is a 2017 Japanese

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Sion Sono Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

based on the manga ''

Shinjuku Swan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Wakui. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 2005 to 2013, with its chapters collected in thirty-eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was adapted into a Japanese te ...

'' by

Ken Wakui is a Japanese manga artist. In 2005, Wakui launched his first manga series, ''Shinjuku Swan'', which performed well and received multiple adaptations. Following its success, Wakui launched ''Tokyo Revengers'' in 2017, which has also performed we ...

. It was released in Japan on January 21, 2017. It is the sequel to ''

'' (2015), also directed by Sion Sono.

Plot

One year has passed since the death of Hideyoshi. Sumitomo, president of the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association, announces plans to open a new gentleman's club in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. Tatsuhiko, a scout from the Burst scouting agency who recruits girls for the adult entertainment business, moves from

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

to recruit girls and expand the agency's business there. There he comes into conflict with Masaki Taki, the CEO of the Wizard scouting agency of Yokohama who is also seeking to recruit girls for the opening of the new gentleman's club and is unhappy about the unknown upstart stepping into his turf.
Seki once took the fall for a murder rap for Taki and has avoided Yokohama for 12 years for this purpose. When he returns, Taki takes it as a declaration of war. Taki is protected by Inspector Sunako of the Yokohama Central Police as well as President Tasaka of the Monbu group and uses them to push the Burst scouts out of his territory. Taki also sends the Wizard agency to take over the Burst territory in Shinjuku, where they destroy Madame Ryoko's club. Taki ends up shooting President Tasaka in a disagreement over money and territorial control. The association holds a beauty contest in Yokohama but Burst only has half as many girls recruited in Yokohama as the Wizard agency so Madame Ryoko sends the girls not currently working at her destroyed club to Yokohama to compete in the contest as well. The beauty contest is won by burst but Tatsuhiko has already left early in order to go protect his old friend Yosuke.
Meanwhile, Taki's girl is having a relationship with Yosuke, which Taki permits as long as Yosuke is dealing drugs for him. Yosuke becomes hooked on drugs and it is decided that he will make one last deal before retiring. Fearing that he will be killed, Taki's girl tells him to run after the deal is done but Yosuke wants to remain with her. When Taki arrives, Seki appears to defend Yosuke and confront Taki for kicking him out of Yokohama 12 years earlier. As they are fighting, a gun falls out of Taki's pocket and is picked up by Yosuke. Tatsuhiko arrives and fights with Taki as well before Taki ultimately tells Seki that he had been missing him and tells Seki that he should be the boss of the Wizard agency instead and gives him the keys to his office.
Distraught about his future, Yosuke points a gun at Taki but the others convince him not to shoot. Instead, Arai of the Monbu group shoots Taki in retaliation for the killing of the President Tasaka. Arai says that he will turn himself into the police and Tatsuhiko flees with Yosuke. They bump into Hayama, who reminds Yosuke that Yosuke had Hideyoshi killed for getting him hooked on drugs. Hayama refuses to let Yosuke join Burst again and begins to fight Tatsuhiko before Yosuke confesses that he did indeed have Hideyoshi killed. In Taki's office Seki finds a letter addressed to him from Taki telling him his plans to flee from Yokohama just as Seki did 12 years earlier. He ends the letter by stating that he is returning Yokohama to Seki.

Cast

Gō Ayano is a Japanese actor. Career Ayano was featured in several roles beginning in 2003. In 2009, he appeared in Takashi Miike's ''Crows Zero 2''. His role in the film was described by Mark Schilling of ''The Japan Times'' as "a tall, pale-faced, deli ...

as Tatsuhiko Shiratori *

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...

as Masaki Taki * Motoki Fukami as Gensuke Seki *

Alice Hirose is a Japanese actress, TV personality, and model. She has a younger sister, Suzu Hirose, who is also a model and actress. Appearances TV dramas * ''Geki Koi: Unmei no Love Story'' (NHK, 2010), Kaho Hisanaga * ''Asu no Hikari o Tsukame'' ( Tō ...

as Mayumi Ozawa *

Yūsuke Iseya is a Japanese actor, director, artist, and businessman. Career Iseya co-starred with Arata Iura, Yui Natsukawa, and Susumu Terajima in Hirokazu Koreeda's ''Distance''. He appeared in Takashi Miike's '' 13 Assassins''. He has also appeared in f ...

as Mako * Yūsuke Kamiji as Chisato Morinaga *

Jun Kaname is a Japanese actor and tarento. He was born in Mitoyo, Kagawa and made his drama debut as an actor in 2001 in the Tokusatsu Series "Kamen Rider Agito". He appears not only in TV dramas but also in movies, commercial messages, variety TV program ...

Nobuaki Kaneko is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is nicknamed and N.K. He is a member of the rock band Rize. He is represented with Itoh Company and his label is Illchill. He graduated from Horikoshi High School. Kaneko's father was Johnny Yoshinaga who wa ...

Yutaka Hayama *

Akihiro Kitamura is a Japanese actor and director, who appeared in ''The Human Centipede (First Sequence)'' and ''Cobra Kai'' as Young Sato. Early life After moving to the United States at the age of 18, Kitamura studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse f ...

as Moriken *

Jun Murakami is a Japanese actor. He is not to be confused with Japanese stunt actor Jun Murakami. Career Murakami starred in Sho Miyake's ''Playback'' (2012). He co-starred in Sion Sono's '' The Land of Hope'' (2012) with Megumi Kagurazaka. He has also a ...

as Tokimasa *

Hideo Nakano Hideo (ひでお) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hideo Den (田英夫, 1923–2009), Japanese politician and news presenter * Hideo Fujimoto (藤本英雄, 1918–1997), Japanese baseball player * ...

Takashi Sasano is a Japanese actor. Career Sasano has appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films ''Bright Future (film), Bright Future'' (2003) and ''Before We Vanish'' (2017). He also appeared in Amir Naderi's 2011 film ''Cut (2011 film), Cut''. Filmography Film ...

Kippei Shiina is a Japanese actor. Career Shiina portrayed John Rain and co-starred in Max Mannix's '' Rain Fall'' (2009) with Gary Oldman. He starred in Takeshi Kitano's ''Outrage'' (2010). Filmography Film *''Wangan Bad Boy Blue'' (1992) *''A Night in Nud ...

as Sumitomo *

Maryjun Takahashi is a Japanese actress and model of Japanese and Filipino ethnicity who has appeared in '' CanCam'' magazine and various television commercials. Early and personal life Takahashi was born in Ōtsu, Shiga to a Filipino mother and a Japanese fat ...

as Arisa * Kosuke Toyohara as Jin Yamashiro * Yū Yamada *

Yuki Kubota is a Japanese actor and model whose work has included stage, television and film roles. He is best known as the character Takatora Kureshima / Kamen Rider Zangetsu / Kamen Rider Zangetsu Shin in the Kamen Rider series ''Kamen Rider Gaim''. He is ...

as Yosuke

Release

The film was released in Japan on January 21, 2017. It was later featured at the Eejanaika Toyohashi Film Festival on March 3, 2017, twice at the

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

on November 3 and 4, 2017, and the

San Diego Asian Film Festival The San Diego Asian Film Festival ( SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement (formerly the San Diego Asian Film Foundation) that takes place every November in San Diego, California. Background SDAFF is the flagship event for ...

on November 22, 2017.

Box office

It was number three at the Japanese box office in its first week of release, earning $1.42 million.

Reception

Eric Lallana of the San Diego Asian Film Festival writes that the film is "Sono at his most populist" and that the manga adaptation is "told with reverence for the material and the spirit of the stars." He describes that "Sono offers generous concern for how power and security are woven between the yakuza, big business, the cops, and the pimpery class."
Josiah Hughes of the Canadian entertainment magazine ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' writes that the film "often feels episodic, moving from one narrative arc to another in its exhausting 133-minute runtime. Despite its lack of traditional structure, however, the film is packed with colourful backdrops, explosive action scenes and comedy both intentional and, perhaps, unintentional."

Home video

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 4, 2017.

References

External links

* {{Sion Sono 2017 films 2010s Japanese-language films 2010s Japanese films Japanese comedy films 2017 comedy films Films directed by Sion Sono Films set in Tokyo Films set in Yokohama Films about prostitution in Japan Live-action films based on manga Japanese sequel films Yakuza films