The poet turned filmmaker, Sion Sono, continue's his celluloid thesis based upon the Japanese youth culture with adolescent relationships being his primary objective this time around. His latest offering is not a shockfest in the same vein as Strange Circus or Suicide Club but it does have the same bizarre elements that feature prominently in all his previous flicks with the exception of the Mitsuko character which has been dropped this time around and replaced with the male equivalent; a troubled adolescent boy named Yu.
Takahiro Nishijima is cast in the lead role as Yu; his delirious portrayal of a young man with an identity crisis, desperately seeking affection, is truly exceptional and holds the whole film together; he has more charisma and screen presence than Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note, Battle Royal); he looks very convincing and strangely attractive in his alta-ego role - the fist swinging, roundhouse kicking Ms. Scorpion. After the death of his mother, Yu has two main objectives: to win back the affections of his father, who's lost his way in the Cristian priesthood; and, to find his one true love. In order to achieve his goals, Yu sets up his own peeka-panty club, with his delinquent friends, and transforms himself into the ultimate pervert.
On this new path of self destructive enlightenment, Yu will encounter an evil, manipulative cult leader named Aya (Sakura Ando) and a feisty young man-hater named Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). Sion Sono introduces the three main protagonists seperately; in a similar fashion to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs; revisiting the same timeline from each individual characters own point of view until reaching the present situation at hand. The stage is now set for one of the oddest battles for affection and desire you're likely to see, with all three of the dysfunctional characters becoming entangled in a bittersweet game of rivalry.
The second part of this four hour epic changes tone drastically; the outlandish humour is swiftly replaced with a dark, scathing scenario similar to the one played out in Sion Sono's other flick: Noriko's Dinner Table. This truly outstanding examination on the trials and tribulations of the strong emotions we humans associate with the word love, serves to enhance the vastly talented Auteur's reputation as one of the best Asian directors to have emerged during the Noughties. Buy, buy, buy, it's guaranteed to be one of the strangest movie experiences you'll encounter all year.