Kamikaze Girls: Special Edition

Introduction

Last January, when Third Window Films first came to my attention, I found myself enchanted by their appreciation of eclectic cinema from the Far East, but disappointed by the quality of those initial releases. Perhaps the most disappointing of all was the release of Kamikaze Girls, a title that I had approached with unseemly anticipation for its Yoko Kanno soundtrack, but when it arrived, it came in letterbox and stereo form, with burnt in subtitles. I made a noise about my dissatisfaction, then went and quickly pounced on the Region 3 disc, which addressed these problems, although it was a barebones release. I really should have just waited, as once in a while, the squeaky wheel does in fact get the grease. This winter, Third Window Films have rectified their misstep, with the Special Edition release of Kamikaze Girls on two discs. More than that actually, as Kamikaze Girls SE is also their first Blu-ray release. I'm just looking at the DVD though. You can expect a fair bit of cut and paste from my previous reviews.


Can a Lolita ever be a friend with a Yanki? Before I continue, it would help to define the terms. It's all about fashion, about individuality, about rebelling against conformity. Just as each generation develops its anti-establishment rebellions, defined by fashion, music, ethos and so on, so two of the groups that have developed in Japan are the Lolitas and Yankis. Lolitas are girls who have a fascination with the Rococo period of European history, who like things pretty, demure, and all things sweet. The preferred dress is frilly, adorned with lace, bouffant, flowery, and complimented by a parasol. On the other hand, a Yanki typifies the rebellious dropout, uncouth, rough, quick to anger, prone to violence, long coat wearing biker chick, with a code of honour that typifies their sisterhood. You wouldn't exactly imagine the two groups coexisting in peaceful harmony.


But in the small rural town of Shimotsuma, where the majority of the population do their clothes shopping at the local supermarket, there are not a lot of like-minded antiestablishment characters to hang out with. Momoko Ryugasaki is probably the only Lolita in the village, but she isn't bothered by her solitude, especially when she ascribes to a hedonistic, totally self-centred and self-indulgent mindset. Her father is a failed Yakuza, who was run out of the city for selling ridiculous counterfeit clothing, and her mother ran off with her gynaecologist when Momoko was seven. Momoko's life revolves around guilting her father out of enough money to fund her trips to Tokyo and the 'Baby The Stars Shine Bright' boutique to stock up on her favourite clothing. When that money runs dry, she tries selling some of her father's left over stock, although she isn't expecting Yanki Ichigo 'Ichiko' Shirayuri to pull up on her pimped up scooter. A headbutt to the face is the start of an unconventional friendship.

Picture

Finally, an anamorphic transfer to show off the 1.85:1 image at its best. Well almost at its best, as Kamikaze Girls gets the dreaded NTSC-PAL standards conversion. That said, it's not the worst such I've ever seen, as interlacing is really only evident when you pause the film and frame advance, while the pans and scrolls are nice and smooth and free of judder. The only real visible signs are a slight softness to the image, and some ghosting in certain scenes. It's in a different league from the original letterbox release though, and compared to the Region 3 NTSC disc, the dual layer format means there are no visible compression artefacts. The colours, while still bright and challenging to the retina, aren't as saturated, and there's actually a smidge more detail. Of course if you want to get away from that standards conversion, you now have the Blu-ray to opt for.

Sound

The sound has had an upgrade as well, although not as drastic as the image. The presence of a DD 5.1 Japanese track in addition to the vanilla stereo is greatly appreciated though. It's not the greatest sound design ever inflicted on a film, in fact the audio soundstage is pretty straightforward for Kamikaze Girls. What really appeals is the music soundtrack, the Yoko Kanno score that I so looked forward to with this film, and which left me feeling a little underwhelmed on the original disc. Not here, as the surround audio bring out her music perfectly, and the pop tunes and eclectic mix of classical and world music just zings. Although there's no menu option for the subtitles, you can switch them off at the press of a button on your remote, and apparently, the Region 3, this and the original Region 2 disc all share the same subtitles. Incidentally, the Region 3 still nudges ahead of this disc audio-wise, at least in terms of abbreviations and extensions, offering as it does DTS-ES 6.1 and DD 5.1 EX.

Extras

The main feature disc gets things off on the right note with some nicely animated menus. That's all you get though, as the extra features are all on disc 2 of the DVD Special Edition (The Blu-ray is a single disc release).

That featurette from the original disc makes the transition to this release, and it's still the 7-minute interview with Kyoko Fukada (Momoko), and Anna Tsuchiya (Ichigo).

New to this release are the following.

The Making of Kamikaze Girls is a 39-minute featurette that takes us behind the scenes of the film, and offers interviews with the cast, crew and director.

There is also a separate 4-minute interview with director Tetsuya Nakashima.


The workprint footage lasts 5 minutes, and is combination deleted scenes, gags and bloopers.

Unicorn-Ryuji is an 11-minute short film featuring the guy with 'the hair', telling the story of his first love, and how he came by that particular tonsorial elegance.

There is a 3-minute long music video featuring Anna Tsuchiya.

Finally there is the original Japanese trailer for Kamikaze Girls, and 16 trailers for other Third Window Product.

It isn't quite up to the Japanese special edition, which also has a couple of audio commentaries, but then again, the Japanese releases aren't subtitled in English. In terms of the English-speaking universe, Third Window Films has leapt to the top of the tree in terms of features, especially with the Blu-ray.

Conclusion

Movies about teenage friendship and bonding are two a penny these days, and opposites have been thrown together against adversity ever since the days of The Breakfast Club, yet Kamikaze Girls is like nothing I have ever seen before. Having seen director Tetsuya Nakashima's subsequent award winning Memories of Matsuko, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the anarchic freewheeling Technicolor tone of Kamikaze Girls. But when the story begins by Momoko narrating the story of her life, from birth, and we see that birth from the baby's perspective, then it becomes clear that Kamikaze Girls is unconventional to say the least.


It's the unconventional friendship that forms between the epitome of all things frilly and sweet, and a tough as nails biker chick that lies at the heart of this film, although the story is told from Momoko's perspective, with the fourth wall collapsing early on in the film. It's tongue in cheek, played for laughs, filled with ridiculous and bizarre characters, yet manages to be heartfelt and heart-warming at the same time. Despite their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, Momoko and Ichigo are utterly engaging and sympathetic characters and it's easy to care about their friendship.


Given the number of DVDs that pass through my hands, its rare that I get to rewatch a movie in short order. In fact, I find that for most films, years pass before I give them a second viewing. But I've had reason to watch Kamikaze Girls three times in the last 12 months, and that has cemented its place as one of my favourite films. It's just delightful from beginning to end and I take yet another opportunity to wholeheartedly recommend it. It's great to see the film finally get the release that it deserves, and while the standards conversion is a small bugbear, the anamorphic picture, the surround sound and the copious extra features certainly aren't. Besides, if the image quality does bug you, it should all be resolved by getting the Blu-ray release, where such crass terminology such as PAL and NTSC doesn't even apply.


Now if Third Window Films gives Tetsuya Nakashima's Memories of Matsuko the same upgrade, all will be right with the world.