The Non-Synapse Roman Porno Thread

[Maito Guy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maito Guy]

Listen perverts! Are the Nikkatsu films released by Mondo Macabro any good? I've seen Jack the Ripper, but the other ones: Watcher in the Attic, Sins of Sister Lucia, Female Prisoner: Caged and Naked Rashomon.

WATCHER IN THE ATTIC is one of the big critical favorites and definitely gets a recommendation from me. FEMALE PRISONER: CAGED was a complete bore, one of the worst Masaru Konuma movies. I haven't seen the other two ones yet. NAKED RASHOMON looks interesting, SINS OF SISTER LUCIA looks rather bad but you can never know with a Roman Porno

I'm pretty irritated by how US companies avoid releasing my favourite Roman Pornos... from my Top 30, only 4 have been released. 2 more are coming from Synapse, and one more is available in the UK, so if you count those it's 7 out of 30.

Me too, especially with the Synapse line. Some of those are just so utterly underwhelming that it's a minor miracle they really got a US release. They still have a few great ones in there, like FEMALE TEACHER: DIRTY AFTERNOON by Kichitaro Negishi or ZOOM IN: SEX APARTMENTS by Naosuke Kurosawa, but the majority is sadly forgettable.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

Probably western countries have to buy the titles in a bundle...a good way for Nikkatsu or whoever to sell stuff that wouldnt really be worth releasing...or none would licence on their own..

Its like any other genre...you have to wade through mountains of complete crap to get to the good stuff., ..but there are some absolute classics among them..

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

looks rather bad but you can never know with a Roman Porno

That's so true. From my perspective, I can think of at least 4 reasons why finding the Roman Porno gems is difficult:

1. Most fans evaluate the films by how much the tits and ass they contain. A film's popularity is no guarantee of high cinematic quality.

2. The films were nearly always advertised for the tits and ass crowd, no matter if it was a psychological drama or a sex comedy. The titles, posters, stills and trailers were composed accordingly. If the main character was a male, he might not be featured in the poster at all; instead there would be some naked woman who appears in the film for 5 minutes.

3. Some of the Western writers think that Roman Porno films should be evaluated by "soft porn standards" (e.g. "well, it's good for soft porn, four stars") without realizing there are genuinely great films in the genre. And then we have some critics (e.g. Weisser) who review and score movies without having seen them.

4. No prolific Roman Porno director had a clean track record. Some names were certainly more trustworthy than others, but everyone sometimes had to take a pay check project to make a living.

Me too, especially with the Synapse line. Some of those are just so utterly underwhelming that it's a minor miracle they really got a US release. They still have a few great ones in there, like FEMALE TEACHER: DIRTY AFTERNOON by Kichitaro Negishi or ZOOM IN: SEX APARTMENTS by Naosuke Kurosawa, but the majority is sadly forgettable.

I'd add Eros School to the list (not quite great, but pretty good). Sex Hunter: Wet Target is also alright, but then again, Sawada has directed much better Roman Pornos (Assault, Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland). Most other Synapse titles I haven't seen: they just don't seem that interesting to me.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

I'm with you on thia Takuma...tits n ass in these things gets boring..quickly * Although I still rnjoy aeeing all the different angles where common everyday objects are used to obscure the really naughty bits)

The bondage and rope stuff got boring pretty quickly too....

The great thing about these movies are when the director obviously has a bigger agenda than just regular sex movie...THEN things get interesting...

I recently rewatched FAIRY IN A CAGE....not fantastic but an interesting setting and the subtext of social class roles / interaction was interesting....and lifted the film above the average film in this genre..


NOTE: I still have a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that despite having seen the classic 'great' pinku / Roman Poroi stuff that there is a LOT of great stuff that never made it ourt of Japan and I still need to locate and watch...

[Maito Guy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maito Guy]

That's so true. From my perspective, I can think of at least 4 reasons why finding the Roman Porno gems is difficult:

1. Most fans evaluate the films by how much the tits and ass they contain. A film's popularity is no guarantee of high cinematic quality.

2. The films were nearly always advertised for the tits and ass crowd, no matter if it was a psychological drama or a sex comedy. The titles, posters, stills and trailers were composed accordingly. If the main character was a male, he might not be featured in the poster at all; instead there would be some naked woman who appears in the film for 5 minutes.

3. Some of the Western writers think that Roman Porno films should be evaluated by "soft porn standards" (e.g. "well, it's good for soft porn, four stars") without realizing there are genuinely great films in the genre. And then we have some critics (e.g. Weisser) who review and score movies without having seen them.

4. No prolific Roman Porno director had a clean track record. Some names were certainly more trustworthy than others, but everyone sometimes had to take a pay check project to make a living.

I'm 100% with you on these points. I've never looked into the Weisser Encyclopaedia but only heard bad things about it, so maybe won't do so ever in future. Have you read BEHIND THE PINK CURTAIN from Jasper Sharp? I think it's the best book available on the Japanese sex film industry. The Roman Porno part is quite on point too in my opinion although he tends to prefer films from the earlier years and brushes a little bit over the later stuff. But I think it's more meant as an introduction to the topic anyways.

I'd add Eros School to the list (not quite great, but pretty good). Sex Hunter: Wet Target is also alright, but then again, Sawada has directed much better Roman Pornos (Assault, Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland). Most other Synapse titles I haven't seen: they just don't seem that interesting to me.

My list was by no means exclusive, FEMALE TEACHER: DIRTY AFTERNOON and ZOOM IN: SEX APARTMENTS were just the first two coming to my mind. There are certainly a few more good ones in the Synapse catalogue. I also quite enjoyed SEX HUNTER: WET TARGET, but EROS SCHOOL wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe this will change after a rewatch sometime though.

[Maito Guy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maito Guy]

NOTE: I still have a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that despite having seen the classic 'great' pinku / Roman Poroi stuff that there is a LOT of great stuff that never made it ourt of Japan and I still need to locate and watch...

I think so too. There definitely seems to remain much to be discovered. Many great stuff hasn't even been released on home video in Japan itself. One just has to go back a few pages in this thread to see some interesting ones getting introduced by Takuma who is lucky enough to watch those in cinema from time to time.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

I think so too. There definitely seems to remain much to be discovered. Many great stuff hasn't even been released on home video in Japan itself. One just has to go back a few pages in this thread to see some interesting ones getting introduced by Takuma who is lucky enough to watch those in cinema from time to time.

Some stuff will never make it out of the vaults in Japan I guess...especially some of the more obscure stuff released by smaller studios....and there is little chance that some of the 'harder' stuff will be legally released overseas..partly due to censorship..and partly because Japan probably doesnt want to be associated with this stuff in other country's eyes probably....

My other worry is, now that it seems Japan has stopped producing VHS players, that a lot of this stuff that may only have been relased to the VHS market will now fade into obscurity....

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

I'm 100% with you on these points. I've never looked into the Weisser Encyclopaedia but only heard bad things about it, so maybe won't do so ever in future. Have you read BEHIND THE PINK CURTAIN from Jasper Sharp? I think it's the best book available on the Japanese sex film industry. The Roman Porno part is quite on point too in my opinion although he tends to prefer films from the earlier years and brushes a little bit over the later stuff. But I think it's more meant as an introduction to the topic anyways.

Despite all the mistakes, I do think the Weisser book is valuable for containing reviews for thousands of films, many of which the English language internet still hasn't even hear of.

Sharp's book is much better of course, but like you said, it's more like an introduction. I was a little disappointed initially, because I bought it for the Roman Porno chapters and didn't really learn anything new; however, I ended up enjoying the other chapters. As for the Roman Porno chapters, there were two things that bothered me a bit:

1) He's quite unfair on some of the violent pink films, especially Rape! 13th Hour. The film is packed with symbolism, the most brutal violence is between males, and the villain is a gay rapist, yet he calls it nothing but chauvinist trash with nothing under the surface.
2) In my opinion the most interesting era for Roman Porno was from around 1978 to 1981. During those years Nikkatsu was clearly trying to push (part of) the genre to mainstream market, producing a lot of trendy films, e.g. From Orion's Testimony: Formula For Murder, Erotic Liaisons, Red Violation, Rape Ceremony, Rape and Death of a Housewife, the Angel Guts films, Pink Hip Girl, Crazed Fruit etc. Sharp pretty much ignored this period. I think he probably hasn't seen enough films from that period.

But yeah, it's a very good book overall.

I think so too. There definitely seems to remain much to be discovered. Many great stuff hasn't even been released on home video in Japan itself. One just has to go back a few pages in this thread to see some interesting ones getting introduced by Takuma who is lucky enough to watch those in cinema from time to time.

Almost everything I've seen (minus a few titles like Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train) are available on VoD from DMM (either pay per film or 3000 yen monthly subscription). It's of course restricted to Japan, but I know someone else in this thread has found a way to get past those restrictions (I don't know how he does it) and Paypal is accepted for payment I believe (pre-paid card are also available in shops in Japan... if someone needed help, I could help with that).

[Maito Guy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maito Guy]

Some stuff will never make it out of the vaults in Japan I guess...especially some of the more obscure stuff released by smaller studios....and there is little chance that some of the 'harder' stuff will be legally released overseas..partly due to censorship..and partly because Japan probably doesnt want to be associated with this stuff in other country's eyes probably....

My other worry is, now that it seems Japan has stopped producing VHS players, that a lot of this stuff that may only have been relased to the VHS market will now fade into obscurity....

If you go further back in Japanese cinema history much is already lost, especially early pink films are rare I think, which of course also were a disgrace for Japan in the eye of some conservatives. I also think this problem remains up until today. I remember reading about conservative groups being appalled by the first Roman Porno who got shown in South Korea not that many years ago.

I still have a running VHS player at home, so I am safe, at least as long as Mike and Jay from RedLetterMedia are running their VCR repair shop ^_^

Despite all the mistakes, I do think the Weisser book is valuable for containing reviews for thousands of films, many of which the English language internet still hasn't even hear of.

Sharp's book is much better of course, but like you said, it's more like an introduction. I was a little disappointed initially, because I bought it for the Roman Porno chapters and didn't really learn anything new; however, I ended up enjoying the other chapters. As for the Roman Porno chapters, there were two things that bothered me a bit:

1) He's quite unfair on some of the violent pink films, especially Rape! 13th Hour. The film is packed with symbolism, the most brutal violence is between males, and the villain is a gay rapist, yet he calls it nothing but chauvinist trash with nothing under the surface.
2) In my opinion the most interesting era for Roman Porno was from around 1978 to 1981. During those years Nikkatsu was clearly trying to push (part of) the genre to mainstream market, producing a lot of trendy films, e.g. From Orion's Testimony: Formula For Murder, Erotic Liaisons, Red Violation, Rape Ceremony, Rape and Death of a Housewife, the Angel Guts films, Pink Hip Girl, Crazed Fruit etc. Sharp pretty much ignored this period. I think he probably hasn't seen enough films from that period.

But yeah, it's a very good book overall.

I think it's generally a trend among critics (not only Western, also Japanese) to rather focus on the earlier stuff from Kumashiro, Tanaka and co. Since you mentioned 1978 up until 1981. I am not 100% sure now but I think this was the time period Nikkatsu promoted the most assistant directors to full directors (at that time basically the only Japanese film company doing so) within the whole Roman Porno period. May also explain the high quality image you associate with this period. They did promote new directors actually until the very end of Roman Porno. The last two movies on the last double bill were both debut pictures for their directors. Sadly they had not much money left to produce good movies from about mid 80ies until the end.

There actually is a whole book written by a Japanese critic with the focus mainly on the latter half of Roman Porno: Amazon Link (Definitely worth a read in my opinion if you are willing to work through the Japanese text)

Almost everything I've seen (minus a few titles like Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train) are available on VoD from DMM (either pay per film or 3000 yen monthly subscription). It's of course restricted to Japan, but I know someone else in this thread has found a way to get past those restrictions (I don't know how he does it) and Paypal is accepted for payment I believe (pre-paid card are also available in shops in Japan... if someone needed help, I could help with that).

Thanks, didn't knew this. I think you can get past the restrictions by simply using a VPN with a Japanese ip address.

[enandalusiskhund An Andalusian Dog Find all posts View Profile Close enandalusiskhund]

Thanks for the opinions on the MM films. I think I'll skip 'em.

[Sundance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sundance]

Thanks, didn't knew this. I think you can get past the restrictions by simply using a VPN with a Japanese ip address.

Yeah VPN should do the trick. I have had some problems with some of them though. One or two didn't really work... they did give me Japanese IP and every page I tried said I was from Japan but DMM still treated me as filthy foreigner and redirected me away. And with one I was able to access the page but for whatever reason logging in simply did not work. It just returned me to the main page after logging in but yet I was not logged in. :S

There probably shouldn't be any problems with the account itself but I can't say for sure as I made mine years ago when they still allowed foreigners access (though not for the roman pornos and such), even foreign credit cards worked back then. Then later when I paid with a pre-paid card DMM demanded I add a Japanese phone number. PayPal probably works without the phone? (but I don't know since I already had the phone added when the PayPal option came available)

The movies are of course DRM protected and you have to use their shitty player.

[47lab Guest Find all posts View Profile Close 47lab]

Let me address this query to our resident expert Takuma. I have a couple films that were recommended to me by a buddy but never got around to watching them. I found them in my pinku folder and they are:

1) HELL'S ANGELS:CRIMSON ROAR (1977) Dir. Makoto Naito <--- I also have BANKUKU ROCK in the same folder which I believe is from a broadcast rip because the DVD release ended up being canceled by Toei correct?

2) FEMALE TEACHER 6: SECRET (1978) Dir. Shinichi Shiratori <--- how many were in the series total? I have up to 11: HUNTING (1982) by Junichi Suzuki

Can you give any recommendations on these? Anyone else that has seen these can chime in too but I just addressed it to Takuma since this period seems to be his forte.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

1) HELL'S ANGELS:CRIMSON ROAR (1977) Dir. Makoto Naito <--- I also have BANKUKU ROCK in the same folder which I believe is from a broadcast rip because the DVD release ended up being canceled by Toei correct?

Hell's Angels is a rather mediocre crime film with fantastic ending and a good supporting performance by Hiroshi Tachi. It's more of a crime drama than a pinky violence or biker gang movie.

Bankaku Rock dvd was cancelled, yes. I have not seen the film.

2) FEMALE TEACHER 6: SECRET (1978) Dir. Shinichi Shiratori <--- how many were in the series total? I have up to 11: HUNTING (1982) by Junichi Suzuki

I haven't seen that one, but Shiratori wasn't an especially good director IMO.

The total number depends on how you count. JMDb lists 9, starting with the 1977 Tanaka film. But there were two films also made in 1973 which could be considered part of the same series, and two more in 1975-1976 which might or might not be related. I don't really know about that. Maito Guy?

[47lab Guest Find all posts View Profile Close 47lab]

Hell's Angels is a rather mediocre crime film with fantastic ending and a good supporting performance by Hiroshi Tachi. It's more of a crime drama than a pinky violence or biker gang movie.

Bankaku Rock dvd was cancelled, yes. I have not seen the film.

Ok, cool. I'll check it out then for that ending & for Hiroshi Tachi. I just re-watched VIOLENT CLASSROOM not too long ago & the guy just oozed persona .Also noticed in the Makoto Naito folder is Zokubutso Zukan aka PICTURE BOOK OF VULGARITY. Just the title alone sounds entertaining. But yeah, there was another biker gang flick by Koyu Ohara titled, FROM THE BACK OR THE FRONT (1980) that I perused earlier & it seemed worth a watch. I might go back to back with these two tonight. :up:

I haven't seen that one, but Shiratori wasn't an especially good director IMO.

The total number depends on how you count. JMDb lists 9, starting with the 1977 Tanaka film. But there were two films also made in 1973 which could be considered part of the same series, and two more in 1975-1976 which might or might not be related. I don't really know about that. Maito Guy?

yeah, Nikkatsu is more Maito Guy's area of expertise. Hope he can chime in and clear up the confusion. I actually noticed that in another folder I had one titled ATTACKED FEMALE TEACHER (1983) directed by Nobuyuki Saito which belongs to this FEMALE TEACHER series & is labeled #12 but would be the 8th film in the series according to JMDb?

While digging around the pinku folder in my HTPC, I found a Chusei Sone one titled, LOVE BANDIT RAT MAN (1972) which is a sex parody of the thief and folkhero of the Edo period, Nezumi Kozo. I never got around to watching this one in its entirety but I remember it for a silent movie sequence that was thrown in for comedic effect out of left field. :cuckoo: Didn't you see this at some Chusei Sone retrospective in Tokyo a couple years ago?



Just realized I have a shitload of movies in these folders that I've meant to watch but just never got around to actually sitting down & watching them.

I read you guys discussing Jasper Sharp & Weisser earlier and as much I enjoy Macias, Sharp, Mes, Chris D. and whoever else covers Japanese exploitation and genre movies for the English language market -- I miss having a more academically inclined serious work on the subject like a David Desser on the New Wave type of book. Does such a book in English exist?

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

But yeah, there was another biker gang flick by Koyu Ohara titled, FROM THE BACK OR THE FRONT (1980) that I perused earlier & it seemed worth a watch.

Great theme song + some nice biker footage, but otherwise I was a bit disappointed by it.

Ohara's films always feature at least one great scene. Unfortunately a lot of the time he doesn't live up to his talent. You often get the impression Ohara was having an extended coffee break while his assistant was handling the movie, then he comes back and works his magic for one or two scenes, and then it's coffee time again. Pink Hip Girl shows how great he can be. I just wish he would have given that much attention to all of his films, and polished some of the scripts before filming.

LOVE BANDIT RAT MAN (1972) which is a sex parody of the thief and folkhero of the Edo period, Nezumi Kozo. I never got around to watching this one in its entirety but I remember it for a silent movie sequence that was thrown in for comedic effect out of left field. :cuckoo: Didn't you see this at some Chusei Sone retrospective in Tokyo a couple years ago?

Not at the fest, but at home. I guess I should say it's an alright movie. I found it a bit boring, but period-comedy-parody-farce erotica really isn't for me anyway.
( I do like Sone's Secret Chronicle: Prostitution Market quite a bit, though)