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil

Inspired by a Facebook post, decided to have a crack at my own list. I threw this together in about 10 minutes so this certainly isn't definitive.

Presented in chronological order. The only rules are 25 films limited to one per director (possibly the hardest part).

• Black Rain
• 1750 Days of Turbulence
• Blowback: Love & Death
• The Triple Cross
• Tokyo Fist
• Gonin
• Kamikaze Taxi
• Swallowtail Butterfly
• A Yakuza in Love
• Fireworks

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ongoing

• Burning
• 1987: When the Day Comes
• The Spy Gone North
• Keys to the Heart
• Operation Red Sea
• The Fortress
• Sekigahara
• Outrage Coda
• The Night Comes for Us
• Believer

For my money Sol Kyung-gu is hands down THE finest actor working today (followed very closely by Koji Yakusho).

He possesses that rare talent of being able to perform any type of role and give 100%. Incredible range, natural charisma and screen presence. He's the real deal.

Notes:
*While there is a dud film or two in this list, its not because of his performance.
*This list is organised by best to 'worst' but honestly, he hasn't given a bad performance.
*Will probably tweak this list as I revisit some of his older films

*That top 10 should be mandatory viewing for anyone remotely interested in film.

• Oasis
• Hope
• Silmido
• Peppermint Candy
• Memoir of a Murderer
• Cruel Winter Blues
• Public Enemy
• The Merciless
• My Dictator
• Cold Eyes

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Ginji - The Slasher
• Bunny Drop
• Female Ninja Magic
• A Scarred Life 2: Blood Will Tell
• Jail Breakers
• The Tenants Downstairs
• Brothers Serving Time
• Aesthetics of a Bullet
• Code of Wolves

• Hong Kong Godfather
• Hope
• Duel to the Death
• Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder
• Mad Max 2
• A Yakuza in Love
• Drive
• Violent Panic: The Big Crash
• Big Magnum Kuroiwa
• Intruders

Best films I saw this year, a cracking year for cinema overall.
Pretty sure that The Third Murder and Outrage Coda would of made the list if I had seen them in time.

• Asura: The City of Madness
• Destruction Babies
• A Taxi Driver
• Fires on the Plain
• Memoir of a Murderer
• The Mohican Comes Home
• Blade of the Immortal
• Midnight Runners
• The Merciless
• The Outlaws

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Inside Men
• The Wailing
• I Am a Hero
• The Age of Shadows
• Himeanole
• Tunnel
• Creepy
• Port of Call
• The Shameless
• Love & Peace