Naniwa yuukyôden

Makoto and Eiji are two friends that have been ejected from the school. In order to get money, they answer and advertisement on a magazine that supposedly offers a good job, but in reality this is just a swindle made by the Kinsu family to get new members for the group. Once they are members of the Yakuza, the two friends will discover that this world isn't like they imagined...

Firstly i have to say that i'm not a big fan of Miike...in fact after having seen almost all of his released works i'm still think that is one of the most overrated directors...along with Kitamura.

As for the movie, i think it's one of Miike movies i have enjoyed more with, you won't stop laughing. In fact this is more a comedy where the Yakuza world is totally mocked than an action or crime movie, and there is no trace of the typical bizarre things, Miike has become popular for.

I felt like I roughly knew what I was in for, watching a fairly early and low-budget Takashi Miike film, and I was mostly right- there was only really one moment that took me off-guard and felt like a bridge too far. Miike does have a tendency to push boundaries, and I guess if those moments are ones you're prepared for and they don't overdo it by his standards, that's something.

Osaka Tough Guys is just 100 minutes of action/comedy anarchy, really. Some of it's a little dull and repetitive, and some of it's really funny. Consistency is not the name of the game here, but I still had a decent enough time. It's worthy of a passing grade, I think, but isn't among the best Takashi Miike movies I've seen, by any means.