is a 2008 Japanese

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film written and directed by

Noboru Iguchi (born June 28, 1969) is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor. He has worked as a director in adult video (AV) as well as in the horror and gore genres. Life and career Iguchi was born on June 28, 1969. In an interview he said he wa ...

, and starring

Minase Yashiro is a Japanese gravure idol, actress and TV personality. Life and career Minase Yashiro was born on February 3, 1985, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. She debuted as a gravure (swimsuit) model in 2006, releasing her first DVD ''MINASE Minakuru!'' Febr ...

, Asami, Kentarō Shimazu and

Honoka is a Japanese TV personality, actress, writer and former adult video (AV) performer who retired from the AV industry in 2008. Life and career Honoka was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. She is a licensed practical nurse and has appeared as ...

. The plot follows an orphaned Japanese schoolgirl whose life is destroyed when her brother is killed by a son of a

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

clan. When her hand is cut off, she replaces it with a makeshift machine gun and seeks revenge. Special effects were completed by

Yoshihiro Nishimura is a Japanese film director, special effects and makeup effects artist, and a screenwriter who has worked predominantly in the horror genre. Nishimura has been described as "a legendary director and effects artist" and "the Tom Savini of Japan" ...

, who went on to direct ''

Tokyo Gore Police is a 2008 Japanese action splatter film co-written, edited and directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura and starring Eihi Shiina as Ruka, a vengeful police officer. ''Tokyo Gore Police'' was released to several film festivals in North America. It rece ...

''. It was initially released in the United States on May 23, 2008 before premiering in Japan on August 2, 2008.

Plot

Ami Hyūga is an average high school girl whose world comes crashing down when her brother Yu and his friend Takeshi Sugihara are killed by bullies, led by Sho Kimura. As Ami tracks down Sho, she discovers that the bullies are associated with a ninja-yakuza family. She goes after the clan for revenge, but they brutally overpower her, cutting off her left arm. Ami escapes and seeks shelter with Takeshi's parents, Suguru and Miki Sugihara, two kindly mechanics who fit her with a multi-barrelled

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

prosthetic. Ami and Miki (who uses a

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, ...

) pursue the clan, massacring them one by one. Their victims' families, meanwhile, band together to get revenge. Eventually, they reach the yakuza's hiding place. As the fight continues, Miki loses her right foot and eventually dies. Ami loses her machine gun during her fight with Sho's father Ryūgi Kimura, but gets Miki's chainsaw. Finding Sho with hostages to keep Ami at bay, his mother Violet Kimura manages to disarm Ami while attempting to kill her with her drill bra. Noticing one of the hostages wet himself, Ami takes advantage and trips Violet onto the urine, electrocuting her. She then kills Sho. Feeling she has nothing left to live for, she attempts to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. At that moment, Ami hears noise behind her and turns, sword at the ready.

Production

According to writer and director Iguchi, the idea for ''The Machine Girl'' went back to a simple idea he had about a one-armed girl in a bikini looking for revenge. The idea for the machine gun arm came later.

Cast

– Ami Hyuga *

Asami Miyajima , who, in the early part of her career performed under the name , is a Japanese actress, model, former gravure idol and AV idol. Life and career Asami was born in Tokyo, Japan on September 19, 1985. At age 19, she appeared in the theatrical film ...

– Miki Sugihara *

Noriko Kijima is a Japanese gravure idol and actress. Life and career Kijima was born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan on March 22, 1988. She was one of the winners at the 2005 Seikore competition, short for Zenkoku Joshikousei Seifuku Collection, a Japanese natio ...

– Yoshie *

– Violet Kimura * Yūya Ishikawa – Suguru Sugihara * Kentarō Shimazu – Ryūgi Kimura * Ryosuke Kawamura – Yu Hyuga * Nobuhiro Nishihara – Sho Kimura * Taro Suwa – Kimura gang member

English dub Version

The English dubbed version was dubbed at

NYAV Post NYAV Post is an American recording studio located in New York City. It was founded by Michael Sinterniklaas in 2000, with a West Coast branch located in Los Angeles, California. The studio is prolific in recording anime dubs, original animatio ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. *

Brina Palencia Brina Michelle Palencia (born February 13, 1984) is an American voice and television actress. She has voiced a number of English-language versions of characters featured in anime. Palencia provided the dubbed voices of Tony Tony Chopper in '' ...

– Ami Hyuga *

Carrie Keranen Carrie Keranen is an American voice actress, production manager, producer and voice director. She is best known for her work with 4Kids Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video, NYAV Post, Studiopolis and Funimation. Her r ...

– Miki Sugihara *Kevin T. Collins – Suguru Sugihara *Charles Bunting – Ryūgi Kimura *

Stephanie Sheh Stephanie Sheh is an American voice actress, ADR director, writer and producer who has worked for several major companies, including Cartoon Network and Sony. She is often involved with work in English dubs of anime, cartoons, video games and fi ...

– Yoshie *

Michael Sinterniklaas Michael Tremain Sinterniklaas (; born August 13, 1972) is a French voice actor, ADR director and script writer who has provided voices for a number of English language versions of Japanese anime films and television series, as well as cartoons ...

– Yu Hyuga *

Christopher Kromer Christopher Edward "Chris" Kromer (born August 1, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He is co-host of the reality series ''Beat the House'' on HGTV. Early life Kromer was born in Queens, New York and was raised in New Jersey. Krome ...

– Sho Kimura * Drew Aaron – Takeshi Sugihara, Teppei *

Wayne Grayson Vincent "Vinnie" Penna Jr, who has primarily performed using the stage name Wayne Grayson, is an American voice actor and director primarily known for his work at 4Kids Entertainment, Central Park Media, Media Blasters, NYAV Post and DuArt Fi ...

– Kitamura * Dan Green – Yusume *

Jason Griffith Jason Adam Griffith is an American voice actor, known for his voice over work for NYAV Post, 4Kids Entertainment and DuArt Film and Video. He is best known as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog in the English dub of ''Sonic ...

– Ryota, various * Erica Schroeder – Masako * Mike Pollock – Sushi Chef *

Brandon Potter Charles Brandon Potter (born July 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his work voice acting, directing, and script writing on various anime dubs for Funimation.https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/BrandonPotter Filmograp ...

– Kaneko *Dara Seitzman – Sumire *Robby Sharpe – Hiroshi *Christine Shipp – Yumiko, Old Lady *

Tom Wayland Tom Wayland is an American voice actor, voice director and producer who is the Supervising Director at 3Beep productions, which works on English-language dubs of Japanese anime and other global animations. He previously worked for Central Park M ...

– Shinsuke * David Wills – Suguano

Release

The movie premiered at the

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Fil ...

in March 2008. It was released theatrically in the United States on May 23, 2008 and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

June 3, 2008, and in Japan on August 2, 2008. The Japanese DVD from Nikkatsu came out January 23, 2009 as a 2 disc set including the short . Tokyo Shock, the Media Blaster label which released the original US DVD, announced that they were bringing out a two-disc special titled ''The Machine Girl Remix'' on August 4, 2009. The set includes the ''Shyness Machine Girl'' short, renamed ''Machine Girlite''.

Reception

The film's reception has been mixed to positive. It currently holds a 63% "fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from eight reviews.

Rating

The film was rated 18 in countries such as

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

because of nonstop gore, bloody action sequences and a

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

scene with suggested

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...

c overtones.

Legacy

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

sequel called was released on January 23, 2009 along with the Japanese DVD of ''The Machine Girl''. The American

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

project Machine Girl was named after the film.

References

External links

*
MachineGirl.net
* * *
Internal Bleeding

Nippon Cinema
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machine Girl, The 2008 films 2008 action films 2008 horror films Japanese action comedy films Films directed by Noboru Iguchi Girls with guns films Japanese vigilante films Japanese comedy horror films Japanese action horror films 2000s exploitation films Japanese films about revenge Japanese splatter films Tokyo Shock 2008 action comedy films Yakuza films 2008 comedy films 2000s Japanese films