Sukeban burûsu: Mesubachi no gyakushû

Queen Bee's Counterattack is the first out of seven films in the Sukeban series. Four of them were directed by Suzuki so I'll be sure to watch at least three of them after this and who knows even more. It's a promising start of the series which didn't really come as a surprise. It's what I'd come to expect after watching Suzuki's other girl gang flick Terrifying Girls' High School. Though they are far from the same.

It's the perfect Pinky Violence setup. We follow the gorgeous Reiko Ike who's the girl gangs' boss since their previous leader has been caught by the officials. Problems starts to rain down on them when the old leader returns and the Yakuza is causing problems. Meanwhile they get mixed up with a motorcycle gang. The conflicts are stacking so it's time for... nudity.

And there's plenty of it. Of course it's all in favor of the violence, or corruption...even for the fun of it. It has all it needs to please the fans. Switchting between humorous scenes and melodramatic sequences, it sure has plenty to tell in a short time. There's room for everything, it's almost a random bag of fun at some points.

Probably the best example of the humorous fun and excitement this film has to offer must be the scene where they all have sex while riding on a motorcycle. Pretty hilarious, clever and highly entertaining. Add some topless fighting, some Yakuza business... and we have a great film. Though it comes off pretty simple and straight forward, never does it feel that way.

With a great cast (plenty of familiar names), a really decent look, cool music and intriguing storytelling, Queen Bee's Counterattack has to be a dream start for the series. There's plenty of shameless fun to look forward to, so I'm happy like a 13-year old grabbing his first pair of boobs.

Three young women belonging to an all-female gang called the "Athens Gang" hustle a businessman and after taking his money get away in a stolen car. Unfortunately, their car breaks down and upon trying to steal another one are accosted by some men on motorcycles. Fortunately, they manage to fight them off long enough to be rescued by a man named "Jiro" and some of the men of the Hokushin Association. In gratitude "Reiko" sleeps with him. But afterward she refuses to be his girlfriend because of her loyalty to her gang. However, her leadership of that gang comes into question when the former boss named "Jun" returns from reform school while at the same time other groups begin to also notice the Athens Gang and want to take ownership of them as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting movie which belongs to a sub-genre of Japanese film known as "pinku eiga" which originated sometime in the '60s and grew in popularity for about 20 years. Although they typically have scenes of a sexual nature there are certain limits which they are governed by and are probably best compared to a "sexploitation film" by Western standards. There is sometimes quite a bit of violence as well and this particular movie is no exception. Likewise, from what I understand most of these films are made by small independent studios with a limited budget and for that reason most of them have a certain "B-movie" quality about them. In any case, while this movie certainly wasn't exceptional by any means and probably won't appeal to a general audience, it does provide some entertainment value here and there and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Queen Bee's Counterattack is the first out of seven films in the Sukeban series. Four of them were directed by Suzuki so I'll be sure to watch at least three of them after this and who knows even more. It's a promising start of the series which didn't really come as a surprise. It's what I'd come to expect after watching Suzuki's other girl gang flick Terrifying Girls' High School. Though they are far from the same.

It's the perfect Pinky Violence setup. We follow the gorgeous Reiko Ike who's the girl gangs' boss since their previous leader has been caught by the officials. Trash starts to rain down on them when the old leader returns and the Yakuza is causing problems. Meanwhile they get mixed up with a motorcycle gang. The conflicts are stacking so it's time for... nudity.

And there's plenty of it. Of course it's all in favor of the violence, or corruption...even for the fun of it. It has all it needs to please the fans. Switchting between humorous scenes and melodramatic sequences, it sure has plenty to tell in a short time. There's room for everything, it's almost a random bag of fun at some points.

Probably the best example of the humorous fun and excitement this film has to offer must be the scene where they all have sex while riding on a motorcycle. Pretty hilarious, clever and highly entertaining. Add some topless fighting, some Yakuza business... and we have a great film. Though it comes off pretty simple and straight forward, never does it feel that way.

With a great cast (plenty of familiar names), a really decent look, cool music and intriguing storytelling, Queen Bee's Counterattack has to be a dream start for the series. There's plenty of shameless fun to look forward to, so I'm happy like a 13-year old grabbing his first pair of boobs.