Tokyo Tribe (2014) Part Manga Movie Part Inspired, One-of-a-Kind Hip-Hopera (Review)

Nobody has quite the same grasp on the enfant terrible director as Japan: the 1960s and 70s had Seijun Suzuki, Kinji Fukusaku, Terou Ishii and countless others; the modern-day has Takashi Miike and the ever-unpredictable Sion Sono, to name just two. Japanese cinema has never had to try hard to find a provocateur filmmaker; while Sono may not have the reputation of the aforementioned wild auteur peers, his latest – Tokyo Tribe, ensure he isn’t too far away. Based on Santa Inoue’s Manga series TOKYO TRIBE2, Sono fuses gang culture, Yakuza, High Manga, Hip Hop and Martial Arts.

In this hyper-real version of Tokyo, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Each of which represents a different style and ideology of hip hop, from its fashion and delivery to their erratic levels of aggression. Mera, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, at the request of his boss, Buppa, instigates a gang war that will end all tribes. Complicating matters further is a kingpin’s missing Daughter and the Musashino Saru tribe that preach peace and love. Completing this jigsaw is the rapping, every gang has their hip hop musical numbers – even the narrator raps in the form of Shota Sometani’s MC Show.

Stating that characters rap would undersell the fact vastly, this is a rock opera by any other name. There is nary a spoken word in the first 40 minutes, get used to that idea and the film becomes an idiosyncratic joy like none before. At least in the West. This is an inspired mix of Bollywood by way of hip hop. If that is a molehill too far, or your taste doesn’t extend to the genre, Tokyo Tribe is quite simply not for you.

The fact that Japanese actors are rapping speaks volumes for how fearless the cast is; even if they aren’t very good their zeal is infectious. As raw as they are, Sono has shored up the core with real hip hop artists. The most impressive of which is Young Dais (of J-rap group “NORTH COAST BAD BOYZ) as Musashino Saru’s Kai. As well as having the hip-hop chops from his day job, his acting has the sort of honest humility that you get from non-professional actors, a quality that lends so much charm to his hero status. His opposite in just about every conceivable way is the barely recognisable bleach-blonde Ryohei Suzuki as Mera. Mera is quite something, he is an unleashed storm of rage, anarchy and machismo. His rap skills may not on par with some of the ringers, nevertheless, he has most of the memorable numbers throughout. Shota Sometani also commits to a role that is 100% rap.

Outside of the key players, using such a perverse hip hop style creates some delirious and strange moments. Buppa’s (Riki Takeuchi) beat-boxing maid is sure to go down in cult legend. Approaching the use of hip hop academically and you’ll find a film that comes to represent all aspects of the culture vying for dominance through violence; it’s a lively means of placing a real-world context onto an unreal film.

The action choreography is equally accomplished in its marriage of traditional martial arts and street dance with its cast of many batting people upside the head with gold katana’s, baseball bats and capoeira-like acrobatics (Nana Seino’s Sunmi). As fantastically choreographed as on both sides as it is, this is rap opera is a gleefully camp and absurd action romp that is best being swept up by. Stop and think for one second and the magic will escape. Question it for one second and the magic will, yet again, escape. Look no further than the utter idiocy of the final revelation, take this film seriously and you will hate it.

Marvel and the MCU aren’t the only creators working the expanded comic book space that know how to create a wild, new world. The design aesthetic of this version of Tokyo is gaudy, loud and one of a kind, it’s like a comic book granted life – something which many strive for and few succeed. Internal set design is saturated in gold with sets that hark back to the Egyptian and Roman epics of the 50s. External sets and its many hundreds of extras belong to an unreal Tokyo akin to a drug-fueled neon dystopia that evokes animé classic Akira.

From a Western perspective, there is very little out there like Tokyo Tribe, and this reviewer believes Sion Sono to be a mad genius for pulling such a messy project off. Make no mistakes there are many flaws with inconsistent musical composition and the never-too-far-away misogyny. Speaking of misogyny, it would be churlish to overlook the introduction of Tokyo by using a topless, busty Japanese woman’s stomach as a map. Even as a fan of both the movie and director, that is a creative decision that is hard to justify or support.

The sheer audacity Sono had in making such a fundamentally weird mainstream feature is impressively punk. Very few people in world cinema would ever dare to try pulling off such a project, those few enfant terrible of Japanese cinema are about the only people with the cojones to even try, never mind pull it off.

Thanks for reading our review of Tokyo Tribe

For more Movie talk, check out our podcast CINEMA ECLECTICA Tokyo Tribe featured on Episode 21