The Glorious Asuka Gang!

Not what I expected from Yoichi Sai, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not that I dislike Sai's work, I just didn't know he used to make badass punk films in the vein of Sogo Ishii. The Glorious Asuka Gang is a sprawling genre flick that doesn't fully deliver on its punk premise, but certainly doesn't skimp on the entertainment value.

Asuka is by far the coolest chick in school, but she's looking for a new challenge. She looks up to Yoko, a member of the Hibari gang. When she tries to get involved with Yoko's gang, things turn sour and Asuka suddenly finds herself with tons of drugs, a big stash of money and an angry punk gang on her tail. Not exactly what she had in mind.

Sai has a lot of fun with the punk elements. The sets look surprisingly accomplished, Asuka comes off as a female Akira, and the film is teeming with peculiar characters. It's nothing you haven't seen before and the true anarchic punk spirit is missing from this film, instead Sai offers lots of genre fun in a neat little package. A lovely find.