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Released by: Eastern Star
Released on: 10/28/08
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Cast: Asami, Kaori, Kentaro Kishi, Atsuko Miura
Year: 2006
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The Movie:
Sukeban is unlike other teenage boys. His features are very feminine - in fact he's so pretty that even his own father, a crazy middle aged former biker, has trouble keeping his hands off of him. The reality is that Sukeban is all man, however. Despite his soft appearance, he's a pretty tough customer. That said, in order to make his life easier, he decides with some insistence from his father to embrace his femininity and dress as a girl to attend an all girls' school. Dad figures this will make his life easier… as long as he doesn't get found out.
The first day of school proves interesting. Sukeban makes friends with a girl who shows him how some of the students train in the art of being embarrassed by having their clothes torn off. The more he learns about some of these girls, however, the more dangerous things become. It turns out that the school is having trouble with some girl gangs that are running rampant and making life difficult for the good students who want to get an education and that only someone as tough as Sukeban can stop them.
From the Noboru Iguchi, the man behind Machine Girl, this film is juvenile and crass. The opening scene, in which our cross-dressing hero punches a bunch of thugs until the spew vomit all over the place, more or less sets us up for what's to come. Completely unnecessary (but entirely welcome) nudity from a bunch of Japanese schoolgirls, senseless gore and violence, and one ridiculous situation after the next keep the film clicking along at a good pace ensuring that as insane as it all is, at least it's never dull. The film also pays some very obvious nods to Toei's seventies bad girl films and pinky violence in general. From Sukeban's mirror aviator shades to the way that the girls carry themselves and trash talk one another, this film is basically a regurgitated pinky violence played for laughs.
The film was obviously made on the cheap - the effects are pretty silly and there isn't much to discuss in the way of impressive production values - but at just over an hour in length it doesn't overstay its welcome. The cast of actors and actresses all seem to be having a good time with the material, hamming it up as required and showing no shame whatsoever about chewing up the scenery if need be. It's hard to take any of it too seriously, but then again, we're probably not supposed to.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Surprisingly enough, the 1.85.1 transfer is non-anamorphic, which is obviously a disappointment. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the transfer is also interlaced. That said, the picture isn't terrible. Color reproduction is nice and there aren't any problems with edge enhancement or mpeg compression artifacts. The film's low budget origin is evident throughout and there are times where the picture looks cheap, but you can't really fault it for that…
The Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is perfectly sufficient and comes with optional English subtitles that are clean, clear and easy to read. There isn't a whole lot of channel separation to note but the levels are all well balanced and there aren't any problems with hiss or distortion to complain about.
The biggest and best supplement is the subtitled audio commentary from writer/director Noboru Iguchi and actor Demo Tanaka. Although they do occasionally go off topic and ramble on about unrelated topics, they have a good chemistry together and manage to tell some fun stories about where the ideas for this picture came from and what it was like putting this project together on a meager budget.
Also included is the Sukeban Boy WTF Remix version, which is a strange collection of clips from the film edited into an even more unusual manner than seen in the feature presentation. Rounding out the extras are a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Eastern Star/Discotek relases, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Sukeban Boy definitely has its moments and while it won't appeal to everyone, those who gross out humor will be amused and the homage that the film pays to the Toei bad girl movies of the seventies makes it interesting in its own right.