is a 2014 Japanese

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

based on

Santa Inoue is a Japanese mangaka, manga artist and entrepreneur. His most notable manga was the ''Tokyo Tribe'' series of which the manga installment ''Tokyo Tribes, Tokyo Tribe2'' (also known as ''Tokyo Tribes'') ran from 1997 to 2005, and was made into a ...

's ''

Tokyo Tribes ''Tokyo Tribes'', known in Japanese as , is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga series written and illustrated by Santa Inoue. A previous series titled was published into a single-volume in 1993. ''Tokyo Tribes'' was originally serialized from 19 ...

'' manga series. It was 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 ...

and was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.

Plot

The film is set in an alternate Japan where street gangs collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes control their respective territories and are in continuous conflict. Mera, the head of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with the violent and sadistic gangster Buppa of Buppa Town with the intent of initiating a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru tribes. When it comes to a confrontation between the two tribes, Mera attempts to kill Kai, a popular member of the Musashino Saru tribe. During the attempt Mera accidentally kills Kai's friend Tera, another member of the Musashino Saru tribe who has been beloved by members of all Tribes since before their formation. This causes all of the other Tokyo Tribes to join forces against Mera and Buppa's forces, leading to an all-out gang war. Tokyo Tribe mirrors apocalyptic art house violence, horror musical and tribalistic themes from films such as Mad Max, Do the Right Thing, Rocky Horror Picture Show and various Tarantino films. The film is almost entirely scripted in old school hip hop rhyme.

Cast

Ryōhei Suzuki is a Japanese actor who is represented by the talent agency Horipro. Early life He graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies with a Bachelor's degree in English Studies in March 2006. When he was a student, he worked part-time in NHK ...

as Mera *

Riki Takeuchi is a Japanese actor best known for his roles in v-cinema yakuza movies. Takeuchi has starred in many yakuza films and action films, such as '' Dead or Alive'' by Takashi Miike. Takeuchi also starred in '' Battle Royale II: Requiem'', in which h ...

as Buppa * Young Dais as Kai Deguchi *

Nana Seino is a Japanese actress. She has played Sunmi in '' Tokyo Tribe'', Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in the TV Asahi adaptation of Kuroyanagi's autobiography '' Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window'', and Yuko Komiya in the 98th NHK asadora '' Half Blue Sky ...

as Sunmi/Erika *

Shunsuke Daitō is a Japanese actor, talent and fashion model. He was born in Sakai, Osaka, Japan. Currently, he is employed by the Top Coat subsidiary of Watanabe Productions. Since debuting in 2005's ''Nobuta wo Produce is a Japanese television drama pr ...

as Iwao *

Takuya Ishida is a Japanese actor. Career When Ishida was fifteen, he auditioned in the Junon Superboy Contest for New Actors and won the Photogenic Award. Acting agencies began expressing interest in Ishida as an actor, who eventually accepted an offer fr ...

as Kim *

Yui Ichikawa , is an actress and model from Tokyo, Japan. She is also known by her nickname, ''Yui-nyan''. As an actress she has appeared in several dramas (''doramas''), and in recent years she has concentrated more on her film career. She played a minor ...

as Nori-chan *

Bernard Ackah Bernard Ackah (born April 9, 1972) is a Japanese-based Ivorian taekwondo practitioner, kickboxer, mixed martial artist and comedian. Biography Martial arts career and background Ackah was born in Bonn, Germany to Ivorian parents and moved to ...

as Jadakins * Joey Beni as Kamekachi * Arata Matsuura as Skunk * Yuku Ishii as Hasheem * Makato Sakaguchi as Yon *

Kokone Sasaki is a Japanese actress, singer-songwriter, ''tarento'' and gravure idol. As an actress, ''tarento'' and gravure idol Sasaki is represented with Cel World Entertainment. As a singer-songwriter she is represented with Ongaku Koubou You. Filmogra ...

as rookie police officer *

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 * ...

as veteran police officer *

Hisako Ōkata Hisako is a Japanese name for females. Although written romanized the same way, the kanji can be different. ''Hisako'' may refer to: *Hisako Arakaki (born 1977), J-pop singer * Hisako Hibi (born 1907), Japanese painter *Hisako Higuchi (born 1945 ...

as DJ * Akira Yamamoto * Akio Joe *

Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki is both a masculine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname. Possible writings Yoshiyuki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義幸, "justice, happiness" *義之, "justice ...

as Chikatilo * Akahiro Kitamura as Mukade *

Yoshihiro Takayama is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and ...

as Bouncer * Motoki Fukami * Hitomi Katayama as Yoko * Hiroki Yahiki *

Haruna Yabuki is a Japanese actress, gravure idol, and TV personality from Tokyo. Since 2009, she has used the stage name . In the level Graniny Gorki Lab of the PlayStation 2 video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, there is a poster of Haruna Yabuki. ...

* Cyborg Kaori as Beatboxing maidservant *

Mao Mita Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (P ...

* Miyuki Yokoyama * Shintaro Hazama * Hirokazu Tategata * Yuki Izumisawa *

Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "St ...

as Lotus Chief * Mika Kanō as Erendia * Shōko Nakagawa as Kesha * Kunihiko Kawakami as MC Kan * Mega-G as Mega-G *

D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

* Neri-Motha Fuckerz * Ego *

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

* Ys *

KOHH , better known by his stage name KOHH, is a Japanese hip hop recording artist from Oji, Kita, Tokyo. Early life Chiba was born in Oji, Kita, Tokyo. He was raised by a single mother along with his younger brother. His younger brother is also ...

Tokage The name Tokage has been used to name four tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The name was contributed by Japan and is the Japanese word for Lacerta or lizard. * Typhoon Tokage (2004) (T0423, 27W, Siony) – struck Japan. * Tropic ...

* Young Hastle * Loota * Vito Foccacio * DJ Ken Watanabe * Vikn * Mary Jane *

Anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

Denden is a Japanese actor and former comedian.http://japancinema.net/2012/05/29/creative-spotlight-episode-126-denden He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1981. Selected filmography Film Television References External links * { ...

as Daishisai * Aki Hiraoka as Nezumi * Jōi Iwanaga * Tomoko Karina *

Yōsuke Kubozuka is a Japanese actor and musician. Career Yosuke Kubozuka has been a model for many magazines and TV commercials before starting out his acting career where he debuted in a 1995 TV crime drama ''Kindaichi Case Files''. In 1998, he starred in the ...

as Nkoi * Pacmna as Large Diner *

Ryūta Satō is a Japanese actor and ''tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable ...

as Tera *

Shōta Sometani is a Japanese actor from Koto, Tokyo. He is known for his protagonist roles in ''Himizu'' and ''Parasyte''. Career Sometani was a child actor. He has worked in both film and television, gaining his first leading role in ''Pandora's Box'', ...

as MC Show * Takeshi James Yamada

Box office

The film earned at the Japanese box office by September 14, 2014.

Reception

Mike Hale of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the film "an eccentric project" even for Sion Sono and found that the biggest problem was the "screenplay by Mr. Sono that doesn't provide much motivation for all the insults, battles and chases (and casual mistreatment of women)".
Martin Tsai of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' gave the film a negative review, criticizing its "uninspired violence and misogyny" and found that "the film suggests that these mobsters are driven to conquer only to overcompensate for the inadequacy of their manhoods".
Dennis Harvey of '' Variety.com'' also criticized the music, writing that the "soundtrack's mostly generic old-school beats support lyrics by a host of Japanese performers (many of whom have roles here) that are often funny — sometimes inadvertently, but mostly in a deliberately crass, obscene-boasting way" and that "delivery ranges from the decent to the dreadful".

References

External links

* {{Sion Sono 2014 films 2010s Japanese-language films 2010s Japanese films Japanese action comedy films Japanese musical comedy films 2014 action comedy films 2010s musical comedy films Films directed by Sion Sono Films set in Tokyo Live-action films based on manga Tokyo Tribes 2010s gang films