Tag: Yakuza

[Fantasia 2021] When the Future is in the Hands of “Yakuza Princess”

Although Yakuza Princess didn’t have the budget to be like Blade Runner, I can only imagine what a blockbuster version would look like.

Yakuza Princess poster.jpgAvailable Aug 18 & 20

There is no honour amongst thieves in the families vying for absolute leadership in Yakuza Princess. This stylish neo-noir revenge thriller establishes that a very young girl, Akemi, will inherit a regime. But after a huge assassination attempt to which many members of the Takikawa clan get slain, she’s taken into hiding.

Instead of a feudal setting, this story by Vicente Amorim (director), Kimi Lee, Tubaldini Shelling and Fernando Toste (writers) sets the tale in modern times and in a world not everyone is familiar with. Akemi (MASUMI) is all grown up now and is being hunted in São Paulo, Brazil. She doesn’t know why until she questions a few people and learns about her heritage. Those that are after her knows she’s the true heir of the Yakuza crime syndicate. They won’t settle for controlling half of the organization and need to dispose of her.

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Livin’ on a Prayer with Takashi Miike’s First Love

First Love has the feel of a madcap chase with all the glory of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World tossed in. It’s the wrong analogy, but that’s what I felt.

Takashi Miike's First Love Movie Poster
Available to purchase or stream on Amazon USA

Release Date: Feb 11, 2020
Well GO USA

Spoiler Alert

Takashi Miike is a filmmaker best known for his wry, dark humour. Some of his best films include the crime-exposition with Ichi the Killer and a live action adaptation of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure which I can only describe as gloriously over the top. When these movies have a manga (cartoon) grindhouse style approach, I’m usually hooked! In his exploration into the criminal underbelly of Tokyo in First Love has a lot going on, and plenty of craziness to pack in!

If processing the subtitles is too hard, this region one home video release comes with a dubbed version. I do wonder if the region 2 version comes with Miike’s Japanese commentary though…

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