Burst City / Bakuretsu toshi (1982)

Opening with a great sequence, Burst City soon degenerates into the total chaos it appears to depict. Though this ultimately makes it a movie that today is almost unwatchable, it marked something new in Japan in the eighties and seems to have had an enduring impact on a major part of Japanese youth sub-culture into …

True Story of the Secret Ginza Police / Jitsuroku: Shisetsu Ginza keisatsu (1973)

Jitsuroku is usually translated as “true story,” which in the yakuza movies of the seventies meant not so much historical accuracy as it did fights and blood of a new kind. The most famous of the jitsuroku yakuza movies are Kinji Fukasaku’s 5-part Battles Without Honor or Humanity, whose title neatly summarizes the change. The …

Cops vs. Thugs / Kenkei tai soshiki boryoku (1975)

Like Sex and Fury, Cops vs. Thugs is about as clear a title as you’re likely to find for a movie from any country, not just Japan. However, things are not quite as clear as the title indicates in Kinji Fukasaku’s follow-up to his famous five-part Battles Without Honor or Humanity films. The big change …

Bullet Aesthetics / Teppodama no bigaku (1973)

Like Throw Away Your Books, Bullet Aesthetics is an intensely rock ‘n’ roll movie without ever showing us a band, using several tracks from the pre-punk band Brain Police as commentary on its action. The main theme, used several times throughout is “Don’t F*** Around With Me," which becomes ironic commentary on our hero Koike, …