I just received a press release regarding Funimation’s recent acquisition of Shikabane Hime (aka: Corpse Princess). Now, I don’t know much about Shikabane Hime, but it’s undead-sukeban style heroine and premise of zombie action has me intrigued. Apparently Funimation acquired the rights to Shikabane Hime just weeks after its initial Japanese Television debut — I’m guessing it must be pretty good to warrant such a speedy acquisition. Oh, and the best part? Funimation will be offering streaming downloads of the individual Shikabane Hime episodes, free, through their own site and …

Director: Noboru Iguchi
Starring: Asami, Kaori, Demo Tanaka, Kentaro Kishi, Risa Mizuki
Genre: Sukeban
Directed by Noboru Iguchi, the wild mind behind this year’s standout, Machine Girl, Sukeban Boy (aka: Oira Sukeban) sees the first screen adaptation of Go Nagai’s lesser known hero/ine. Essentially a repackaging of Panty Mask and Kekko Kamen, Sukeban Boy sees another heroine in a high-school pervert parlor, but with a gender bending twist. Our hero, Sukeban (played by AV star Asami), is an exceedingly effeminate boy with an understandably troubled school career. After getting kicked out of school …

Rather than continuing to debate over a catchy introduction, I’ll just jump right in. If you’re reading this article you’re probably familiar with Panik House’s release of Girl Boss Guerilla. If not, no need to worry. Unlike other sukeban series (ie: Delinquent Girl Boss), the films in the Girl Boss series are pretty much stand-alone entities. In similar fashion to Fierce Creatures and A Fish Called Wanda, Girl Boss Revenge sees the entire cast of Girl Boss Guerilla playing completely different characters, while preserving basic setups of rivalries and affiliations.
The …

Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess was easily my favorite film of Panik House’s Pinky Violence collection, so when I heard that Exploitation Digital was releasing Blossoming Night Dreams (aka: Zubekô banchô: yume wa yoru hiraku), you could say I was fairly excited.
The first film in the Delinquent Girl Boss series, Blossoming Night Dreams sees Rika (Reiko Oshida) as a freshly graduated reform school delinquent. After a brief introductory sequence on campus, we flash forward to the outside world, Rika having been released and allowed a chance at the …

The first Sukeban Deka movie in eighteen years, Kenta Fukasaku’s Yo-Yo Girl Cop (aka: Sukeban Deka: Kôdo nêmu = Asamiya Saki ) sets about introducing the cult favorite yo-yo wielding schoolgirl special agent to the reality-television generation. From it’s opening sequence, where a bomb strapped Sukeban explodes in a famous crowded Tokyo intersection (in a rather nice homage to the senior Fukasaku’s Battle Royale), one could safely say Fukasaku set out to create the most adrenaline charged Sukeban Deka yet. And, to be honest, he adds some undeniably cool …

I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this earlier. Today starts the one week special engagement of Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale 2)’s Yo-Yo Girl Cop (aka: Sukeban Deka : Kôdo nêmu = Asamiya Saki ), the latest in the Sukeban Deka series of movies. Now, if you’re not familiar with Sukeban Deka, you really should acquaint yourself (Check out my review of the first film, here, and the second, here). The series focuses on a group of school-girl secret agents, the leader of which is armed only with …

Aegis
Adapted from the smash hit novel of the same name, Aegis was an event film looked forward to with an excitement reserved for the likes of the original Jurassic Park. Taking its title from the name of a mythical shield of Greek lore that would render its bearer impervious to physical attack, Aegis concerns a similarly protected ship, armed to the teeth with American chemical weapons (the evil GUSOH), which as luck would have it gets high-jacked by pan Asian terrorists and used to threaten the safety of Tokyo. The …

Kibakichi – A werewolf/yokai/chanbara fantasy, Kibakichi is the tale of a lone werewolf/swordsman (name found in title), who finds a job in a town run by human munching Yokai. These Yokai don’t eat just any humans, mind you. Just ones with vices – say gambling, or sex. In fact, they have an agreement with the neighboring humans to send them their undesirables. Initially Kibakichi finds this a tad bit disturbing, but realizing that his lupine leanings are more in line with the Yokai than the humans, he reluctantly decides to …

Criminal Woman: Killing Melody, the first film in the Criminal Woman series, marks the 10th pairing of Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, and frankly, it is one of the best.
The film opens on Reiko Ike in a trendy go-go club. Dressed in everyday housewife garb and looking quite worried, she seems incredibly out of sync with the blaring music and gyrating, strutting, topless bodies in the center of the room. Then we notice her worry seems mixed with determination. She clutches a kitchen knife. In walk a group of local …

If I were still my bachelor self from six years back, I think Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom might have been my favorite film in the set. However, for the me that exists today, the film was a tad uninteresting. The second film in the Terrifying Girls High School series came as the rivalry between Nikkatsu and Toei was at its peak. Both had been working to show audiences things they could not see on television, but Nikkatsu’s success with its Roman Porno (Romantic Pornography) line had spurred …

Like the great Seijun Suzuki, or today’s Takashi Miike, Norifumi Suzuki (Sex & Fury, Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom) was never content with making a straight genre piece, much less art. Suzuki sought to make films of interest to himself, often resulting in rapid tonal shifts from stylistic action, to gonzo comedy, to social satire, to serious drama, to pink film, and back again. For the audience, this is a great thing, as you are never quite sure what the next scene of his films may have in …

The fourth entry in the Delinquent Girl Boss series, Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess (aka:Zubekô banchô: zange no neuchi mo nai) is widely considered the best of the series. The film sees Reiko (Reiko Oshida), the gang boss from the previous film, freshly released from prison and back on the mean streets of Shinjuku. Her previous crimes are never discussed, and as she is trying to move on with her life, this is perfectly understandable. Reiko finds work at a small garage, Muraki’s, run by the father of one …

If there is one box set that has caught the eye of near every Japanese cult film enthusiast, it has to be Panik House’s Pinky Violence Collection. Its shocking pink trapper-keeper case houses four of the most renowned, well loved, hard to find sukeban pics from Toei’s infamous Pinky Violence run: Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess, Girl Boss Guerilla, Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom, and Criminal Woman: Killing Melody. Boasting major directorial and cinematographic talent, these films run the whole girl-gang gambit, from loose-socked school-girl delinquents to …