Lion-Girl is releasing on Digital and on special Blu Ray and DVD beginning November 7 from Cleopatra Entertainment.
Filmmaker Kurando Mitsutake is no stranger to pushing boundaries with his work, specifically targeting niche audiences with viewing experiences as old as my own, or even older than that. That particular work ethic brings with it the kind of ferocious, gritty, laissez faire approach that’s usually characteristic of independent film, and ultimately, par for the course for a project like Mitsutake’s newest and bold effort, Lion-Girl.
Unabashed and gratuitous nudity, violence and gore all topped off by a mix of practical and lo-fi visual effects are on the menu for this particular venture – a visual throwback to Showa-era tokusatsu and J-Sploitation, topped off by Shonen manga inspiration with a mostly western cast leading the charge. Making this endeavor all the more possible is the reunion of Mitsutake and producer Mami Akari who previously worked on the director’s 2020 Giallo slasher, Maniac Driver, along with the additions of Gaku Kawasaki who produced The Parasite Doctor Suzune 1 & 2, and Mamoru Oshii’s Nowhere Girl, and Masayuki Yamada who is credited with a number of Japanese superhero titles, including most recently 2022’s Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger vs. Kiramager vs. Senpaiger.
Bookending the team’s lead roster is Dynamic Planning production label founder Go Nagai, who is no stranger to having stirred the pot in the manga arena a time or several since 1967, with titles like “Harenchi Gakuen” and “Cutie Honey” in his extensive bibliography. Nagai wrote the story on which Mitsutake’s screenplay is founded, with the acclaimed mangaka also behind the film’s character creations and illustrations depicted throughout the film.
Lion-Girl is set in the year 20XX, in a world devastated by a wave of meteorites that have destroyed most of the land mass and left mankind’s remnants to survive in the desert wasteland of Neo-Nippon under the rule of a fascist Shogunate-style government. Compiling humanity’s endangerment is the residual aftermath of the meteor showers whose shards have been releasing spores into the atmosphere, turning humans into mutant, lifeforce-sucking creatures with Tengu-like faces known as ANOROC.
Botan Hiiro (Tori Griffith) is mankind’s last hope against these mutated creatures in her alter-ego as Lion-Girl, a super-powered, scantily-clad yakuza warrioress who dons a glowing protective lion tattoo on her back, as well as a lion mask when thrust into battle. Away from her heroics, Botan and her saiko komon, Ken Shishikura (Damien Toofek Raven) provide services to weary drifters for a price. Their latest clients are Herbert and Mayumi (Matt Standley and Shelby Lee Parks), a father/daughter duo looking for safe passage to reunite with family at an area of Japan unmapped since the devastation. With sadistic and power-mad Shogunate enforcer Kaisei Kishi (Derek Mears), and his squad hunting down ANOROC to satiate his quest for immortality at the expense of human collateral, Botan’s latest job will set the stage for a shocking revelation, and an explosive showdown that could ultimately change the course of her destiny, as well as mankind’s.
At two hours in Mitsutake’s Lion-Girl is bloated with exposition between its segments as the story introduces our key characters and backgrounds. Providing just enough spectacle and thrilling entertainement to whet the appetite are storied ornaments with graphic novel-style framing during select dialogue and battle sequences, coupled with gruesome horror, makeup and props fitting for the kind of grotesque imagery suited for fans of the likes of Sam Raimi and Wes Craven, and enough nudity to satisfy even the most jaded of Pinky Violence fans.
The film’s acting and writing are right on cue with what you would expect from a production of this caliber. Suffice it to say though that it doesn’t mean Lion-Girl is for everyone, given its creative approach along with some of the acting, expositional bloating, commercial TV-level VFX, costumes and set pieces all indicative of a pretty low-budget assembly that compels you to tune out at times. Its best bet by then as far as takeaways go, is its adherence to nostalgic fervor and visual delight, paired with enthused performances and sequences by its cast, featuring the stunning and fully engaged Griffith in the title role.
Requisite action sequences designed by Tsuyoshi Abe run light and brisk for the most part. This leaves the brunt of the entertainment to visual effects work, which is where the super-powered battles come in to showcase various characters with their own select abilities. It’s also where the Mitsutake and Nagai strongly rears its head to signal fans familiar with Shonen manga development and Toku fandom.
Also starring is Mitsutake’s Karate Kill co-star David Sakurai who plays Kaisei Kishi’s lightning fast enforcer, Yoshi-Toshi, as well as Baby Assassins: 2 Babies and Enter The Fat Dragon co-star Joey Iwanaga in the role of Marion, a poncho and sombrero-wearing transporter who works with Ken and Botan, and eventually forms a brief romance with the latter well into the second half. Contributory to the film’s not-so-subtle thematic messaging is the casting of Tomoki Kimura whose Fujinaga is written and designed with a tone almost akin to a certain recent political figure currently facing prospection for multiple alleged crimes as of this article. Mentions of pandemics and questions of meaning and purpose of living in a world teetering on the brink give poise to a more solemn analysis as an allegory for something far deeper than shlocky superheroic thrills if that’s where your mind teeters.
Again, exploitative cinema isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and probably won’t pass muster if, specifically speaking, independent cinema akin to audiences with yesteryear sensibilities isn’t your thing. If it is and you also happen to get a kick out of synthwave, then Mitsutake is your guy, and without fail, Lion-Girl is mostly certainly your thing. It’s a boundless, shameless, sexy and violent foray into indie niche heaven with a hugely deserving director at the wheel, and if anything, its message is a farther-reaching one and all comers than the style it goes for and won’t be too long on the tooth, at that. And, you’re totally forgiven for blasting Crystal King or Kodomo Band as your day winds down.
