is a 2005 Japanese

surreal comedy Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of s ...

satire film Satire is a television and film genre in the fictional, pseudo-fictional, or semi-fictional category that employs satirical techniques. Definition and description Film or television satire may be of the political, religious, or social variety. ...

directed by

Yūdai Yamaguchi is a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness". Life and career Yamaguchi was born in 1971 and attend ...

(who had previously made ''

Battlefield Baseball is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. The film is written by Gatarō Man, based on his manga series of the same name, and stars Tak Sakaguchi, Atsushi Itō, and Hideo Sakaki. It was produced by Ryuhei Kitamura. The film is a ...

'') and starring

Takamasa Suga is a Japanese actor who had several lead roles, most prominently as the protagonist Shinji Kido in ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''. Filmography Films * '' Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final'' (2002) as Shinji Kido/Kamen Rider Ryuki; Mirror Shinji/Kamen Ri ...

. The film is based on the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Cromartie High School is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiji Nonaka. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2000 to May 2006, with its chapters collected in 18 volumes. It follows the everyd ...

'' by Eiji Nonaka which had also been previously adapted as an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series.

Plot synopsis

The film opens with a black-and-white documentary-like section which recounts the checkered past of Cromartie High, built in 1920 and destroyed six times since then. Then on to the present day school full of

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

and

thug Thug or THUG may refer to: People * Thug, a criminal, who treats others violently and roughly often for hire * Thug, a member of the former Indian cult Thuggee ** Thug Behram ( 1765–1840), leader of the Thuggee cult * Bambie Thug, stage name o ...

s, a school so desperate for students, they even enroll a

gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

and a bad-tempered

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

. Takashi Kamiyama (played by

), a top student, comes to the school to try to join his hapless friend Yamamoto (

Tak Sakaguchi is a Japanese actor, director, stage combat, fight choreographer, stuntman and martial artist. He is best known for his role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, ''Versus (2000 film), Versus''. Since his debut, Sakaguchi has worked with Kitamura s ...

in a cameo role) but Yamamoto can't even pass the entrance exams for Cromartie so Kamiyama is left to go it alone. His efforts to improve the school include starting a Global Defense Force to protect earth from aliens. The aliens when they do arrive are space apes Gori (screenwriter Shōichirō Masumoto in a furry suit) and Lla (both straight out of the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

TV series ''

Spectreman is a tokusatsu science fiction superhero television series. Produced by P Productions and created by producer Souji Ushio, the series aired on Fuji TV in Japan from January 2, 1971 to March 25, 1972 with a total of 63 episodes (divided into three ...

'') and the plot becomes a series of parodies of

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

martial arts movie Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression an ...

s and high school comedies among others.

Production

Director Yamaguchi has said that the author of the original manga, Eiji Nonaka told him to "Do whatever you want" when he learned that a film was to be made of the manga. Yamaguchi took him at his word and did not read the manga or look at the anime version before directing his film. Because of the episodic nature of the original manga, the screenplay took a year and a half to write. The name of Cromartie High School was taken from the American baseball player

Warren Cromartie Warren Livingston Cromartie (born September 29, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player best remembered for his early career with the Montreal Expos. He and fellow young outfielders Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson were the talk ...

who was a star player in Japan for a number of years. Cromartie was unhappy that his name was being used for a school of thugs and delinquents and in 2005 filed an injunction to delay the screening of the movie. The film's director Yamaguchi was able to reach a compromise with Cromartie to allow screening of the film as long as a disclaimer was added that no real person was involved. Cromartie said he still intended bringing a civil suit.

Cast

as Takashi Kamiyama * Mitsuki Koga as Shinjirō Hayashida *Hiroshi Yamamoto as Akira Maeda / Maeda's Mother * Ryūji Akiyama as Makio Tanaka *

Kai Atō was a Japanese actor and television personality. His birth name was , and until 14 November 2001, his stage name was written with different kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, ...

as Kai Atō *Tomoaki Azuma as Sho *Hiroyuki Baba as Tanaka's friend *

Kenichi Endō is a Japanese actor and writer. He also worked as a narrator for many documentaries, both on television and film. He is best known for his roles in '' Visitor Q'' (2001), '' Crows Zero'' (2007), ''Crows Zero 2'' (2009), and '' The Raid 2: Bera ...

as Pootan 1 *

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the " Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the p ...

as Hustle King Shinya Hashimoto *

Itsuji Itao , is a Japanese comedian and actor. He is a member of the comedy duo 130R and former cast member of one of Downtown's previous shows. He usually appears in their batsu games. Filmography (actor) Film *2001 ''Desert Moon'' ... Interviewer *200 ...

as Masked Takenouchi *

Mika Kanai is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is attached to Ken Production. She is best known for her roles in '' Idol Angel Yokoso Yoko'' (as Yoko Tanaka), '' Tanoshii Moomin Ikka'' (as the Snork Maiden), '' Goldfish Warning!'' (as Wapiko), ' ...

as Mechazawa Beta (voice) * Noboru Kaneko as Takeshi Hokuto * Shōichirō Masumoto as Space Apeman Gori / Noboru Yamaguchi *

as Ichiro Yamamoto *

Yoshihiro Takayama is a Japanese former 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), an ...

as Yutaka Takenouchi *

Shinji Takeda , born December 18, 1972, is a Japanese actor, talent and saxophone player. He has had notable roles in such works as '' The Incite Mill'', '' Kyō Kara Hitman'' and '' Tokyo Eyes''. Filmography Television drama Other television Film Dubbi ...

as Shin'ichi Mechazawa (voice) *

Kanji Tsuda is a Japanese actor. Career Tsuda appeared in Kamen Rider Ryuki as Daisuke Okubo and Ju-On: The Grudge as Katsuya Tokunaga. Filmography Film * '' Sonatine'' (1993) * ''119'' (1994) * '' Kids Return'' (1996) * '' Hana-bi'' (1997) * '' Bays ...

as Interviewer A *

Hiroyuki Watanabe was a Japanese actor. He primarily acted in dramas, of which a handful are tokusatsu series. One of his latest roles was as Taiga Saejima in the tokusatsu series ''GARO''. He also played Kamen Rider Gaoh in the ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' movie, ...

as Freddie English voice cast * Ruben Arvizu as Mechazawa Beta / Priest / Lla *

Bob Buchholz Robert Buchholz is an American voice actor, writer, story editor, and voice director. He has provided voices for anime and video games. He is the owner of Spliced Bread Productions. Filmography Anime * '' Akira'' - Ryu (Animaze dub) * '' A Whis ...

as Takenouchi *

Richard Cansino Richard Elias Cansino (born August 10, 1953) is an American voice actor. He is also known as Richard Hayworth because he is the nephew of Rita Hayworth. Richard is best known for his voice work as Kenshin Himura in the anime adaptation of ''Rurou ...

as Takashi Kamiyama *Peter Doyle as Takeshi Hokuto *

Grant George Grant George is an American voice actor, known for voicing characters in anime dubs and video games. He was the voice of Izuru Kira from the ''Bleach'' anime series, the Warrior of Light from ''Final Fantasy'', Shinjiro Aragaki from the ''Person ...

as Hayashida *

Taliesin Jaffe Taliesin Jaffe ( ) is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter. He has worked on English-dubbing roles for anime and video games. He is a cast member on ''Critical Role'', a web series in which he plays ''Dungeons & Dragons'' wit ...

as Hokuto's Henchman / Ippo / Member 1 *

Dan Lorge Dan Lorge is an American voice actor. He currently teaches acting at Take 2 Performers Studio in Reno, Nevada. Selected filmography Anime * ''Lupin the Third Part II, Lupin the 3rd Part II'' (1977–1980) – Koichi Zenigata, Inspector ...

as Hijacker / Actor 1 *

Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971) is an American voice actor known for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. Some of his prominent voice roles in video games include Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with t ...

as Ichiro Yamamoto / Mashiba *

Dave Mallow Dave Mallow (October 19, 1948 – March 11, 2025) was an American voice actor. Life and career Mallow was born on October 19, 1948. His father worked in radio and television and was a 30-year on-air veteran at Chicago's WGN. After graduating ...

as Masa *

Michael McConnohie Michael McConnohie is an American voice actor, writer and director who has provided many voice roles in movies, anime, and video games. He and fellow actress Melodee Spevack run a production company called VoxWorks. For twenty-plus years he has ...

as Shinichi Mechazawa / Narrator * Kristen Rutherford as Woman Islander / Bride *

Patrick Seitz David Patrick Seitz (born March 17, 1978) is an American voice actor, ADR director and script writer best known for portraying Dio Brando in ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''. He has provided voices for English versions of Japanese anime and video ...

as Ladies Man / Sendo *

Doug Stone Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He debuted in 1990 with the single " I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epi ...

as Gori / Actor 2 / Noburo Yamaguchi / Electrician *

Ezra Weisz Ezra Weisz is an American voice actor and ADR director who stars in various anime television shows. Career Weisz is a prolific voice actor in the anime community, having done voices in various anime shows such as ''Outlaw Star'', ''The Big O'', ...

as Maeda *

Dan Woren Dan Woren is an American voice actor who is known for providing voice work for anime, television, and video games. His role was voicing Roy Fokker in the ''Robotech'' series in the 1980s. Other major voice roles include Jagi in ''Fist of the No ...

as Kai Atō

Release

Cromartie High was shown at the 9th

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...

on July 17, 2005. The movie was released theatrically in Japan on July 23, 2005 by Media Suites and the Japanese DVD was issued on January 2, 2006 by King Records (キングレコード). The New York premiere of Cromartie High School was in June 2006 at the 2006

New York Asian Film Festival The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is a film festival held in New York City dedicated to the display of Asian film and culture. The New York Asian Film Festival generally features contemporary premieres and classic titles from Eastern Asia ...

, presented by Subway Cinema. Soon afterwards in July 2006, an English-subtitled and English-dubbed DVD was released by Tokyo Shock as ''Cromartie High - The Movie''.

Reception

Todd Brown at Twitch Film gave a very positive review calling the film "deliriously fun stuff" with a "fantastic visual style" and "jammed with bursts of stylish action, visual gags, film references and as much plain old oddity as Yamaguchi can possibly jam in there." However, Josh Ralske at AllMovie was disappointed by director Yamaguchi's "haphazard approach to his source material" and lack of focus but does say the film "provides a few genuinely clever and amusing off-the-wall moments". Another reviewer is more positive but stresses that the film is mainly for devotees of the

and

series and that the uninitiated may be unimpressed. The review concludes: "As sophomoric and cheap-looking as it is, Sakigake! Cromartie High School is also good, clean, impenetrable fun. Just make sure that you're a fan". The reviewer for Mania gives the film a B− rating but also maintains that it is mostly for fans and that it "needs some familiarity in order to really enjoy a lot of it. Another take is the review on CinemaEye which gives it 4 stars with the comment "CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL doesn't make sense whatsoever. That is the true charm of it. The team behind this knew exactly what they were doing. Extremely entertaining on every level if you just roll with it. It is too bizarre but they sure make you laugh."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cromartie High - The Movie 2005 films Live-action films based on manga Films directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi Japanese comedy films Films about juvenile delinquency 2000s Japanese films