Although Takashi Miike is best known for his gonzo work in films like Full Metal Yakuza, and his lighter fantasy fare like The Great Yokai War, I was curious to see how he would handle extreme sports in Blue Fight: The Breaking Down of Young Blue Warriors. In North America, this movie is retitled Blazing Fists and it could have easily become a vanity project for mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura, but instead it centres on Ikuto (Danhi Kinoshita), a young man with very little to hold onto and even more to lose.
After defending Ryoma (Kaname Yoshizawa) in a street fight, Ikuto quickly forms a bond with him. The two become fast friends and begin chasing a shared dream of appearing on the televised competition Breaking Down. A cameo from Asakura helps fuel that ambition, and soon both young men are fighting for a chance to be seen.
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