Kishiwada shônen gurentai: Chikemuri junjô-hen

This is a pretty entertaining Miike film which suffers mainly from an anti-climatic and slow storyline. It is still quite entertaining and contains several distinct Miike touches, but the compelling nature of the characters and their locale is somewhat hurt by the strange pacing and repetitive activity. The storyline centers around Riike and his relationship with his high-school sweetheart, Ryoko, soon after the two leave high-school. Riike is now a petty street-mobster who makes a living protecting street vendors and low-level gamblers while Ryoko works in a hair salon. The film investigates how the violent side of Riike's personality is necessary for him to maintain close relationships with his friends and girlfriend.

The movie takes place in a neighborhood of Osaka, Miike's hometown, and is shot mostly with local actors. It's interesting that most of the guys in this film are notably un-handsome, while the girls are typically attractive. The film actually comedically riffs on this a couple of times.

And the comedy here is pretty good. The movie is a weird mix of slapstick and goofy comedy, non-lethal violence and occasional tragedy -- typically eccentric Miike. No single element is too affecting and perhaps that is why the movie falls a little short. I do admire Miike's versatility and ability to play each angle against each other -- at times it is even reminiscent of Takeshi Kitano's direction. This is not a total surprise considering Kitano has appeared in at least a couple of Miike films.

The acting here is competent, but not exactly powerhouse stuff, but then again I wouldn't expect that from the material. It's an entertaining look at the lives of several mischievous teens after they've left high school and the story contains some auto-biographical elements of both the director and writer (Osaka natives). It's entertaining but the pacing holds it back occasionally. Still Miike proves himself pretty versatile and the charming jokes and random Dada-esquire vignettes won me over (the search for 67 degrees, for instance). I'll certainly be interested in checking out the other films in the same series.

Young Thugs: Innocent Blood is too disjointed to really be enjoyed as anything great, but Takashi Miike's film - the first of a two parter (the other being a prequel) - has enough moments to get by.

It's really a lot of parts more than the whole as far as the entertainment ratio goes, but I'll remember some of those parts well, like a frustrated beaten young man punching his hand on a steel bar out of romantic frustration, or a woman yelling about wanting to just cry while totally drunk, or a man having fun with his friend as he removes part of a tattoo.

I just wish there was more of a thru line with the characters and its a case where some of its episodic-ness isn't to its benefit. And the ending is just flipping crazy, going from action, suspense, comedy and then bizarre tragedy. I shouldn't like it and the humor is sophomoric, but it is maybe the most Miike-esque part of all. plus dramatically it's always well directed, confidence of someone not a director of only a few films as he was up till this point

Having seen over 20 Miike films, I expected "Kishiwada shonen gurentai: Chikemuri junjo-hen" (or, as the American release is called, "Young Thugs: Innocent Blood") to be a good movie, but I didn't expect it to be this great! From beginning to end this film kept me involved, laughing at the many hilarious scenes and empathizing at the many dramatic scenes. Unlike many Miike films, this movie carries with it a sense of innocence. Sure, it has some outrageous violence, but it is all in fun, like kids playing. There is no nudity or sexual misconduct (i.e. "Visitor Q" or "Ichi the Killer"), just a pure heartfelt story of young adults growing up (or refusing to grow up). Now that this movie is easily available (thanks to the great folks at ArtsMagicDVD), I would have expected more votes and reviews on here by now. I definitely recommend this film for Miike fans and haters alike. Just a great movie all around.

Three teenagers in Osaka, two boys and a girl, attempt to deal with life after recently finishing high school. They deal with break-ups, new love, beatings, happy times and sad in a more personal tale than Takashi Miike is usually known for. Esentually a slice-of-life coming of age movie with little Miike touches so you can tell it's one of his films. "Young Thugs: Innocent Blood" seems to get a bit of a short shift among certain Miike connoisseurs, but it's a pretty good film in it's own right.

My Grade: B-

DVD Extras: Takashi Miike interview; Osaka's History and culture; Bio/Filmographies; and original Trailer

I have just received both Young Thugs Innocent Blood and Young Thugs Nostalgia, i have just watched Innocent Blood and have yet to see Nostalgia so that film may blow this one out of the water! hahaha! But yeah, a brilliant film, it's full of things of interest and is of the more 'nice' films that Miike does, like DOA2. It's a really warm film with some really nice subtle cinematography that breathes life into the images that Miike constructs. It has a really nice golden colour through out which isn't too over the top that it gets in the way but clear enough as to explain the film on a purely colour basis, this is a film of memory and childhood, it really doesn't deserve the 18 rating it has, it's insane that it has that to be honest! The one thing i'd say is a little off putting, which is the music, it's VERY cheesy and genetic and pulls the film down in respects, but on the other hand it very much fits in with the innocence of the whole movie.

It's a movie that, although very 'easy' and innocent, it has a lot of depth and aspects of interest such as the construction of the film and how it is told, the editing, the characters, and how it relates to other films by the director. I'd really really really recommend this title to anyone who doesn't just take Miike as a place to be horrified, he's never been about exploitation and hey, this is pretty far away from that sort of thing.