The Non-Synapse Roman Porno Thread

[Takuma]

My Expoiltation.tv subscription has been treating me well as GROPER TRAIN IN SEARCH OF THE BLACK PEARL is one the more entertaining Roman Pornos I've seen. Humor in Japanese films rarely works for me but that wasn't the case with GROPER TRAIN. The film is twisted in just the right way. One of the main drivers of the plot is a clue to missing treasure happens to be a "pussy print" an old man took of his niece. How creepy is that? A pussy print is made by painting a young lady's vagina with a paint brush and pressing a piece of paper to it. Half of the pussy print was burned in a fire so our detective enters a public train and takes pussy prints of numerous young ladies without their permission in hopes of finding the old man's niece and completing the clue. It's delightfully twisted and humorous. There is a great workout montage late in the film that has the detective's assistant working on pussy tightening exercises that should satisfy fans of 80's spandex as well. It's a shame this film has a mediocre DVD release from Animego as I would love to have seen what Impulse (Synapse) would have done for this film.

Not a Roman Porno film, though.

And the dvd is by Pink Eiga, not Animeigo.

[sukebanboy]

Haha...yes I too remember enjoying this one when I saw it.
It is always good to see this kind of movie rise above its regular ratio of T and A i order to craft a movie that is a little different and imaginative than the majority...I guess the producers of this must have had fun coming up with such an outlandish story premiae and ran with it...

[Jason C]

My Expoiltation.tv subscription has been treating me well as GROPER TRAIN IN SEARCH OF THE BLACK PEARL is one the more entertaining Roman Pornos I've seen. Humor in Japanese films rarely works for me but that wasn't the case with GROPER TRAIN. The film is twisted in just the right way. One of the main drivers of the plot is a clue to missing treasure happens to be a "pussy print" an old man took of his niece. How creepy is that? A pussy print is made by painting a young lady's vagina with a paint brush and pressing a piece of paper to it. Half of the pussy print was burned in a fire so our detective enters a public train and takes pussy prints of numerous young ladies without their permission in hopes of finding the old man's niece and completing the clue. It's delightfully twisted and humorous. There is a great workout montage late in the film that has the detective's assistant working on pussy tightening exercises that should satisfy fans of 80's spandex as well. It's a shame this film has a mediocre DVD release from Pink Eiga as I would love to have seen what Impulse (Synapse) would have done for this film.

[Takuma]

This trend of "exotic" women in Roman Porno was really only present in the earlier years.

There was similar trend at Toei at the same time, with a handful of import stars brought to Japan, such as Sandra Julien (Modern Porno Tale, 1971; Tokugawa Sex Ban, 1972), Christina Lindberg (Sex & Fury, 1973; Journey to Japan, 1973) and Sharon Kelly (Oh Wonderful Utamaro!, 1974). Like you say, the trend only seems to have lasted a few years.

[Maito Guy]

Did you go the VPN route & use a pre-paid card? Looking forward to more of your DMM reviews. I've seen the original SLAVE CONTRACT and dug it quite a bit now I want to scope out Shun Nakahara's sequel. This one looks interesting as well.

I am using VPN and paid via Paypal. No need to get a pre-paid card if you are able to use Paypal.

Nakahara's sequel got rid of the documentary touch and added some really good character drama into the mix. It got a DVD release in Japan with another one of those bad VHS tape transfers.

I have that particular Nurse Diary but never got around to watching it. Etsuko Hara isn't as beautiful as other Nikkatsu starlets but I can see why she was so popular at the time.

On the same page with you here. She is kinda cute and one can get why she might have been popular, but I wouldn't consider her beautiful either.

I know we discussed Sally May earlier in another thread, so I decided to check out Chusei Sone's FOREIGNER'S MISTRESS OMAN: HOLLAND SLOPE IN THE RAIN...yeah, that title just rolls off your tongue eh? I can see the appeal this flick might have because Sally May is certainly "exotic" looking even for a haifu. Basically a story of a naive girl whose innocence is taken by a philandering gambler and she gets her revenge in the end. As typical, she falls in love with the guy who rapes her and thinks life is going to be full of rainbows and unicorns once she goes back with him to Japan to track down her birth mother but he takes advantage of her naivety at every turn and pimps her out to a brothel. Nothing really noteworthy here except Sally May, who gave a good account of herself & her transformation from a chaste bright young woman to a hardened weary one at the end.

The sequel is sadly just as forgettable. It starts out better than the first one but looses it's drive pretty fast. Watching both movies back to back a few months ago I got the feeling that if they combined the better parts of both into one single movie the outcome would have been much more fun.

This trend of "exotic" women in Roman Porno was really only present in the earlier years. Other examples are the ones which where filmed in Sweden. Haven't seen any of those but they all seem to be rather forgettable. They also don't seem to have been that popular at the time which explains that Nikkatsu stopped producing them rather quickly.

[AngelGuts]

Nice coverage, Maito and 47lab.

DESIRE TO GET RAPED sounds like a worthwhile viewing, as does the Sone film.

[47lab]

Got me an account at DMM, so expect some reviews to come ^_^

Did you go the VPN route & use a pre-paid card? Looking forward to more of your DMM reviews. I've seen the original SLAVE CONTRACT and dug it quite a bit now I want to scope out Shun Nakahara's sequel. This one looks interesting as well.

I have it here but didn't watch it yet. Sounds interesting from your description and the screenshots look great too. Will definitely check it out soon, thanks!

All I know about it is that it's part of a series of films starting with "Hitonatsu no ..." in their titles. Guess you could call it the ONE SUMMER series. And it features Hara Etsuko in the main role. She was the first idol starring in Roman Porno films and hugely popular at the time. I've seen a few other titles with her which I all quite enjoyed.

One got released by Synapse, NURSE DIARY: WICKED FINGER. It's by far the best out of the three Nurse films Synapse has released, but still I'd not say that it's really a must watch.

Another one featuring her got released with the last batch of Blurays in June, SOAPLAND NO. 110: SEXY FAINTING (Sopu 110 ban monzetsu kurage). It features an audio commentary from her. This one is a really good drama which focuses much more on a middle-aged pimp and his trials to quit his shady businesses than on Hara Etsuko's character. Definitely worth checking out.

I have that particular Nurse Diary but never got around to watching it. Etsuko Hara isn't as beautiful as other Nikkatsu starlets but I can see why she was so popular at the time.

I know we discussed Sally May earlier in another thread, so I decided to check out Chusei Sone's FOREIGNER'S MISTRESS OMAN: HOLLAND SLOPE IN THE RAIN...yeah, that title just rolls off your tongue eh? I can see the appeal this flick might have because Sally May is certainly "exotic" looking even for a haifu. Basically a story of a naive girl whose innocence is taken by a philandering gambler and she gets her revenge in the end. As typical, she falls in love with the guy who rapes her and thinks life is going to be full of rainbows and unicorns once she goes back with him to Japan to track down her birth mother but he takes advantage of her naivety at every turn and pimps her out to a brothel. Nothing really noteworthy here except Sally May, who gave a good account of herself & her transformation from a chaste bright young woman to a hardened weary one at the end.

[Maito Guy]

Got me an account at DMM, so expect some reviews to come ^_^

DESIRE TO GET RAPED (Okasare shigan; 1982, Nakahara Shun)
Despite the title no rape in this one. It features Ariake Shoko as a young designer finding her way through life, love and work. A really good and subtle drama with vital direction, a superb script and nice soundtrack too. It's actually a rather uplifting movie which is quite rare for Roman Porno films. This was the debut of director Nakahara Shun who would go on to direct a few other really good late era Roman Pornos, such as SLAVE CONTRACT: WHIP AND HIGH HEELS (sequel to the Konuma directed, also recommendable SLAVE CONTRACT) and one of the few really good Koichiro Uno comedies, KOICHIRO UNO'S SISTER HAIRDRESSER SHOP.

Sorry for the quality of the screenshots, but like many other Roman Pornos this is as good as it gets ...


One of many really interesting directed scenes. I don't know exactly how long this scene lasted but it was quite a few minutes.


Our main protagonist (right) and her working colleague eating out.


The film also stares KAZAMATSURI YUKI in a smaller role. Probably my favorite actress out of the later Roman Porno starlets. She actually was able to act ;-)




A few other shots featuring our main protagonist played by Ariake Shoko. She is super cute and absolutely lovely in this one.


This last sex scene is really great filmed with some nice lighting and actually has a purpose for the development of character arks.


The movie ends on this symbolic shot of three alarm clocks our heroine received as a gift throughout the movie from three different men she had relationships with.

[Maito Guy]

Maito Guy, have you had a chance to watch SECRET OF ONE SUMMER by Kazunari Takeda? Was perusing it and seemed interesting. A scarred woman (Etsuko Hara) returns to a seaside resort town to see her ailing hospitalized ex-police officer adopted father and his dark secret & her past comes to light.

I have it here but didn't watch it yet. Sounds interesting from your description and the screenshots look great too. Will definitely check it out soon, thanks!

All I know about it is that it's part of a series of films starting with "Hitonatsu no ..." in their titles. Guess you could call it the ONE SUMMER series. And it features Hara Etsuko in the main role. She was the first idol starring in Roman Porno films and hugely popular at the time. I've seen a few other titles with her which I all quite enjoyed.

One got released by Synapse, NURSE DIARY: WICKED FINGER. It's by far the best out of the three Nurse films Synapse has released, but still I'd not say that it's really a must watch.

Another one featuring her got released with the last batch of Blurays in June, SOAPLAND NO. 110: SEXY FAINTING (Sopu 110 ban monzetsu kurage). It features an audio commentary from her. This one is a really good drama which focuses much more on a middle-aged pimp and his trials to quit his shady businesses than on Hara Etsuko's character. Definitely worth checking out.

[47lab]

Maito Guy, have you had a chance to watch SECRET OF ONE SUMMER by Kazunari Takeda? Was perusing it and seemed interesting. A scarred woman (Etsuko Hara) returns to a seaside resort town to see her ailing hospitalized ex-police officer adopted father and his dark secret & her past comes to light.

[47lab]

I'm going to have to keep an eye out for WAITING WET WOMAN if it ever becomes available. I finally got a chance to see ROLLING ON THE ROAD by Tatsumi Kumashiro. Btw, I remember Takuma touched upon it briefly here but wrote a in-depth review about "Oh, Women! A Dirty Song” on that Finnish movie review site and I obviously had no clue if it was good or not (even with the help of google translate) but just based my wanting to see it upon the star rankings at the end. You apparently liked it a full star more than Jetro Suni. I've been listening to a lot of Flower Travellin' Band lately and I generally like anything with Yuya Uchida anyway, so I had this on my "must watch" list. Not disappointed at all, it was a fun & crazy ride for sure about the rock n' roll excesses of Uchida and all the women he left in shambles in his wake. I wouldn't doubt if fact follows fiction and this was a bio pic based on his real life exploits because he was one crazy impulsive bastard who didn't give any fucks.

[Takuma]

I'm afraid I don't share you guys' love for Pink Curtain. I thought it was just a lame and sleazier attempt at repeating the Pink Hip Girl formula. But without the energy. Well, it had some good scenes, but overall I was disappointed. Same with the sequels.

I do understand the Jun Miho love, though. When I saw her in Oh! Takarazuka! (1982), I said she's the most beautiful girl who ever appeared in a Roman Porno film. I then watched a few of her other films. Unfortunately the more I see her, the more I get the impression that there isn't terribly much going on between her ears, haha. I'm sorry if I offended Miho fans, maybe it's just the kind of characters she plays.

I watched Waiting Wet Woman just because the script was written by Haruhiko Arai, but yeah, Uegaki did good job directing that. Beautiful cinematography, too. I was a bit disappointed by the last 25 min, though... I felt that part wasn't as good as what came before.

[Maito Guy]

Thanks Maito Guy for the chronology of the FEMALE TEACHER series. Looks like I'm missing the last two by Shogoro unless I have them mixed up in another unsorted folder somewhere on my PC, which is I highly possible with my poor organizing skills. Looks like I'm fortunate to at least have a decent rip of FEMALE TEACHER: RAPED that someone got off a VoD site.

Mucho gracias for the free pdf file of that academic work as well. It is very dry reading for sure. I'll attempt to read some more later when I'm having trouble falling asleep. :p

You're welcome. Enjoy your journey through the FEMALE TEACHER series, definitely some decent ones in there!

How does FEMALE TEACHER: RAPED compare to the other entries? Which is the nastiest?

I think it had at least two rape scenes in it. Quite nasty but nothing compared to some other Roman Porno flicks. Actually many of the later entries have the focus more on rape and how our female protagonist deals with it than on school life. According to the title I think maybe #14 (FEMALE TEACHER: RAPED TWICE) may be the nastiest, but since I haven't seen it I really don't know.

FEMALE TEACHER: RAPED is once again great at building up atmosphere (like so many other Roman Porno flicks). Also the main actress, Kazamatsuri Yuki is really good. She is one of the more interesting starlets of the later period which actually were able to act on top of their looks.

Maito Guy, since you enjoyed FEMALE TEACHER: IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS -- how would you rate director, Yasuaki Uegaki? I've only seen his FEMALE MARKET:IMPRISONMENT and the first PINK CURTAIN in the trilogy. I really enjoyed them quite a bit. I have his OFFICE LOVE SANCTUARY AT NOON somewhere on one of my hard drives but too lazy to look for it now. Have you seen that one?

In my opinion FEMALE TEACHER: IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS was ok, but not really that great. I really enjoyed the Kichitaro Negishi one, FEMALE TEACHER: DIRTY AFTERNOON.

That said, I definitely think that Uegaki was one of the better directors towards the end of the Roman Porno era. I enjoyed PINK CURTAIN (can't wait to watch that one on Bluray soon!) and also FEMALE MARKET: IMPRISONMENT was really good in my opinion. Much better than expected from the trailer. I especially enjoyed the last third. Some of these more rougher S/M type of Nikkatsu movies were able to build up a neat suspenseful atmosphere and FEMALE MARKET: IMPRISONMENT is one of the better ones out of the whole Nikkatsu S/M genre in my opinion.

I also have seen WET WAITING WOMAN (Machinureta onna, 1987) which in my opinion was a great character drama, with beautiful cinematography and direction. Highly recommended.

OFFICE LOVE SANCTUARY AT NOON has some good moments here and there but overall wasn't as good as the other ones in my opinion. It's still gorgeously shot and builds up a nice atmosphere but has some problems due to a script which should have gotten through at least one rewrite I think.

I also have PINK CURTAIN 2 and PINK CURTAIN 3 here but not watched them yet (will probably watch all three of them in a row after the Bluray arrives). And the last one I have here is CRUELTY: GIRL TALENT (Zankoku! Shoujo tarento, 1984) which should be good according to critics but I haven't watched it yet, quality seems awful with even a wrong aspect ratio.

[47lab]

Maito Guy, since you enjoyed FEMALE TEACHER: IN FRONT OF THE STUDENTS -- how would you rate director, Yasuaki Uegaki? I've only seen his FEMALE MARKET:IMPRISONMENT and the first PINK CURTAIN in the trilogy. I really enjoyed them quite a bit. I have his OFFICE LOVE SANCTUARY AT NOON somewhere on one of my hard drives but too lazy to look for it now. Have you seen that one?

In fact, I re-watched PINK CURTAIN the other day just to see Jun Miho again. I love the scenes where she is clowning around with her kid brother and the sexual tension just builds. There was something about her back in those days that was just captivating. I even sat through some of the TORA-SAN movies to get a glimpse of her again even if it was a straight role. :)

[AngelGuts]

I hope Synapse roll out FEMALE TEACHER: RAPED and DIRTY RUMOUR.

...if they ever get back into releasing Nikkatsu flicks.