In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro crosses the line to conquer all of Tokyo. The war begins. In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro joins forces with heavy hitting sadistic gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill popular member of the Musashino Saru - Kai. By mistake, Merra instead kills Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by members of all Tribes since before their formation). This leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tokyo Tribes in an all out war against Merra and Buppa's forces. 'TOKYO TRIBE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)<br/><br/>A martial arts/action/comedy/musical flick, spoken almost entirely in rap verse! The film has been described (by it's marketing campaign) as "The world's first battle rap musical", and it's based on the popular Manga series, 'Tokyo Tribe2', by Santa Inoue. It was written and directed by Sion Sono (who's probably most well known for helming 2013's 'WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL?') and it stars Ryohei Suzuki, Young Dais, Riki Takeuchi, Shota Sometani, Ryuta Sato and Akihiro Kitamura. The movie tells the story of a futuristic Japan, divided into territorial gangs; until one gang leader breaks the truce. It's one of the craziest, and most bizarrely original films, I've seen all year!<br/><br/>Sometime, in the not too distant future, Japan is divided into separate street gangs; each representing a different faction, collectively known as the 'Tokyo Tribes'. The leader of one tribe, Mera (Suzuki), decides to break the peace, and join forces with another ruthless gang leader, Buppa (Takeuchi). Together they wage war on another tribe, and cause an 'all out war'. Blood fills the streets; as everyone turns to brutal violence, and continuous rapping.<br/><br/>The movie is really weird, and definitely not for everyone, but I like 'weird'; and I found myself really enjoying it. The film took a little while for me to get into, at first it's pretty jarring; but once I was 'hooked', I was completely involved and thoroughly entertained! The action is brutally violent, and many scenes are pretty twisted and sadistic; but it's also filled with catchy hip- hop music, and beautifully choreographed fight scenes. The performances are great, and the visuals are always interesting to look at. The film is sure to become a beloved cult classic, by many genre fans, while many others will hate it. You know you're witnessing 'great art', when people are completely divided!<br/><br/>Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: Insane rap musical about warring gangs in Tokyo. This grows to be a lot of fun, but I had to get over a lot of annoyances before I could get into it. First and foremost, I had to get into the music itself. It's certainly not great hip-hop, and, at first, I found it kind of lame. As the film progressed, I don't know if the music got better or I just accepted it as it was, but I started to kind of like it. Second, the plot is a huge mess. I certainly wouldn't recommend you go it hoping for a clear plot, because you're not going to get one. It's just kind of your standard yakuza turf war stuff, with a good gang and a bad gang and a bunch of other, lesser gangs. Then there's something with a runaway princess or something that never quite gels into a coherent story. What you will find is a ton of cool bits scattered throughout, augmented by weird and wild costume and production design. The action is also very good. Sono continues to be a flawed director, but he's clearly one of the most interesting people working today. Amusingly tacky and offensive though it is, proceedings grow a bit monotonous, because all the tunes have pretty much the same beat and everything is pitched at the same hysterical, OTT level.
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