Director- Sion Sono.This is the thirteenth film I have seen of his.This is one of his more accessible works.This film follows the protagonist as he deals with an occupation switch and how he secures his place in it.The film is a live-action based on the manga written by Wakui Ken, who wrote Tokyo Revengers.The editing was done by Kakesu Shuichi, who has also worked on Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop Movie, Crows Zero, Versus, and other projects.The film was shot by Yamamoto Hideo who has also worked on Ichi the Killer, Audition, Hanabi, etc.Isomi Toshihiro, who has also worked on After Life, Nobody Knows, Harmful Insect, etc., did the production design.The film sheds light on the business of recruiting women to work in prostitution and clubs. This is shown in a great way and makes it one of the roots of this film.The film has a romantic story of sorts brewing also but it doesn't lead anywhere in this.The film also sheds some light on organizational politics but not in-depth and only a surface-level preview that leaves us wanting much more.The only saving grace it had was writing. It is written quite well with stories interweaving allowing us to get more background for the characters. It also features a decent amount of character development for the protagonist.The action sequences were quite bad in this and the final win the protagonist gets is just random. The protagonist is too weak, he is no more than a random dude who has some amount of guts but no skills to back it up.The camera work isn't as good in this compared to other work of Sono such as Anti porno and Tag.The acting was good but more on the comical side and doesn't suit Sono's style but isn't that much of a pain to sit through.The background was set well but have seen way better development done in High and Low, the film series.The film tries to add some serious scenes but fails. The film thoroughly lacks conflicts.The drug angle held a lot of merit but was solved too easily. This could have led to a much better final fight as well.
Overall the film wasn't disappointing but leaves much more to be desired. It could have been made much better.
Director- Sion Sono.This is the thirteenth film I have seen of his.This is one of his more accessible works.This film follows the protagonist as he deals with an occupation switch and how he secures his place in it.The film is a live-action based on the manga written by Wakui Ken, who wrote Tokyo Revengers.The editing was done by Kakesu Shuichi, who has also worked on Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop Movie, Crows Zero, Versus, and other projects.The film was shot by Yamamoto Hideo who has also worked on Ichi the Killer, Audition, Hanabi, etc.Isomi Toshihiro, who has also worked on After Life, Nobody Knows, Harmful Insect, etc., did the production design.The film sheds light on the business of recruiting women to work in prostitution and clubs. This is shown in a great way and makes it one of the roots of this film.The film has a romantic story of sorts brewing also but it doesn't lead anywhere in this.The film also sheds some light on organizational politics but not in-depth and only a surface-level preview that leaves us wanting much more.The only saving grace it had was writing. It is written quite well with stories interweaving allowing us to get more background for the characters. It also features a decent amount of character development for the protagonist.The action sequences were quite bad in this and the final win the protagonist gets is just random. The protagonist is too weak, he is no more than a random dude who has some amount of guts but no skills to back it up.The camera work isn't as good in this compared to other work of Sono such as Anti porno and Tag.The acting was good but more on the comical side and doesn't suit Sono's style but isn't that much of a pain to sit through.The background was set well but have seen way better development done in High and Low, the film series.The film tries to add some serious scenes but fails. The film thoroughly lacks conflicts.The drug angle held a lot of merit but was solved too easily. This could have led to a much better final fight as well.
Overall the film wasn't disappointing but leaves much more to be desired. It could have been made much better.