Member odioustrident Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Looking for the series Rebellion League of Girls in Sailor Uniform, preferably on dvd-r. Can pay or trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Official DVD Box Set available from Japan. Cool series, although no Sukeban Deka beater. (and no, please don't ask me to make copies because I won't. The official release is available from any Japanese retailer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted October 31, 2011 Author Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Takuma... what other Japanese shows rate highly for you in terms of creative setpieces and action choreography? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 ok, my post became so long, that I will be posting it it several parts. Gonna be a ton of typing mistakes... ) Post 1: Rebellion League of Girls in Sailor Uniform I haven't really been following any real martial arts shows... just high school action / idol shows In terms of action Rebellion League of Girls in Sailor Uniform is in a league of its own. While it's still an idol show and you shouldn't expect any real martial arts skill, the action choreography was done by Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club. So while often clumsy, it's also imaginative and very entertaining. Naturally you should have a thing for Japanese high school girls (who like doing split kicks, running one people's shoulders, and fighting against a baseball team!) Just like the Sukeban Deka girls, the heroines have their signature weapons. Yumi (Nobuko Sendo) uses boxing gloves, Ruri (Risa Yamamoto) throws sharp pens, and Kei (Kyoko Goto) uses scarf and long yellow chain. Miho Nakayama uses roses, but her role is merely a supporting one, despite her being the first billed actress (she was a famous idol back then, and made an international breakthrough with Shunji Iwai's Love Letter). Supporting cast also includes Rikiya Yasuoka (the badass maniac from Sonny Chiba's The Executioner - playing a high school teacher here!), Kinya Aikawa, Shinzo Hotta (pinly violence reqular), Noriko Hayami and Jun Izumi The soundtrack is by rock band A-JARI (who also have awesome, action packed cameo in the series), plus Sendo and Yamamoto who both contribute one song to the soundtrack. The songs are all good, however, the amount is quite small compared to some of Toei’s series. Rebellion League also lacks a memorable score by a composer such as Ichiro Nitta It's not a very well written show, but has enough action, humor, music, and cool villains to be thoroughly entertaining. Recommended. DVD availability Geneon's 6 disc R2J box set. Image quality is ok, but not as good as on Toei's TV shows. Extras feature a couple of minutes of TV-spots, and a nice 20 page booklet with character, cast and episode guides. The first pressing also came with a bandana, but I missed that. Soundtrack release Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Post 2: Sukeban Deka In terms of creativity all three Sukeban Dekas are absolutely great. There are three shows, each with different cast, but same premise. A teenage delinquent girl (sukeban) is hired by the government to act as secret detective (deka) - armed with iron yoyo. She fights corrupt school officials, mad bombers, conspirators, and even ninja clan. The first show is most down to earth, and hence perhaps the coolest. It lacks the fantasy elements (well, unless you consider a teenage crime fighter with yoyo as her weapon such...) and takes place mostly in school. Idol Yuki Saito plays the lead role, and also contributes a very cool, dark theme song. She's not the greatest actress, but she her certain fragile angst that makes her performance cool. The score, which is cool beyond belief, is by Ichiro Nitta. I never get tired of this score. Action wise the show is of course very stiff and campy - keep in mind it stars an idol with no prior action experience whatsoever. But that doesn't change the fact that this show is one of the coolest things since sliced bread. Highly recommended. Screencaps Yuki Saito and Koji Naka Saki's weapon... ... which is more dangerous than it looks like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Post 3: Sukeban Deka II The second series, Legend of the Girl in the Iron Mask, is a total EPIC and perhaps my favorite TV show of all time. This time Yoko Minamino (Nanno), at her very best, plays the lead role. Her character is girl who grew up wearing an iron mask. Now she's hired by the government and the mask is taken off - but she later stars using is as battle gear (almost like in Italian post apocalypse movies!) Like many other 80's idols Nanno was best in high school uniform, because that protected her from 1980's fashion disasters... She's joined by two other teen girl fighters - the cute high class girl Yukino (Akie Yoshizawa) and sukeban Okyo (Haruko Sagara). Sagara especially is awesome - her character even introduces herself with the same yakuza greeting as Junko Fuji in the Red Peony Gambler movies - accompanied by the Red Peony Gambler theme song! There's a lot more action than in the first show, and it's also better executed although still often campy. Yukari Oshima does a cameo in the first episode (she has a brief nunchaku fight), and Nanno uses double yoyo's like Chow Yun Fat uses double handguns! There's also fights against all girls kung fu club and other martial arts specialists. The storyline is also unforgettably epic - even manages to remake Casablanca at one point, not to mention movie references to High Noon, The Terminator, Female Prisoner Scorpion, and vampire movies... The soundtrack is also brilliant, with three theme songs, one of them by Akie Yoshizawa who was a member of the pop-idol factory Onyanko Club (Hello Project was an Onyanko Club rip off, and remade many of their original songs). The Onyanko Club also appears in two episodes and performs songs like Don't Take off My Sailor Uniform Nanno Akie Haruko Onyanko barricade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Post 4: Sukeban Deka III The third series, Romance of the Ninja Girls, is essentially a teenage ninja girl remake of Star Wars. This one is most action packed, with co-star Yuka Onishi actually using crane style kung fu in a few episodes! Almost every episode features two fight scenes, usually against ninjas. It's a really bloody cool show for the first 30 episodes - the last 12 are a bit less impressive but still good. The protagonist is played by Yui Asaka, who is the most adorable of all three sukeban dekas. If you like kawaii and ninjas, then this one is your show! The soundtrack is also great, with no less than 5 theme songs by the lead cast. Karate villain Masashi Ishibashi (you know him from every other Sonny Chiba and Etsuko Shihomi movie ever made!) makes guest appearance! Note that the Sukeban Deka movies aren't nearly as good as the TV shows... DVD availability Toei has released all three shows on dvd. The first show is made of three volumes (mostly two disc sets), the second is four volumes and the third is five volumes (also includes a movie length special episode with Masashi Ishibashi and Satomi Fukunaga. The OOP first pressings of the first volume of each series come with box sets to house all individual volumes. In addition there is a Sukeban Deka compilation dvd (the first box set has space for this one) which includes compilation episodes ("happened in the series so far...") for each show. The picture quality is good, but extras are few: booklets, a few TV spots, and making of episode for the first series. There are really expensive, so if you want to get them try to track down used copies via amazon or yahoo japan auctions (hire someone in Japan to act as middle hand if needed). You can easily save 40% this way, even if you had to use a middle hand and pay commission) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Post 5: Shoujo Commando Izumi Toei's follow-up to Sukeban Deka was Shoujo Commando Izumi, which, you guessed right, took its title from the Schwarzenegger movie. This one was originally planned as the 4th Sukeban Deka series, so the structure is very similar. But instead of yoyo, the protagonist uses bazooka (only in a few episodes, though... her main weapon is a bracelet). The series also features a dose of sci-fi (with 60 Million Dollar Man references), and overuse of slow motion. It's a cool and fun, but slightly underwhelming show, and doesn't always live up to the action promise (because it doesn't have that much action). The first and last few episodes do have some really cool action scenes, though. Some of the theme songs are by A-Jari (who also make appearance in one episode), while the rest are by Izumi Igarashi, who plays the protagonist. Semi-famous movie actor Takeo Chii (you may have seen him in a bunch of yakuza and action movies) plays a supporting role. Izumi also has two sidekicks (Yumi Tsuchida and Masami Katsuragawa), but unlike the unforgettable Sukeban Deka girls they're not that interesting. DVD availability Toei has released the entire series in nice 3 disc set. It's expensive, but, well, life is! Soundtrack release Screencaps Izumi's coolest weapon Izumi's main weapon A-Jari Caught in a shoe shop. "So, you're a woman after all, Izumi". Takeo Chii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Post 6: Hana no Asuka gumi Toei's final high school action show was Hana no Asuka gumi, which I'm currently watching. I'm halfway through the series and... well, what can I say, the protagonist uses gold coin as her weapon... Ok, it's still kinda cool show, but not for action fans. Love Hana's Momoe Yamaguchi hair cut More comments when I finish the show. I've also got the (80's) movie edition Ok, maybe that was all. I didn't mean to write all this, but it was so fun couldn't stop once I started... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted November 2, 2011 Author Member Share Posted November 2, 2011 Thanks for the info Takuma just picked up Sukeban Deka III and Rebellion League. I'm surprised some of these shows aren't more popular with kung collectors; there is a serious Chiba, Shiomi and Kurata fanbase yet the really inventive action scenes of these shows are kindof overlooked by everyone who isn't in it for the girls. Is it true that only the first season of Sukeban Deka was fansubbed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted November 2, 2011 Member Share Posted November 2, 2011 Yes, fansubs for the first series exist - I actually watched part of the series with srts. I believe someone started working on the second series a few years ago... and is still working on it. Looks like it's gonna be finished by 2054... maybe, unless the subber dies of old age before that. So, don't bother waiting for it. But these shows are terrific entertainment regardless whether you are fluent in Japanese or not. The second and third series especially are full of action, pop songs, strage villains, movie references... and each episode is just 25 minutes. Oh, right, there's a wonderful site with English language plot summaries for series 1, 2 and part of 3: http://www.idollica.com/sukebanintro/SukebanDekaIntro.html Also check out his (awesome) main site: http://www.idollica.com/ I don't know if I would necessarily recommend these to kung fu fans - after all, these are idol shows with very little in terms of real martial arts skill. But awesomely epic and imaginative TV entertainment, yes! There used to be a lot of clips on youtube, but Toei/Fuji TV have killed them all! But let's see, maybe a few more could somehow be found... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted November 2, 2011 Author Member Share Posted November 2, 2011 I'd say if someone enjoys the action in swordplays from the late 60's/early 70's, they will definitely love these shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted November 2, 2011 Member Share Posted November 2, 2011 Sukeban Deka III: Romance of the Ninja Girls Secret ninja library in high school iIGETSxPdV4 (This is one of the early episodes in which Yui has just started new school... she discovers the school library is a bit cooler than you might expect. She of course comes from a ninja family and was trained in the basics by a priest. You can see she's even wearing a protective iron vest under her school uniform) Ninja walk wrRnz4GQHjQ (Yui and former ninja getting ready to kick some ass) Ambush fCW9aROsYFI (Yuka gets in trouble on the streets when following a suspicious persion. Her weapon are origami shuriken) edit: slight audio sync problems. Stupid youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted November 4, 2011 Member Share Posted November 4, 2011 Sukeban Deka 2: Legend of the Girl in the Iron Mask Saki meets Yukino yjKds12MyoI (this is the scene where Saki is first introduced to Yukino. Saki's friend is hoping that Yukino would help Saki fight the ruthless all girls kung fu club that terrorizes the high school) Okyo, Saki and Yukino Cou-BWxNJIA (this is a great showcase for the actresses, who are just perfect in their roles. There this wonderful bit between Yukino (high class girl who made friends with Saki) and Okyo (lonely but pround sukeban, who doesn't want to appear too friendly to anyone) when Yukino says "Saki-san, is that person your friend?" and then goes to Okyo and says "Would you like to join us?" and Okyo respons "bug off, idiot". Love how she delivers the line (she's in fact my favorite character in the series). Rough translation Yukino: "Saki-san! Saki-san!" Saki: "Yukino-san..." Yukino: "How's this? Suits me?" Saki: "You... how come this kind of uniform..." Yukino: "I followed your example and transferred to the same school as you." Saki: "...is that so..." Okyo: "...the hell are you?" Yukino: "Miyamoto!" Miyamoto: "Miss!" Yukino: "I will come with you" Yukino: "Saki-san, is that person your friend?" - "Would you like to join us?" Okyo: "Bug off idiot" Yukino "oh is that so." Yukino and Okyo kick ass hBFcqItqWAo (as you can see, Okyo and Yukino get along better here) I found it essentially impossible to choose just three clips... as I stated, I think this series just might my favorite TV show of all time, so I feel no amount of clips would do it justice. If you like what you're seeing please go rob a bank and buy the official dvds - you'll get 8 discs worth of pure greatness. From all the 700 dvds I own the Sukeban Deka II box set is the most beautiful! If the house catches fire this is the first thing I grab and carry to safety. Then I come back for the sweet granny next door... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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