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Released by: Pink Eiga
Released on: January 13th, 2015.
Director: Yutaka Ikejima
Cast: Mari Yamaguchi, Ran Kurenai, Satsuki Mochida, Kí´ji Makimura
Year: 2005
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The Movie:
Yutaka Ikejima's film Educating Yuna introduces us, maybe not so surprisingly, to a young woman named Yuna (Mari Yamaguchi), a college student. One day on campus she meets a professor named Takeshi Shibuya (Kí´ji Makimura). They hit it off and before you know it, they're making sweet, passionate love. From there, wishing to continue their relationship, she agrees to come out to his remote home in the country where she'll help him with his art collection.
Oh, poor Yuna. You really should have seen this coming.
She arrives and shortly after, is forced to sit with Shibuya and watch dominatrix Erika (Ran Kurenai) do her thing with submissive Miho (Satsuki Mochida). Her thing involves a lot of whipping and rope play, and after that a rather sensitive encounter with a large red strap-on. Things get kinkier the next day when the subordinate of one of Shibuya's associates shows up with a business proposition. Shibuya isn't interested, and he makes this quite clear by letting Erika and her strap-on get intimately acquainted with the man. They're eventually joined by Yuna and then Shibuya himself, who forces himself on the man's mouth - see, he's not gay, he's just an egoist and he gets off on humiliating others.
As all of this plays out, what was initially shame and a very reserved shyness on Yuna's part blossoms into an appreciation for the darker side of the carnal arts. After her initial encounter, however, she goes home to her normal life. Down the road though? Yeah, that knock on the door, that's Shibuya, alright…
Although this one ends on a cliffhanger (really, this is part one of a series it would seem - it says 'TO BE CONTINUED' and leaves us hanging… hopefully the follow up is in the works from Pink Eiga soon!) the film should definitely appeal to those who have enjoyed films like The Story Of O and The Image. It deals with Yuna's submission and the way in which she gives herself over to Shibuya's kinky customs in particularly graphic means, so those looking for cheap thrills will get what they're after, but there's a bit more to it than just that. The impact comes not from the whipping, the strap-on scenes or the surprise entrance Shibuya makes into that dude's mouth but from the way that Yuna's character evolves over the course of the short sixty-two minute film.
She fits it at first, but she grows to like it. The girl can't help herself, and once her arousal level hits previously untold heights, she can't hide it either. Mari Yamaguchi plays this well. She's cut, but not devastatingly sexy in an unrealistic sort of way. She's well cast as an everyday type of young woman which makes her transformation all the more believable. Satsuki Mochida and Ran Kurenai are both more physically attractive which is in keeping with their experience level. Somehow it makes sense that, in a film that absolutely glamorizes the BDSM lifestyle, those already indoctrinated would be 'sexier.'
The ladies all play their roles well, as does Kí´ji Makimura as the stern master of ceremonies. Once Yuna comes to his house, he makes it very clear that she is his plaything and that she is to do what she is told. She obliges, and given the strength and determination seen in his performance, we have no trouble believing she would.
The movie is nicely shot and lit, the production values are solid. We get some impressive rope work here that adds to the intensity and atmosphere of the sex scenes but so too do we get good camerawork, interesting angles and solid lighting. An appropriately evocative score helps things too. It's just a drag that we don't get to know how it ends - at least not yet…
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, though skin tones look a little bit greenish in spots. There are some mild compression artifacts present but no edge enhancement problems to complain about, but detail isn't particularly strong. 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.
The main extra on the disc is an interview with composer Hitomi Oba. She speaks for ten minutes about how she got into composing music as she shows off her small studio. She's created music for 'about 100 pink films' so she's pretty prolific! We learn how she started by playing the recorder in high school and how this led to training with more instruments and then how she was introduced to a filmmaker by a friend - from there on out, she had a career scoring dirty movies. It's an interesting interview, she's quite candid and open about the pros and cons of her job and she tells some interesting stories here.
Rounding out the extras are some text bios and filmographies for the principal cast and crew members, a couple of still galleries, a few different trailers for the feature, trailers for some other Pink Eiga releases, menus and chapter selections.
The Final Word:
Educating Yuna is slick, sexy and at times genuinely engrossing. Pink Eiga's disc won't win any 'transfer of the year' awards but it's watchable despite its limitations and a few decent supplements round out the disc nicely. Not a film for the faint hearted, but worth seeing for those who appreciate a little slap 'n tickle in their foreign sexploitation films!
