Graveyards of Honor: Graveyard of Honor (1975) and Graveyard of Honor (2002)

Two of the most iconic genre directors to ever come out of Japan are Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you’ll notice that these are two are often discussed and that’s because of two reasons. Firstly, so much of their material is getting brand new English friendly releases from various distribution companies and we like to support these companies along with discussing cult icons. Secondly, they are incredible directors and deserve to have their lengthy careers discussed. For this review, both directors will be discussed because Arrow Video recently put out the Graveyards of Honor boxset that features Fukasaku’s 1970s original and Miike’s 00s remake. Both are classics in their own regard and hopefully, if you haven’t already purchased this set – then this double feature article will prompt a few people to pick it up. It’s a wildly nihilistic and extremely effective dual piece of cinematic genre bliss.

One Missed Call Trilogy (2003-2006)

ONE MISSED CALL (2003)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Ko Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Yutaka Matsushige, Goro Kishtani, Renji Ishibashi

Miike is one of those directors that truly can direct damn near anything and make it his own and, weirdly enough, make it great. The first – and original – One Missed Call is a prime example of that talent. While many of its ilk in the J-horror boom of the early 00s focused on a fear of technology creeping into the realms of the spiritual world, One Missed Call might feature one of the silliest concepts. A ghost who uses your cell phone to call you from the near future from the period where it kills you? It’s borderline asinine. Yet, watching this film is something of a suffocating and incredibly creepy experience. Miike uses the concept to run with his usual themes of outsider feelings and the unusual existing in the ‘real’ world and the combination proves to be downright effective.

First Love (2019)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani, Sakurako Konishi, Becky

As far as we’re concerned here at Blood Brothers, it’s a good day when you get to see a new Takashi Miike film and since the auteur rebel filmmaker pumps out an average of two films per year, that makes for a lot of good days. His latest, First Love, is sure to appease both his longtime and newer fans. The iconic director has a knack for making all kinds of films, kid’s movies to horror and period dramas to live-action anime adaptions, so you can never truly be sure what you’re going to get. With First Love though, Miike leans back to his roots and crafts a quirky and violent yakuza film similar to his output of the mid and late 90s. Like those films, this one has the blissfully dark humor, violence, soul, and wild spins that people associate with his material. After a few questionable films in the last few years like Laplace’s Witch and TerraFormars, it’s a welcome return to classic form.

Terra Formars (2016)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Hideaki Ito, Emi Takei, Tomohisa Yamada, Kane Kosugi, Rinko Kikuchi, Masaya Kato, Eiko Koike, Mariko Shinoda, Ken’ichi Takito, Rina Ohta, Rila Fukushima, Shun Oguri, Ken Aoki

Although I am not personally familiar with the source material for Terra Formars, it was the kind of manga that stirred a lot of fandom. It spawned a lot of different media around its ideas and it was only a matter of time before it received some kind of live action feature film adaptation. What made this live action version so tempting though was not the strange concepts or science fiction/horror/action elements it could utilize as both entertainment and thematic messaging, it was that Takashi Miike was helming the project. After multiple successful adaptations of manga and anime series to live action, including the wildly fun Ace Attorney, the combination could prove too enticing for its own good. Slather the film in some big names from Japan and it would see like the film could make a pretty big splash.

Ichi the Killer (2001)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Alien Sun, Susumu Terajima, Shun Sugata, Toru Tezuka, Yoshiki Arizono, Kiyohiko Shibukawa

Takashi Miike is the kind of creative force in cinema that pushes his audience into new levels. Whether it’s through his abrasive action thrillers, his intense angle on horror, or even his odd work in other genres like children’s films, musicals, and adaptations of other intellectual properties, he never shies away from something that may not sit well with audiences. Sometimes, this renegade approach to style can be problematic for some viewers. In regards to the focus of this review, it’s this ‘take no prisoners’ approach that makes a film like Ichi the Killer an immediate cult classic. Finally getting its 4K restored release on Blu Ray in the US, Ichi the Killer is one of those films that I will always love and appreciate for its insanity, even if the film is - generally speaking - very hard to say that I enjoy. It’s not a film meant to be enjoyed in the classical sense of the word, but it’s a film that takes its relentlessly bat-shit approach to artistic levels and delivers on many of the promises it makes with its dark and outlandish style. Ichi the Killer, for all intents and purposes, is the perfect cult classic.

Blade of the Immortal (2017)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sota Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ichikawa Ebizo XI, Min Tanaka, Tsutomu Yamazaki

As it was very well publicized in the US as a marketing ploy for the film, Blade of the Immortal marks the 100^th film by Takashi Miike (which, for the record and at the time of this review, he’s now in post-production of his 102^nd film although that’s certainly a debatable number entirely based on the credits themselves, but I digress) and it’s fitting that this film would mark his transition into the triple digits. It’s not because Blade of the Immortal is his best film. When a dynamic director such as this gets to 100 films of such diversity it’s hard to make claims of what’s his ‘best’ simply due to the ground he has covered, but this film feels like one that’s decently consumable on a mass scale yet still feels like it pulls aspects from a lot of his various films for its execution too. It’s like a greatest hits of style and pieces of his long and illustrious career wrapped into one massively entertaining spectacle. While that sounds like perhaps the film is watered down overall, Blade of the Immortal is not. It’s a film that takes a rather simple core structure and builds a world of characters and gimmicks around it that never ceases to entertain and draw the audience into their lives. This is Miike at some of his most lavishly entertaining and it’s a celebration of his style that serves as a declaration of his continued momentum towards being one of the most ambitiously prolific directors ever in any worldly film market.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Show Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Noriko Aota, Edison Chen, Kenichi Endo

If a person were to judge the direction of Dead or Alive 2: Birds by the finale of Dead or Alive, then you wouldn’t be too much off the mark in the outrageous tone that it uses. However, the mistake in that line of thinking comes from believing that Dead or Alive 2 is a sequel to Dead or Alive at all. Outside of the title, being directed by Takashi Miike, and starring the same two leads, there is no actual story element or character that connects the two films. There are a few thematic elements that could be seen as carrying over, but they are some of the same elements that one sees in a lot of Miike films. Even with no connection, Dead or Alive 2 might just have the edge on its predecessor by embracing a lot of the quirky elements of its story and characters and delivering a phenomenal third act worthy of the Miike brand. It’s a strange film that doesn’t always feel cohesive, but that doesn’t stop it from hitting a lot of amazing moments with pizzazz.

Dead or Alive (1999)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Riki Takeuchi, Show Aikawa, Renji Ishibashi, Hitoshi Ozawa, Shingo Tsurumi, Kaoru Sugita, Dankan, Hirotaro Honda, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Ren Osugi

After releasing the wonderful Blu Ray set of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy, Arrow Video follows it up with an equally exciting (for fans at least) set of Miike’s Dead or Alive trilogy. Unlike the previous set, this one is not going to be as gloriously praised for its artistic merit, but it might be a set that is just as entertaining and vibrant as one would expect from the director. The first film, titled Dead or Alive like one would assume, is a film that does somewhat fit in the same category as the Black Society Trilogy  when it comes to its themes at least. It’s not nearly as robust in its dramatic heft or razor sharp writing though and occasionally comes off as a bit muddy, particularly when one looks at the odd way it starts and finishes. However, with powerhouse actors in the two lead roles and Miike behind the camera, you know you are in for something a bit off the wall and uniquely unbalanced and for those prepared it’s another wild trip into the world of outcast cops and gangsters that any Miike fan will want to add to their collection.

Ley Lines (1999)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Kazuki Kitamura, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Tomorowo Taguchi, Dan Li, Show Aikawa, Naoto Takenaka, Samuel Pop Aning, Oh Far-long

To finalize his thematically connected Black Society Trilogy, Takashi Miike goes for a combination of the first two (Shinjuku Triad Society and Rainy Dog) for the third entry Ley Lines. While this idea seems very promising at its conception, the resulting mix that arrives in Ley Lines is a tad underwhelming particularly when the expectations are so high. The film is still an ambitious and artistic venture into the world of outsiders and their connection to organized crime and certainly deserves a lot of praise thrown its way, but it’s not nearly as entertaining in its grit nor is it as stylized in its characterizations as the previous entries. On its own, it’s still an accomplished work showing Miike’s directorial pizzazz at being able to weave exploitative elements with dramatic heft and thoughtful exploration of its themes, but at the same time the film tends to fall off balance with a few sequences that undercut the whole.

Rainy Dog (1997)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Show Aikawa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Gao Mingjun, Chen Xianmei, He Jianxian, Li Lijun, Zhang Shi, Billy Ching Sau-yat, Doze Niu, Vicky Wei, Blackie Ko Shouliang, Zhang Liwei

Takashi Miike is a diverse director. His iconic style might include outsider characters defined by unique traits or his use of very intense violence, but that doesn’t stop him from journeying into a slew of different styles and genres. This even goes back as far as his early career. Shinjuku Triad Society, the first of three films included in this Black Society Trilogy set from Arrow Video, displayed his ability to inject his own style into a Kinji Fukasaku style yakuza. The second film in this set, Rainy Dog, takes the yakuza genre into a different direction though. It's one that uses many of the same themes and focuses, but strips them down to the essentials. It delivers a film that still pushes its audience into some uncomfortable areas, but uses its suffocating atmosphere, disconnect, and ultra-vague character and world building to accomplish it. If Shinjuku Triad Society was Miike taking his V-cinema ideas to the next level, Rainy Dog is taking that level and spinning it into a much more artistic and wholly different tone…to some very impressive results.

Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Kippei Shiina, Tomorowo Taguchi, Takeshi Caesar, Ren Osugi, Yukie Itou, Kyosuke Izutsu, Kazuhiro Mashiko, Airi Yanagi

While it’s not expressly said here on the site, Takashi Miike is easily one of the favorite directors by the writing staff here. For me, he’s one of my top five favorites and it was always unfortunate that a lot of his stuff has recently gone out of print or never actually makes it over to the US for a release at all (in reference to his entire robust career). Fortunately, Arrow Video must have seen this void recently as they announced a slew of Miike films will be getting the Blu Ray treatment. First up this year is the Black Society Trilogy. It’s a thematically connected set of films about crime that kicked off Miike’s career as film maker rising from the bowels of V-cinema. First up in this set (and the focus for this review) is Shinjuku Triad Society that sets the stage for the themes and style of the next two films – and perhaps lays a lot of ground work for the rest of Miike’s continuing career. It’s a film that’s gritty, often abrasive in moments of oddity, and completely effective at telling its story. It’s not perfect, occasionally showing its rough roots in smaller things like editing, but it’s still a fantastic modern spin on the yakuza films from decades prior in Japan.

Over Your Dead Body (2016)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Ko Shibasaki, Ichikawa Ebizo

One of the problems of being an international cinephile is that it will sometime take years for a movie to get a legitimate release in the US. If at all. For a director as prolific as Takashi Miike, who has recently been dropping two films a year, it can be somewhat grating to wait. Two years is how long it took for his horror flick Over Your Dead Body to reach the US, thanks to Scream Factory, but it’s here and it’s going to be a cult classic for sure. Atmospheric, haunting, and nightmarish are all very effective words to describe what you’re likely to latch onto in this film and while it may not find a widespread audience here in the US, fans of the director and his work are going to want to jump right in.

One Missed Call (2003)

Director: Takashi Miike
Notable Cast: Kou Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Shimizu Seinami, Anna Nagata, Renji Ishibashi

The J-horror explosion of the 2000s was a big key to my exploration of foreign film markets. Films like Ju-On and Ringu paved the way for me to start exploring a lot of different styles of film in my teenage years and so I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the genre as a whole. Yet, one of the strangest and most challenging films from this boom is Takashi Miike’s One Missed Call. The American remake couldn’t possibly try and translate its often odd story for American audiences and even to this day I find this film’s social commentary and strange twists to be off setting at times. Leave it to Miike to take a fairly formulaic and popular horror style and throw his own spin on it to develop a rather silly concept to make an impactful film. A film that shockingly holds its own to this day.

Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast:Hayato Ichihara, Yayan Ruhian, Riko Narumi, Lily Franky, Reiko Takashima

Takashi Miike remains one of the most ambitious, if not insane, directors working today. The man puts out two movies a year (I think that might be his minimum) and the sheer eclectic nature of his films, whether it’s style, genre, or approach, makes each one a rather riveting experience no matter if the quality is great or not. Going into Yakuza Apocalypse, I expected a rather serious mix of horror and dramatic action with perhaps a bit of the exploitative elements that Miike used on the yakuza films of his early career. However, Yakuza Apocalypse is not held back by genre as it goes for broke on insane set pieces and awkward bits. It’s a very in-cohesive film that suffers from its leaping genre bends and hanging plot threads, but I have to admit – this still might be one of the most entertaining and vicious film experiences that I’ve had with his material.

Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Yusuke Iseya, Masanobu Ando, Takaaki Ishibashi, Shun Oguri, Masato Sakai, Yoshino Kimura, Teruyuki Kagawa

The idea that the iconic cult film director Takashi Miike would take on two cult genres, spaghetti westerns and chanbara films, and then combine them into one wild film is a vulgar auteur's wet dream. This is because only a director as insane and creatively loose as Miike would be able to navigate those torrential waters and make the film not only work, but he makes it incredibly effective. Thus, we arrive on the intensely charismatic and stylish Sukiyaki Western Django, which combines our two beloved genres into a modern cinematic masterpiece of revenge, gunfights, lost love, samurai swords, and, of course, dusters with cigarettes.

Our unnamed wanderer (Hideaki Ito) has found a place that he might be able to pass a little time. Sometime long, long ago in Nevada, our gunman stumbled into a town with a legend of a lost treasure of gold. In classic cinema fashion, there are two clans in this town playing territory games to find the lost gold. The White clan lead by a sword-wielding samurai warrior with serious blade skills and the Red clan lead by a dimwitted and practically indestructible man who calls himself Henry are at a standstill. This lone gunman looks to play his thin odds as he helps out a distressed prostitute in the town seek her own revenge against both sides. It's war and only the most dangerous killers will survive.