Onimasa (1982) Movie Review

When young Matsue and her small brother are given away as payment by their poor business running parents, local Shikoku gang boss, Onimasa Kiryuin (Tatsuya Nakadai) sees potential heirs to his powerful Shikoku  gumi. But when the younger of the two runs away, leaving his elder sister alone to become a conflicted servant, it is an odyssey for this entire family of criminality as the modern world threatens to swallow them up. Dark samurai film master, Hideo Gosha's first major film of the 1980s, Onimasa (Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai) is at one instant an attempt to send off the classical gangster drama with a manner of grace, but on another, an admission of an auteur's inability to let go within a changing landscape. Based upon Tomiko Miyao's novel, "The Life of Hanako Kiryuin", for a film made in 1982, it is an unapologetically old-fashioned work that flirts with the pre-Fukasaku mindset in regards to the yakuza, but also reinforces the less-than-flattering-elements that are best seen through the eyes of Matsue (Nobuko Sendo- then later Masako Natsume) who recalls much of this story in flashback after the discovery Hanako's body by locals in 1940. - A choice that immediately makes for an unusual, almost sudsy opera with a feminine edge.

Starting her life under the wing of the charismatic, and old-world Onimasa, her greatest wishes to become more worldly comes at great odds with her new father's vision. So when he and his gang abduct Otsuru (Akiko Kana), a rival gang leader's servant who later gives birth to his only biological heir, it is this disconnect that bears the brunt of the film's thematic heft. While the headstrong Matsue grows into a well-rounded schoolteacher, it is his daughter, Hanako, who has become an insufferable brat of an adult. Gosha's delivery of this smoldering ball of hubris feels a less like a Coppola-esque epic, and something closer to a stage play rendition-- which is made all the more bombastic through Nakadai's larger-than-life performance. His pride & belief in a romanticized Japan of noble men, and sidelined women becomes more and more undermined by history, with new angles slowly caving in throughout the two-hour plus running time.

From her younger days, Matsue is seen able and more than willing to make her new family happy, without sacrificing her dreams in the process. Sendo's scenes carry with them a notable amount of bravery, especially in a sequence where Matsue not only is tasked with facing up to a potential lie with an elder boarder, but becoming a young lady in the process. Scenes such as these are hints of a much more contemporary nature for Gosha, and imply what will only become a deeply complex relationship between father and adopted daughter. As externally tough as his wife, Uta (Shima Iwashita) seems to be, it is the heart of Matsue that offers up a world beyond anything he is equipped to deal with. It's the kind of relationship that renders him completely out of his element, resulting in some truly challenging stumbles along the path. So when she grows up, and eventually falls in love with a local labor (Eitaro Ozawa) leader during a railroad strike, Onimasa is torn between his enduring love of Matsue's defiant nature, and her ultimate act of departure from him. What culminates here could so easily disturb some, but offers up such a payoff that says more implicitly than any hackneyed speech ever could.

And despite the original source material which was centered largely on Hanako, Onimasa's biological daughter, it is the weighty counter of Matsue that provides much of the film's drive. With her as the more cinematic odd-one-out, the film's use of objects (ex. her wish for money to buy a pencil VS. Hanako's wishes for a hair bow) makes for some non-subtle leaning. In fact, when she falls for a man, Onimasa bullies early on, and eventually acquiesces to, it is made clear by way of a German language book that she brings with her during her visit to him in jail. An educated, essentially cut-off man of society, he is of a quantity almost completely alien to the world of gambling, dog fights, and gang violence. Hanako herself (Kaori Tagasugi) becomes less a central character, and more a shadow of the world Matsue is attempting to carve. Even when the spoiled daughter becomes the lynchpin to the piece's finale, one wonders if the poor thing ever had a chance at all with such an upbringing.

Not unlike the title character, Gosha defiantly creates a film that fits firmly within the gangster and costume dramas of the past as if to openly admit that the 1980s is simply lost on him. The cinematography is at times classical, and often retro in heavy lighting. For as straightforward as the narrative plays out, events skip forward not unlike taking a peek at an aged novella with rotted pages beginning to fall out. What isn't seen is not always missed however, and the almost TV movie aura lends itself to the script's often soapy nature. Which is again largely buoyed by Nakadai's strangely appropriate turn as a remnant of the past on a single-minded quest to become a chivalrous businessman, to often tragic results. But the director also harbors a glimmer of hope, embodied especially in the radiance of Natsume who only a few short years later, passed away to leukemia in her late twenties. Somehow, their work here shines beyond what is ostensibly a heavy-duty melodrama in the old tradition.

Sayonara Jupiter (1984) Movie Review

In a far flung space faring future (2140 AD), humanity has expanded beyond the confines of Earth, and is at a crossroads in regards to energy consumption as colonies continue to expand throughout the Sol system. A confident and able consortium spanning all known nations has been planning and ready to execute a daring and controversial plan to create a second sun out of hulking planet Jupiter. Led by chief scientist, Eiji Honda (Tomokazu Miura), the massive JS Project is about to run across a galaxy of challenges. Including intervention by anti-space radicals led by a charismatic folk singer on Earth, (among their ranks an old flame of Honda’s) a sudden appearance of a black hole preparing to consume the system, Earth included. And even there are the eerie clues to an ancient alien civilization, as well as evidence of a craft somewhere deep within the storms of the system’s largest world. And then there’s the shark…seriously. 

If at least half of this description sounds familiar, don’t be afraid. Koji Hashimoto’s sprawling space epic for the then struggling TOHO studios remains Arthur C. Clarke & George Lucas by way some serious pipe fodder, and some of Japan’s most ambitious film craftspeople . And by that measure, the film can easily be seen as an important moment in the nation’s science fiction/tokusatsu identity, if not in anything resembling halfway sane storytelling. It is on one level, a truly remarkable piece of international genre filmmaking synergy featuring some of the most diverse casting ever assembled for a Japanese film; with many actors even speaking their lines to one another in diverging languages including English, French, & German. And the effects work comprised mostly of optical and model work, are amongst the most singular in the industry’s history. The influence of western film permeates virtually every frame of it, and also carries with it the kind of high ambition it’s home culture was beginning to exhibit writ large during the early 1980s. In fact, it’s hard to imagine another film that embodies the “go-go Japan” feeling more than Sayonara Jupiter, as its lead character in Miura assuredly maintains his faith in humanity’s need to shepherd nature into a path for a better tomorrow for a more needy humanity to regardless of those resistant to any grand change at the hands of scientists.

And even after all this talk of what makes the film such a treat, historically..One must also make clear that Sayonara Jupiter also has the distinction of being often hilariously silly, and borderline frustrating. As much craft and resourcefulness is on display, it cannot override the tonal rollercoaster the film is. Likely borne out of this unerring need to compete, the story careens from one plot to the next, often with little rhyme or reason, sometimes even stopping completely for any number of absurd stops that remain just mind boggling. Examples include an early scene when Honda’s american compatriot Kinne (Irwin Ron, who looks a lot like a bearded Matthew Lillard) kills time before a mission by settling down and watching Gojira and King Ghidorah duke it out. (Hey, look! Even gaijin love Gojira!) This is only made all the more bizarre, when somewhere else on the main JS ship, anti-space protesters disguised as tourist types reveal themselves to incite a riot (which is then intercut with shots of an angry king kaiju!!?). No sooner does this strange turn in the film happen, that Honda is reunited with Maria (Diane Dangley) which almost immediately leads to a truly one of a kind zero gravity lovemaking/flight/plead & argument session. I wish I were making this up.

And without delving too much further into the film’s story; as the film is in many ways more a showcase for effects, and a hopeful future vision rather than anything else, one must also make mention of a scene where after having had to send the offending protesters off the ship, and sabotage is blamed for the death of a major crewmember, Honda decides to visit the beachside paradise home of singer, Peter (Paul Tagawa) and his followers in hopes of pleading for the end of any further violent actions upon the JS project. It perhaps might be best to know that Peter’s beliefs regarding man’s earthbound destiny is also represented in a dolphin mascot…also named, Jupiter. In a moment that practically defines to all cinema the real meaning of hamfisted, Honda is forced into making science’s point when a shark attacks Jupiter. His need to not only kill the rubbery predator, but to fail in saving the life of the sea mammal does everything to stop the film dead in its tracks, if only to make a point that much of the counterculture takes so little into account. As the earth, and several worlds are in deep peril, it is man’s ability to rise to the occasion despite the odds that defines it. The big problem comes when one remembers, we are in a SPACE MOVIE. As well-intended as this whole scene is, it truly feels copped from a completely different film. In fact, most to all of the Peter-cult material seems horrendously out of place, which threatens to hurt everything else. And yet, even then, more oddness remains in the waiting, including laser-toting terrorists, a gargantuan spacecraft that looks Zentraedi and sounds like humpback whales, and a last ditch effort complete with self-sacrifice and painfully awkward finale for measure.

Initial stories inform that the original impetus for the film was when Tomoyuki Tanaka saw the original Star Wars in 1977, and wanted his own rendition made. And through the eyes of Hashimoto, and writer , Sakyo Komatsu, we are host to a film that just wants to be virtually every space opera made over the 20 years leading to it. The visual echoes of Kubrick are solid in places, particularly in the opening moments which are filled with detailed and drawn out shots of impressive spacecraft, as well as interiors. Only in a high-ideal film such as this can we get an early shot of a young seemingly american stewardess in a kimono answering passenger questions in a transport, taking place upside down. American pilots reaching destination only to partake of McDonald’s in zero grav. There is even a pint-sized genius in boy scientist Carlos Angeles (Marc Panthona) who is Honda’s right hand in the dangerous JS Project. 

The film’s influence can also be widely felt within the worlds of Japanese anime. (Macross fans take note, much of the score is by Shintaro Haneda who was working on this film around the time of the legendary Do You Remember Love? Feature- which is why a few tracks contain similar to exact moments) And with names like Tokyo-3, as well as a large-scale evacuation of Earth due to an oncoming calamity, it’s no small thing to believe that this made an impact regardless of story. It remains a beloved film, and on a production level, it is understandable.

With an unprecedented cast of internationals (many of whom were clearly not actors by trade), and an openness to leaving some languages intact, while others are dubbed over, Sayonara Jupiter is the kind of genre film that could only have come from the early 1980s. And much like a 1970s disaster movie, it simply attempts to be too much of everything to everyone, which makes for a truly surreal viewing experience. And perhaps in this “cranked to 13” sense, the film can also be seen as something of a one-of-a-kind camp classic. And for this, it truly wins some outstanding prizes. There is a lot of noteorthy history within the world of Sayonara Jupiter, just don’t expect hard, dramatic science fiction to be among the highlights.

Sukeban Deka (1987) Movie Review

Transition has been in the air for former yo-yo cop/ seifuku-clad avenger, Saki Asamiya, but the implications of this bear a far greater challenge than she ever could have imagined. A would-be dictator, and his army of followers have taken control of a remote private school, and plot greater threats for the future of Japan (and possibly the world). More than done with it, Saki has little choice but to join up with several generations of her former detective life(including the sister of one of the students held prisoner) to infiltrate the prison school, rescue the hostage students, and save tomorrow! And if the preceding paragraph sounds like a recipe for fun, I wouldn't harbor any blame. The first full-length feature of Shinji Wada's Delinquent Girl Detective saga has been a review long in the putting off, and now in a time of mutual transition, it's time to put this wild child out into the ether.



I suppose the best way to preface the remainder of this review is to summon up a little history regarding the SD franchise, and its enduring cult appeal. First appearing via Hakusensha's Hana To Yume, Sukeban Deka's unique brand of often brutal action amidst the confines of a high school drama universe has long been a part of popular manga lore. The tale weaved shares the revelation that Wada, under pressure to concoct a new series received two conflicting suggestions (one being a hard-hitting detective tale, all the while he was developing a high school story), the mangaka took a hard left and combined both. The concept of a lone schoolgirl being picked to become a brutal crime-fighting machine for a secret government agency seems almost atypical for the era. But it was this completely bizarre concept decision that gave way to what became  SD's signature; Saki Asamiya's designated weapon in her war against the terrors of school life? A yo-yo.



Add this to a neverending gallery of bullies, freaks, terrorist organizations, and even cultists, and you have one of the most lovably absurd allegories for adolescence imaginable. So when SD ended its run after twenty-two volumes, things went silent until a popular live action TV series resurrected Saki Asamiya, pals and rivals for a solid run between 1985 and 1987 to the amazing number of 108 episodes. One of the biggest secrets to its success lied in the reveal that the Asamiya moniker was something of a "Bondian" code name for those co-opted for this role which initially went to exceptionally skilled/dangerous "delinquent girls", who also assumed the same close-combat weapon. Series one featured Yuki Saito in the title role which was a significant success in also launching a popular idol singer career for her. Then came the more friendly-faced Yoko Minamino, who's run in the lead granted her an expanded idol popularity which eventually led to this first feature film which in many ways functions as a bridge between second and third generation (series) of Sakis(The third being the smaller, more inexperienced yet plucky Yui Kazama played by Yui Asaka). And as a transitional tale, Sukeban Deka is as hilariously over the top as one can expect from the franchise.


The film immediately informs us that Sukeban Deka No. 2 (Minamino) has long earned her wish of returning to normal life, and is now a civilian prepping for college entrance exams, which is of course thwarted by a disturbing run-in with what looks to be a fugitive boy on the run from a group of elder shadies (why their abduction vehicle of choice is a public transit bus remains a mystery). It turns out that the young man, Saki has stumbled upon and is briefly captured with is a student of Sankou Gakuen, a secluded oceanside private school predominantly aimed at trouble students. Being isolated from the rest of Japan, the fortified campus is now apparently under the auspices of a dangerous megalomaniac with fascisistic tendencies, running the school with a militaristic iron fist. With students tortured, injured, and even killed, even Saki's old superiors at the shadow police agency she once worked for cannot intervene due to treacherous names amongst the higher ranks. Even when it is discovered that the brutal headmaster is in fact a once thought to be dead would-be revolutionary, their hands are tied, which only forces Saki to undertake a dangerous operation outside of any legal channels.


And almost immediately, the film remains true to the television series in how it balances some pretty fascinating and goofy extremes to entertaining effect. Having the usually black seifuku wearing Saki with hair ribbon and pink sweater as she is not only tortured with a ridiculous barrage of electric shocks, but also kicking holy arse is pretty hilarious in itself. Even as Saki amasses old friends including the ever reliable Biidama O-Kyo (played by fellow idol singer and fan favorite, Haruko Sagara), Yukino Yajima (Akie Yoshizawa) and newcomers Megumi Kato(Ayako Kobayashi) & Sukeban Deka 3, Yui Kazama (who's entrance makes for one of the film's most hilarious decisions- making her a successor to anything more than a doorstop. Her cries for her enemies to fight fair & square as they pummel the girls in a quarry with heavy machine gun fire undoubtedly wins the chuckle prize) the stakes in their mission are raised upon arriving at the school, only to discover that the cold mania that is headmaster Hattori, is complimented by...You guessed it. A MACHINE BODY complete with metal arrow launchers built into his arms.





But Saki is not as outmatched as one might expect as she is given one last gift by her concerned caretaker, Nishiwaki (Keizo Kanie); a triple weighted version of her already heavy yo-yo, complete with shoulder harness designed to theoretically cushion the recoil of her crushing blows to enemies. Concept notwithstanding, it does create tension as it becomes quickly evident that every time she uses it, it runs the risk of irreparable damage to her! And the fact that she and friends not only face a metal and stone stronghold, but an army of seemingly brawler-style video game army of drones at Hattori's disposal, makes for one incredibly tired and beaten looking heroine by the finale.


Other laughably funny elements include; often inappropriate music editing which largely consists of Ichiro Nitta's bombastic cues from the original series, the aforementioned bus action scene (exact change), the choice "landing" moment where the delinquent girl squad infiltrates the school, somehow revealing perfecly tailored and cared for seifuku complete with skirts underneath their waterproof suits (which were bright silver & pink complete with PANTS by the way). Another extremely funny moment is what seems to be a mission briefing happening as characters sample some of Saki's rice cooking skills! In the truest hyperbolic sense, the film wavers recklessly between being aimed at younger audiences, or those looking for a specific tone of action adventure trash. Again, the film reminds me of what may have inspired Kenta Fukasaku's contributions years later. When people assume Battle Royale was something of a first, one might want to point them in this direction. Sometimes, it's only Japan that could deliver something so innocent, and yet so visceral and violent. It isn't terribly bloody, but safe this is not.

But a large part of what makes it work for me, is Minamino who ultimately plays matters as straight as possible, all the while such absurdity is happening via her or the villains. The extremes are often so taut at both ends, and knowingly so, it becomes more endearing than exasperating. Being a product of the idol salad days of the 1980s, the film walks the thin line between cuteness and brutality the likes no other culture can manage. Sukeban Deka for all it's extreme thuggery and violence, is a tokusatsu action series at heart, so asking for a film like this to make sense is merely an invitation to insanity.