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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: June 3rd, 2014.
Director: Koyu Ohara
Cast: Junko Asahina, Funasaku Sasairi, Mizuho Makagawa
Year: 1981
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The Movie:
Directed by Koyu Ohara, the same man who made darker fare for Nikkatsu like Fairy In A Cage and the True Story Of A Woman In Jail series in addition to lighter fare like I Love It From Behind, 1981's Female Gym Coach: Jump And Straddle revolve around the female gymnastics team employed by the Kara Cosmetics Com. Why does a cosmetics company employ a gymnastics team? Well, they've got a small army of hot women working in various departments and as a company sponsored extra-curricular activity they get these ladies to run around in leotards and essentially use them as advertising.
The woman in charge of the team is Kei (Junko Asahina) and she and her foxy co-workers are getting their rhythmic gymnastics team prepared for an important competition that is only a month away. Unfortunately, the team just isn't up to where the manager and director want them to be so they bring in a male coach named Aoki (Funasaku Sasairi) to whip them into shape. What management doesn't realize is that Aoki was Kei's coach in high school and they have a past - when she fell off of the balance beam and got all horny, he deflowered her on the gymnasium floor - but then she lost the competition and that was it. As Aoki tries to get the team competition ready, he and Kei attempt to rekindle what once was despite the efforts of her ex-boyfriend to get with her and the efforts of pretty much every lady on the team to get with Aoki. Throw in a confused gay director with a leather fetish and a horny manager who comes prepared with a condom already in place, and you're left with a man sized predicament, and it's a big one too.
Superfluous nineties era Kiss quotes aside, Female Gym Coach: Jump And Straddle is a fun watch. Like pretty much every other Nikkatsu Roman Porno movie it's on the short side and it crams in the requisite number of sex scenes sometimes at the expense of plot and character development, but it's sixty-seven minutes go by quickly. Junko Asina, who Koyu Ohara also used as his lead in like I Love It From Behind, makes for a sympathetic enough lead to carry the film. She's cute, clever and she cares about the gym team and the tension that inevitably arises between she and Aoki provides the story with its backbone. Funasaku Sasairi does fine here as well, playing his part with the right mix of bravura and genuine confusion. He can't quite figure out why the gay director is so interested in him and while political correctness never factors into the equation here, it is pretty funny when the move is eventually made after coach Aoki is plied with booze at a company function (where the manager can be seen in the background groping the breasts of various employees).
Fast paced, sexy and plenty quirky this one is a quick, breezy watch, a solid mix of sex and comedy with just enough drama in the background to keep the story going.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Female Gym Coach: Jump And Straddle looks good in this 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are handled well and look quite natural as do skin tones. Black levels aren't quite inky deep but they're strong and detail is pretty good across the board. There are no issues with print damage to complain about and overall this is a clean, sharp, good looking picture free of any obvious digital manipulation of serious compression artifacts.
The Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track is crisp and clean though occasionally just a tiny bit shrill. The levels are well balanced and there are no issues with hiss or distortion. The optional English subtitles that are provided are free of any typos and easy to read. This won't floor you but it sounds fine, there are no problems.
Extras on the disc are limited to a menu, chapter selection and a gleefully trashy trailer for the feature that kind of gives away pretty much all of the naughty bits. Inside the case we once again find an insert booklet containing some the movie's original poster art and some interesting liner notes from film scholar/author Jasper Sharp. The focus of Sharp's piece is on the collaborations between the film's leading lady and director and on the director's darker stuff in contrast to some of the lighter, more comedic pictures he directed for Nikkatsu.
The Final Word:
Female Gym Coach: Jump And Straddle is a pretty amusing mix of sexy hijinks and screwy comedy done in that inimitable Nikkatsu style. It's well shot, features a nice cast of ladies and if it isn't the most original or shocking entry in the line, it's quite entertaining.
