Bene Cumb Japanese values and approaches are rather different from the Western ones, and as regards scripts, they often focus on a single thing rather than create a varied story. Here, the events take place in and around a school of male delinquents, but the only topic is achieving power through battling, no references to teaching and learning, youngsters' hobbies, their parents, etc. Inclusion of a female seems odd and provides no additional value, yakuza themes could have been avoided as well. Characters' names are often confusing, types are similar, often was the clothing that helped to determine the different gang leaders... Shun Oguri as Takiya Genji was distinguishable, but still - high school boys were played by actors almost 25 years old, so their looks was in contrast with immature behaviour and plain intentions. Fights are visually catchy, but rather unrealistic as they resulted in a visible blood only, no broken bones or teeth.An okay film if you are a guy and like intense fights and constant struggling for imaginary power. Otherwise, skip to Desu Nōto and Batoru Rowaiaru.

user-899-95626 Crows Zero is an action movie which is based on "crows" manga. In this movie there is a violent high school named "Suzuran". The students makes their own group/gang and fight each other to be the head, the main boss/leader of that high school. One day a High Schooler as a transferred senior come to the Suzuran high school with a aim to conquer the whole school. He is the main character of the movie and his name is Takiya Genji (Shun Oguri)the son of a Yakuza boss named Takiya Hideo. During the freshman orientation assembly Yakuza arrive at the school seeking third-year senior Serizawa Tamao to avenge an injury.To show his worth, Genji fights and defeats the Yakuza, who mistake him for Tamao.

jmaruyama One of my favorite Japanese movie series of the 80s was Nasu Hiroyuki's absurdly violent "Be-Bop High School" which was based on Kiyuchi Kazuhiro's popular manga series which ran in "Weekly Young Jump" from 1983. It was outrageously violent and portrayed high school life as a battlefield, where personal combat was a means to prove a teen's worth and masculinity. Enter Miike Takashi's recent "Crows Zero" which almost plays like an updated version of "Be-Bop High School" albeit with his own unique flourishes and stylistic nuances. Based on Takahashi Hiroshi's gritty comic series "Crows" which runs in the "Monthly Shonen Champion" magazine, the movie follows the exploits of Takiya Genji, the son of a high ranking Yakuza gang-lord, who has transferred into the notorious high school Suzuran.Suzuran's student body has the unique distinction of being the most violent, lawless and brutal. Formal education is the least of the worries at the school as daily classes are almost non-existent and students spend most of the time either fighting with each other or allying themselves with the various factions that control the school.The top "A" class comprises of allies of the current king of the school, Serizawa Tamao(Yamada Takeyuki) who is the so-called "Hyaku Jyu Oh" (King of the Hundred Beasts) for his ferocity and strength in fights. Despite his baby faced good looks and somewhat goofy personality, he is ruthlessly determined to keep his top position at whatever costs and beats down all challengers to his throne.A new transfer student, Genji Takaya (Oguri Jun) has just entered the school and begins to make a name for himself, first by beating up a group of Yakuza who had a run in with Serizawa and then by beating a leading school warlord, Tamamura "Chuta" (Suzunosuke) to take over his class. One of the Yakuza thugs sent after Serizawa, Katagiri Ken (Yabe Kyosuke), himself a former dropout from Suzuran, takes Genji under his wing and offers to teach him how to become the new king of the school, an achievement that Genji hopes will eclipse his father's reputation and give him lasting fame.Together with Chuta, they begin to unite the other warring school factions in an effort to strike at Serizawa's class. Genji's allies include the dim-witted yet fiercely loyal Makise Takashi (Takahashi Tsutomu) and the brutal and calculating Izaki Jun (Takaoka Sousuke).Genji's ambitions bring him into conflict not only with former schoolmate Tatsukawa Tokio (Kiritani Kenta), who has become Serizawa's right hand man but also endangers the life of beautiful hip-hop singer Aizawa Ruka (Kuroki Meisa) a childhood friend, who is in love with the "bad boy".While Fudo Shugo's lively and energized script clearly draws inspiration from Takahashi's manga, it seems to also draw heavily from other similar high school delinquent manga-turned-films like "Be-Bop High School", "Rokudenashi Blues" and "Sakigake! Otokojuku". There also seems to be elements reminiscent of Walter Hill's rock-n-roll fairy tale "Streets of Fire" (1984), particularly with regards to the romance between Genji's character and Aizawa.Miike's direction is wickedly entertaining in its outrageousness and eye-catching style. Miike never fails to make visually interesting films and "Crows Zero" is no exception. Make no mistake, "Crows Zero" is a guy's film and it is filled with testosterone pumped action and showy machismo almost to a comical level. Yet, Miike surprisingly also inserts some genuinely nice and moving moments particularly involving the complicated relationships between the various characters.Miike's young cast is superb and does an awesome job as bringing Takahashi's exaggerated characters to life.Oguri Jun (GTO TV Series, Azumi, RoboCon) is mesmerizing in his role as Genji. His action scenes are terrific and he brings a devilish charm to his character. Yamada Takeyuki (Dragonhead, Maiko Haaan) is also very charming in his role as Serizawa. He is not your typical villainous thug and in fact is quite likable despite his character's actions (very similar to Russell Crowe's Ben Wade character in "3:10 To Yuma). The stunning Okinawan beauty Kuroki Meisa (Camus Nante Shiranai, Vexille) does terrific work in her small part and also gets to showoff her talents as a singer. Yabe Kyosuke (Sukiyaki Western Django, Kids Return, Dead or Alive) is another standout as the bumbling Yakuza Katagiri. Yabe brings much heart and sympathy to his character and one can't help but feel for him as he tries to live his life's dream of conquering the Suzuran vicariously through Genji.The punk rock soundtrack is appropriately loud and infectious as is Kuroki's R&B, Hip-Hop numbers. "Crows Zero" is not for everyone and its over-the-top story won't win any awards but for your average male movie-going demographic, it is an absolute winner which is sure to please.

DICK STEEL Directing a movie based on a manga isn't something new for Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, who also adapted the ultra-violent Ichi the Killer for the big screen. However, with Crows: Episode 0, gone are the extreme violence, though it still retains some flavour normally found in a typical action flick. Known for movies like Audition and Big Bang Love, Juvenile A, both which were released here, this is probably one of his more accessible films to date, even though it treads on familiar territory with elements of the yakuza.Crows: Episode 0 is set in an all boys Japanese high school, where instead of having educational classes and courses, what gets put on screen (I haven't read the manga obviously) happens to be an ecosystem of triad society split into different turfs according to grade levels, classes and reputation. Unification of all levels in the school is a challenge, and new boy Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri) throws down the gauntlet on the first day to take down reigning school gangster Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada), which he finds impossible given that the latter's picked up by the police.But of course there are unwritten rules to follow in order to engage the top, and he enlists the help of a two-bit average Yakuza hoodlum Ken Katagiri (Kyosuke Yabe) to help plot his path of success. For the most parts, the story is simple to follow, as we shadow Genji in his quest to conquer the high school class by class, through sheer brute force, gaining of respect, or simply just friendship established. As his reputation grows, so does his threat towards Serizawa, which sets up the inevitable climatic showdown where the rival gangs gotta settle who's gonna rule the school. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot hide 2 tigers.You can't help it but Korea's Volcano High comes to mind for comparison. However, this is without the effects laden stylistic fight sequences where the exponents possess superhuman powers and abilities. Here, it's the good old fisticuffs without a lot of frills, though styled to make the characters seem to have super-strength, no thanks to the sound effects of course. The art direction is beautifully peppered with plenty of graffiti art, and your eyes would just automatically wander off to read just about every word that's spray painted out there. Oozing plenty of testosterone and machismo, there are still enough tender moments to make you cringe, bearing in mind that after all, these are pretty looking boys with mean and tough looking exteriors, but sometimes still softies at heart.It's fight club in schools where black leather is the new uniform. If you're a fan of no holds barred street fighting with camaraderie elements thrown in, sprinkled with a dash of humour (from sight gags to the toilet variety), then Crows: Episode 0 would be right up your alley.