Crows Explode
2014 · Directed by Toshiaki Toyoda
Original language: Japanese
- action
- adventure
- crime
- comedy
The story
A month after Genji Takiya graduates, a new battle for supremacy at Suzuran All-Boys High School begins. Transfer student Kaburagi Kazeo combats Kagami Ryohei for the coveted top spot, amidst a brewing inter-school conflict with Kurosaki Industrial High.
What it’s like
Saturated, comic-book colour fills every frame: sickly fluorescent corridors, sunburnt concrete schoolyards, and a bruised sky over rooftops, shot with hyperactive handheld swoops and sudden slow-motion pauses when a fist lands. Dust, sweat and cigarette haze hang in the air, and the score is loud, guitar-driven rock that pushes each confrontation toward riot pitch. The feel is swaggering, feverish and cartoonishly hot-blooded. The rhythm is relentless, with brawl after brawl linked by brief quiet beats of bruised loyalty, as a transfer student and a proud top-ranked fighter circle each other while rival gangs gather for war. The violence is frequent and bloody but stylised, closer to exaggerated slapstick than grim realism, with bats, chains and smashed furniture. There is smoking, sneering menace and some betrayal, but little lingering cruelty. It suits a loud Friday night, fans of Japanese delinquent cinema, or anyone who wants macho spectacle that plays like a manga page come to life.
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