Tweet
Released by: Pink Eiga
Released on: 1/14/2009
Director: Osamu Sato
Cast: Rinako Hirasawa, Kikujiro Honda, Naoyuki Chiba, Yui, Komari Awashima
Year: 207
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
This 2007 sequel in name only to the original Tokyo Decadence was directed by Osamu Sato who has been toiling away making pink films in Japan for some time now. Supposedly based on the 'true life story of lead actress Rinako Hirasawa' the picture proves to be an interesting mix of elegant kink and swanky sleaze.
The film tells the story of a young woman named Rina (Rinako Hirasawa) who, as a teenager, was introduced to sex by one of her teachers. This opened the carnal floodgates for our heroine, who soon discovers the joys of kinky sex and starts working as a dominatrix. As an adult, she works an office job that initially isn't particularly exciting - when her boss (Kikujiro Honda) clues in to her particularly kink - she's a masochist. However, things soon change. He knows she craves subservience and has no problem whatsoever playing the boss in their master-slave relationship. He introduces her to all manner of BDSM practices - he ties her up with her legs spread open in front of a window, he forces her to have sex with another woman while he watches and he makes her expose herself to him in the office while her co-workers go about their business all around her, completely unaware of what the two are up to.
As their relationship progress, it simultaneously deteriorates and eventually Rina leaves her boss for one of her coworkers. A few years later, however, Rina and her former boss reunite completely by chance. They decide to take a ride together and he tells her that he's running a bar that specializes in BDSM shows. Before you know it, the two are back up to their old tricks…
Clocking in at a quick sixty-two minutes in length, New Tokyo Decadence: The Slave moves along at a very quick pace. Like so many films of its ilk, the bulk of the running time is made up by the perverse and graphic sex scenes, the film benefits from some interesting characterization that really helps the film in terms of impact and resonance. As Rina's life changes over the course of the film she in turns has to come to terms with what she really wants out of life and out of her relationships. Is it a normal, domesticated, traditional life she wants or does she need something more? What is it about the masochistic lifestyle that is so engrained in her psyche that she can't be happy or fulfilled without it?
The film could have spent more time exploring the psychological ramifications of the questions that it poses, but that's not really the point. Instead, it gives us a uniquely female perspective on the master slave relationship, something that's atypical of the pink film genre. Rina narrates the film and it's told entirely from her perspective and by the time it's all said and done you wind up questioning just who really had the upper hand in the relationship all along. The biographical aspects of it are interesting and lend some weight to Rinako Hirasawa's remarkably convincing performance. She and Kikujiro Honda have an interesting chemistry together on screen and there are definitely moments during the BDSM scenes where you get the impression that they're not acting at all, but rather, truly in the heat of the moment.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Unfortunately, the 1.85.1 widescreen transfer is non-anamorphic and interlaced. It's a newer picture so there isn't any dirt or debris to complain about and the colors, including the black levels, are fairly strong but the standard letterboxed presentation feels a bit dated. That said, it's all perfectly watchable. The image is clean, skin tones look good, and there are no compression artifacts or edge enhancement problems to complain about. Had this been anamorphic it'd have definitely scored higher but this isn't a horrible transfer once you get past that part.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track on the disc is in Japanese with burned in English subtitles. There isn't really any heavy channel separation to note, maybe a bit here and there in regards to the score, but the dialogue is clear enough. Not being able to remove the subtitles is always obnoxious but at least there aren't any obvious typos and they're plenty easy to read.
Aside from some text based biographies for the male and female lead and the director, Pinku Eiga offers up a pair of small still galleries and trailers for a few of their other releases, though no trailer for the feature itself. Menus and chapter selection are also provided.
The Final Word:
The presentation isn't going to win any awards of earn any bonus points but it's pretty cool that New Tokyo Decadence - The Slave is out on DVD uncut in North America. Hopefully future Pinku Eiga releases will see improved transfers, until then, they've got some interesting titles in their catalogue and fans of this unique sub-genre of Japanese erotica would do well to give this title a shot.