20th century boy’s pt 3 – our flag

Title - 20^th century boy’s pt 3 – our flag
Language - Japanese
Genre - Sci-fi












 As this is the 3^rd part of the trilogy there may be some spoilers for the first two films the reviews for which are here Part 1 and here Part 2

Part 3 is set in 2017, 2 years after the events in part 2.  Friend has built a wall around Tokyo and has total control of the city.  There are no radios allowed and the only television shows have to be approved by Friend.  At the start of the film we see Otcho (shogun) and his companion scaling the walls to get into Tokyo.  As they get over Otcho is surprised to see that the city has been rebuilt to look the same as it did in the 1970’s but he doesn’t have much time to look around as an alarm goes and the ‘Global defence force’ who are now policing Tokyo come looking for them.  Otcho and his companion separate and Otcho ends up taking refuge in a wheel barrow that is being pushed by two children.  After accompanying the children Otcho learns a number of facts:

1)      Friend is rounding up and killing anyone who disagrees with him.

2)      There a final part of the new book of prophesies which stated that, on August 30^th 2017 there will be an alien invasion which will lead to a 3^rd plague being spread around the world.

3)      Yoshitsune is leading an underground faction to stop Friend

4)      Kanna is calling herself the ‘Ice Queen’ and is leading a second faction that is planning a violent revolt on the 30^th August

5)      There is a chance that Kenji is still alive

Otcho also begins to suspect that Yoshitsune is Friend and his rebellion is a ruse, this comes from the second film where Friend has the badge that was stolen when they were children.  It is suspected that the child who stole the badge is now Friend.  Otcho goes out to find Kanna and worn her that Yoshitsune is looking for her to make an alliance, which Otcho thinks is another ruse so Friend can track her down.

Whilst this is going on Kiriko (Kanna’s mother) is working on a vaccine for the new plague, as she helped to create the original plague that was released at midnight new years eve 1999 hand helped to find the cure for the second one that was released at the end of the second film she believes that she can inoculate people from the third one.

When Otcho finds Kanna he tries to convince her that Kenji may still be alive and that the violent rebellion she has planed will not work.  He finally manages to prove that Kenji is alive when he finds a radio and play her a new song that Kenji is singing, as neither of them have ever hear the song before it stands to reason that it was written after the events of the first film meaning that Kenji could not have been killed when the Robot exploded.

Later Kanna confronts her mother to find out who her farther is, Kiriko confirms that it is Friend but she is uncertain of who he is as the name he used when they were together was fake.

Kanna is arrested for being a terrorist and taken to Friend who attempts to recruit her to his side.  Kanna refuses to join him and Friend lets her go giving her a clue how to survive the next plague.

Kanna changes her plan from the planed revolution to trying to get as many people to the site of the 2015 expo that Friend created in the second film as it is a place of importance to Friend and she believes that he will not spray the area with the plague.  To get the people to the expo site Kanna sets up a concert promising that the singer of the mysterious song that is playing on the radio will be there.  The song is the new one for Kenji.

As Kanna is setting up the concert Kenji approaches the wall of Tokyo.  After getting through the gates he meets a man who used to work with Friend and who helped Friend form his mystique.

As every one gathers a Kanna’s concert Friend launches his UFO’s to spread the new plague and a robot equipped with a neutron bomb.  Kenji and Otcho race to stop them from destroying the city and then the world.

The third part of 20^th century boys brings the trilogy to a nice conclusion, all the characters are reunited and most of the events of the first two films are reviled.  We learn how   Friend built up his cult and gained his power, we learn how he resurrected and, of course we learn that his true identity is…. Well of course I’m not going to give that part away but Friends identity becomes secondary anyway the films are more about why and how Friend was created and what can happen when some one becomes so lonely that they begin to hate humanity and, of course the films are about the power of Rock music.

The films are tight and there are very few loose ends, the only two things that don’t seem to be explained fully are both from part two and they are the esp, does Kanna and Friend have any powers or not.  It is hinted that the spoon bending is another trick of Friend’s but it is not fully clarified.  It is also not totally clear if the Virtual reality time travel used in the ‘Bonus round’ actually affects the present or if it just changes the program.  If the times travel affects the present then it could argued that time had been changed and events of the three films never happened.

The last part of the third film was a good way of explaining some of the finer points.  After the concert has finished Kanna takes Kenji to the remains of Friend land and he uses the Bonus round technology to go back and set things right, as I said we don’t know if the events that happen in Bonus round affect reality but if they did it would change things so that Friend never took over.

The look of the third film keeps in line with the other films; the future technology still has a retro 70’s feeling to it.  The uniforms of the global defense force are reminiscent of the original series of V and the UFO’s are you standard low budget ‘hubcap’ flying saucers.  The mystery of the identity of Friend began to remind me of the hunt for ‘Number one’ in the original series of ‘The Prisoner’

Over all 20^th century boys part 3 is a good ending to a great series and is well worth a watch although I would make sure you plenty of time as the whole series runs at around 7 and half hours. 

20th century boys part 2: The last hope

Title - 20^th century boys part 2: The last hope
Language - Japanese
Genre - Sci- fi, conspiracy

I reviewed the first part of this trilogy a while ago (the review can be found here) and finally decided to watch the next part.  As the films carry on from each other there will be spoilers for part one in this review.

Part two is set 15 years after part one, Kenji and his friends failed to stop the giant robot from spreading the virus and in the aftermath Friend, the cult leader form the first film has risen up to be the new ruler of Japan.  History tells us that Kenji was the person responsible for the robot and virus and he is missing, presumed dead.  The rest of Kenji’s gang are in hiding except for Shogun who is still in Friends prison where he is only known as Number 3.

In the fifteen years since the end of the first film Japan has become slightly futuristic looking city, there are blimps in the air, giant monitors on the sides of buildings and loud speakers in the street all of which are used for advertising and spreading propaganda about how good Friend is.  The scenery is like a more realist, less futuristic blade runner with out the hover cars.  Most of the population seem happy but at the beginning of the film we see that there is a lot of violence as the Chinese mafia is at war with the Thai mafia in the back streets.

The film starts with the sides of the mafia fighting in a number of back streets.  The gunshots are heard in a nearby café.  When one of café regulars mentions where the fighting is happening the waitress runs out into the middle of the gun fight and forces both sides to stop.  We discover that the waitress is Kanna the baby from the first film and she knows the truth about her Uncle Kenji but know one will believe her.

A body is found during the aftermath of the mafia fight which is first assumed to be a victim for the violence but it turns out that is was an assassination by a corrupt police man. 

The customer who first told Kanna where the fighting was taking place than asks her for help, she has a friend who knows why the man was killed and they need Kanna’s help to protect her as it has information on Friend and what he is planning next.  The information leads Kanna to ‘Friend land’ a summer camp used to brain wash people into supporting Friend.  The murdered man was in Friend land and took part in something known as the bonus round.  Kanna decides to get into friend land to see if she can find out what is happening.

At the same time as this is all going on Shogun and a manga artist who has been imprisoned for righting the wrong type of manga make their escape from the prison and meet up with one of the other heroes from the first film.

Kanna and one of her classmates enrol on a stay in Friend land and they meet up with Kanna’s uncle Yoshitsune, one of the heroes from the first film who tells them that only the best students get to go into the Bonus round, but warn against it as it is dangerous.  Kanna ignores the warnings and pass the tests to get into the bonus round, along with her classmate.

The Bonus round uses virtual reality to take two girls back in time to when her uncle and his friends first wrote the book of prophecies, specifically to when ‘Donkey’, the group member who’s death set the current events in motion went into the school and saw the ghost.  Kanna sees two other boys one of whom has hanged himself and the other who is watching him.  The second by has a copy of the new book of prophecies and the first boy comes back to life.  Whilst this is going on Friend enters the room to speak to Kanna and to tell her who her farther is.  While Kanna is talking to the adult Friend her classmate is on the roof looking for the child version of Friend to try to find out who he actually is, she approaches a masked child who takes his mask off.

Yoshitsune pulls the plug on the computer that runs the bonus round and Kanna sets off find out about the new book of Prophecies.

Shogun is now on the trail of Friend during his investigations he is approached by an old lady who recognises him as one of Kenji’s friends and she hands him a copy of the new book of Prophecies.  The book was written but the children Kanna saw in the past and, reading through the book Shogun realises that they are approaching the final chapter in it where Friend is made into a god and the human race is ended.   Shogun, Kanna and Yoshitsune are now in a race against time to work out what the final prophecy means and how they can stop it.

20^th century boys’ part 2 is long which i find unusual for a middle film; it picks up well form the first part and is still as good.  The film keeps things as real as possible but still has a slight feel as being what an anime would be like if it came true. 

The future of 2015 manages to carry the feeling of what a child may imagine which is as it should be being as it is meant to be based on the books of prophecy.

The film also manages to keep the identity of Friend a secret, just when you think you know who it is the plot takes a turn to remove that character as a red herring.

There are a couple things in the film that you are never sure if they are real, there is a bit about Kanna having esp but, like the ray gun and the robot in the first film you can’t tell if it is real or just part of the fantasy set in motion by Friend recreating the books of prophecy.

I enjoyed the second part of 20^th Century Boys and regret not watching it sooner and I’ll be watching part 3 for next weeks blog.   

Chanbara Striptease

Title -

Chanbara Striptease

Language - Japanese

genre -  chanbara, Ninja, time travel BooBs

I came across this film whilst looking for the second Chanbara Beauty film. A lot of sites recommended it or seemed to put it as a third film in the series.  I think it is just because it has a similar title and is stylistically similar but Chanbara Striptease has no connection to the Bikini Zombie Hunter games.  In fact it doesn’t even have zombies in it, it does have Ninjas and boobs.

 Chanbara Striptease starts with Lili, the youngest member of her family as she is about to receive the secrets of ‘Sayama Hashinryu’ a secret way of fighting that is past down to one woman of each generation.  It is a fighting style so dangerous that no one who has ever come across it has lived to tell the tale.

Lili’s grandmother starts the ceremony by checking if Lili is sure she wants the burden of Sayama Hashinryu.  Lili agrees to the burden and is presented with a sword and a box containing the sacred nightgown, which she is told not to open unless she is in dire danger.  Lili is then blindfolded and told to drink a strange potion. 

When Lili takes the blindfold off she finds that she is in a forest and completely naked, next to her is the box with the nightgown and the sword.  Lili goes of to put the nightgown on and emerges just in time to see a young woman being attacked by three ninjas.  Using the skills of the Sayama Hashinryu Lili defeats the ninjas, killing one of them and helps the woman back to her village.  Lili finds out that the Ninjas are lead by Lady Okinu and are demanding protection money from them; she also finds out that she has gone back in time around 300 years, to the period that the Sayama Hashinryu was first used.

Whilst in the village Lili falls in love with a man named Hikochi and vows to protect the village but, in her first fight Lady Okinu uses the Sayama Hashinryu and Lili starts to fade away as she is about to kill her. This makes Lili think that Lady Okinu is the first user of the Sayama Hashinryu and if she kills her then the future will be changed and Lili will not exist.

Whilst deciding what next Lady Okinu goes to the villagers and tells them she will stop the demands for money if they hand over Lili, this leaves Lili little option but continue the fight.

So the plot to Chanbara Striptease is half decent until you realise that to charge up the Sayama Hashinryu Lili (and lady Okinu) have to take off there tops, this some how frees purple energy that comes from their breasts and makes them almost unstoppable.  There is also a hint that having sex before a fight may increases the strength of the attacks but it may have just been that sex feels good.  Needless to say there is a lot of fighting and a small amount of sex.

I did enjoy the film but it was pretty terrible, Lili was not trained in any way in how to use the Sayama Hashinryu, she just appears in the past and knows to ‘drop her top’ when she is attacked.  The affects are not great but are about the same quality as the ‘Chambara Beauty’ films but with added sound effects when the breasts start swinging, again this happens a lot.

Then there are the ninjas, now these are, surprisingly all male, I would have thought that in a film that is set up to get breast on the screen at least some of the ninjas would be female but they are your normal run of the mill, black clad Ninjas.  That is except for two of them and these are almost set up as ‘mid level boss’s’ but with no explanation for why they are different.  One looks like a budget Ryuk for death note.

                                                    The middle ninja

                                                                   Ryuk from Death note

The other has his head covered with bandages.  The latter of the two seems to just disappear after his fight and not in a cool ninja puff of smoke it’s just like they’d finished with him so he was no longer included.

This brings us to the time travel, in part this is covered quite well, in a film where bear breast can enhance fighting prowess I can believe that a potion can send you back in time.  The film seems like it is going to try to tackle paradox theory but then that just seems to fizzle out.  We don’t find out why Lady Okinu know the Sayama Hashinryu and, with out spoiling too much we don’t actually find out how the person who does start the school of Sayama Hashinryu actually leans it or passes in on to anyone.

Then there is the final battle.  It seems that those who possess the Sayama Hashinryu are protected by breasts that cannot be harmed by swords and the fighting style possesses some interesting moves.  I can cope with holding your sword between your breasts, it would be, I imagine an odd weight but your power is in your breasts so I guess it’s ok but can anyone explain how you would fire the sword from between said bosoms.    

So, is Chanbara Striptease a bad film? Yes it’s an obvious attempt to put as breast on the screen as possible and, in some places the acting is flatter then the cast but, it’s a good sort of bad.  There is an attempt of a story.  There is some thought gone into the time travel aspect, there are sword fights and Ninjas and, for those of us with no pretence of culture there are always BOOBS.

I am almost expecting some one to bring out an anime of this possibly along the lines of Samurai Princess.

Chanbara Beauty Vortex

Title -

Chanbara Beauty Vortex

Language - Japanese

genre - Zombie, chanbara













 

This is the second film based on the Oneechanbara/bikini zombie hunter games (I’ve reviewed the first film here) but it’s not a sequel in as much as it doesn’t carry on from the first film.  I’m sure if it could be classed as a reboot either as it is based on one of the later games and so the story comes from that and not the early game the first film follows.

Chanbara Beauty Vortex is (loosely) based on the Oneechanbara: Bikini samurai Squad game released for the Xbox 360, which happens to be the only one I’ve played.  The film is set 20 years after the accidental release of the zombies by the organization who are trying to find a way of making themselves immortal.  This time around Aya and Saki are allies and are trying to stop the zombies.  Both of the sisters have Imchi blood, which means that if they get too much blood on them they will go into a berserk like rage.  A woman called Misery meets them and tells them that Himiko, the leader of the Organization wants to use Saki’s blood to finish off the immortality formula; she also manages to convince Saki that she would be able to resurrect her parents but they will also need the blood for another girl. Saki goes along with Misery’s plan and the trick Aya into helping them capture Kei who lives in a camp with other children and is protected by Reiko & Ryo.  Saki and Misery get away with Kei and Aya and Ryo go after them, Reiko is injured and stays behind to look after the rest of the children in the camp.  The rest of the film is taken up by Aya and Ryo’s journey to find Saki and Saki discovering that Misery is not all that she seems.  The film ends with Aya and Ryo catching up with Misery and fighting her for Kei.

As I’ve said Chanbara Beauty Vortex is loosely based up on the Oneechanbara: Bikini samurai squad game for the Xbox 360 and even starts with a shower scene in the same way the game does.  It has the main characters form the game but Reiko’s part in the film is much shorter than in the game and the character of Himiko is different.  The final battle with Misery see’s her using her long spiked sword and the stronger zombies look like men in black rejects.  I was a bit disappointed by the absence of the killer whale zombie; it could have been an amusing addition to the film.

I think that Vortex is the better of the two films.  The Film seems to flow better, there is more time spent on the journey whereas the first film jumps from scene to scene.  Vortex does not seem to use special effects in quite the same way either; there seems to be less use of any magic or any kind of energy blast that the first film had, concentrating more on the rage that the Imchi blood causes.  There are still the blood splats on the camera but as these are part of the game they do fit.

The zombies and the fight scenes also seem a bit better although there are odd bits of continuity that don’t seem to make sense, for example in one of the first fights Aya cuts a zombie in half and the legs and the head remain in motion until she puts he sword through its head but in all other scenes once a zombie has been ‘killed’ it disintegrates even if it’s not killed with a ‘head shot’.  There is also a scene where Aya is fighting with some of the more advanced zombies we see her lose both swords and she gets one for Ryo but after the fight all the swords are back with their rightful owners..

Over all Chanbara Beauty vortex is an entertaining film that doesn’t need much brain power to follow.