Zíza

It's a B-movie, an obvious B-movie, but a very expensive B-movie by Japanese standards. Plus it's overstuffed – it's got lots of characters, they all definitely have a lot to say, they're also from the manga source material, but they just don't fit into the movie, so they're just sort of there, all flatter than a Chinese swimmer's chest, and in the rapid sequence of events you have no chance to like them. Except for one, but he was simply given enough screentime, and was particularly well played by Miura Haruma, so his character felt much richer than the others. There's sentiment in this, of course, as it's Haruma's last film... but he was just a great actor. On the other hand, Suzuki Nobuyuki's character and his portrayal of it annoyed me terribly and felt like a fist in the eye. And then there's the action: the film isn't afraid of blood and is fairly to the point. From point A to point B and back again. Story-wise, it's choppy. It's on the low side of three stars, but I'll give it an extra one for Haruma. I think I'm turning into a cynic... A weaker 4 stars.

I watched this movie again after a long time and I liked it. Yes, it's long; yes, it's chaotic (anything from the series once called The Spirited Criminal Investigative Network couldn't have been otherwise); yes, it’s length may not ultimately have given it the impact it deserved, but it just made sense to me, even if others haven't seen it or were disappointed with it. I had fun with them again. They weren't different after all these years; even though they have different ranks they are still the same, their characters, the traits and goals of those characters are the same, they still hold to the same principles and tenets, and I think that’s great. It's not that the characters don't evolve and shift, they just evolve within their set values. Anyway, it was a mess that they eventually cleaned up with a broom and dustpan. But it's a mess whose effects will reach into the next episode. A weaker 4 stars. Not to mention that it really is the perfect movie to revisit after a long time. It definitely won't stand out if you watch it right after the other one – I’ve tried that.

A film with three explicit scenes, otherwise shrouded in innuendo. You have to read very carefully to get anything out of the film. It's not a breather, it's not a romance, it's a real drama. The acting is very good, but Narita Ryo clearly dominates. At the beginning we have absolutely no idea what to make of his character, in fact we rather dislike him, but as time goes on our perception of his character changes, mostly due to Narita's acting. It's not a story about the search for sexual orientation. In my opinion gender is not important in the relationship of these two, it's only important for the society that pigeonholes them based on it, which can cause problems and, as they say in Japanese, iwakan. But otherwise it's classic Yukisada – becoming mired in pathological relationships that there's definitely a way out of, as he watches the characters to see if they can get out of the morass they're stuck in.