baby assassins

BABY ASSASSINS Is Getting A Killer Dozen Episodes For TV Tokyo Later This Year

A twelve-episode series is in order at TV Tokyo for a continuation of the Baby Assassins franchise. Actors Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa will reprise their roles as portrayed in the current films from writer/director Yugo Sakamoto. The announcement comes off the heels of the teaser for the third and latest feature installment, Baby Assassins: Nice Days, which arrives on September 27 in Japan. According to the film’s official website, the series will broadcast in the weeks leading up to the film’s release. In addition to Sakamoto, who is penning and directing the show, action director Kensuke Sonomura (Hydra, Bad City) will set the stage for the show’s action sequences. Plot details remain under wraps, as does the show’s broadcast plans outside Japan. 2021’s Baby Assassins became a mid-pandemic hit, following the killer exploits of two highly-skilled assassins, high school girls, Chisato, and Mahiro. Their resolve is tested upon gradutation when […]

BABY ASSASSINS 3 Goes Surpisingly Dark In Its First Teaser Trailer!

Shaun Williams

If you’re an action cinema fan and you haven’t been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard of the Baby Assassins films. Currently one of Japan’s finest exports, the series has balanced quirky comedy with slick fight choreography (courtesy of one of the best in the industry right now, Kensuke Sonomura), which is why action junkies were shocked when the teaser for BABY ASSASSINS 3 dropped. There looks to be a distinct lack of their trademark comedy this time around. It feels much darker in tone and dare I say that the film might have more action? Check out the teaser and the first poster below. Yugo Sakamoto returns to the director’s chair and, of course, Saori Izawa and Akari Takaishi return as the titular assassins. Baby Assassins 2 is currently out on Blu-Ray in the US courtest of WellGo USA and hits their HI-YAH! […]

FESTIVAL NITS DE CINEMA ORIENTAL DE VIC XX: Action Thrills, Suspense, Drama, Animated Gems And More On The Way For July!

Lee B. Golden III

The 20th edition of the Festival Nits de Cinema Oriental de Vic is coming and will surely lend a few surprises this summer. In the meantime, the festival’s six-day line-up has been announced as of Monday along with the launch of a new festival promo from celebrated animator and 2022 FesNits juror, Júlia Olivella (The French Dispatch). This year’s FesNits has lined up a sweet list of titles out of South Korea – namely July Jung’s drama Next Sohee starring Bae Doo-na, Lee Jae-won’s Thunderbird, Park So-dam starrer Special Delivery, Choi Jae-hoon’s The Killer which is an absolute blast, Park Jae-beom’s animated stop motion fantasy, Mother Land, and Park Dong-hee’s long-awaited hostage thriller, Drive. The latter is especially interesting since early poster art indicates it was intended to be a ’22 release although its currently been screened at Brussels, signaling a commercial delay until further notice. Busting at the seams […]

Win A Blu-Ray Copy Of Well Go USA’s BABY ASSASSINS!

Lee B. Golden III

Folks are just days away now from the upcoming Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital releases of Hugo Sakamoto’s crackling hit action comedy, Baby Assassins. The film hits shelves on August 16, and we’re giving away two Blu-Ray copies for folks to snag before then, and for this, we have one simple trivia question: The two stars of Baby Assassins, Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa, last appeared in another Hugo Sakamoto film prior. Name that film. Send your answers here with BABY ASSASSINS in the subject header. The contest extends to U.S. residents only and expires on August 16 at the stroke of 12:00am EST. Good luck! Upon graduation, highly trained teenage assassins Chisato and Mahiro are informed by upper management that they will need to hold down “normal” jobs as a cover, and—even worse—they’ll be forced to share an apartment. However, after an unfortunate run-in with a Yakuza member, the two […]

BABY ASSASSINS: Now Streaming On Hi-YAH!, Catch The Official Comic-Con U.S. Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

In the late hours of Thursday evening, Well Go USA Entertainment and streaming imprint Hi-YAH! were on hand at Comic Con International: San Diego to promote the upcoming release of Hugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins. The official trailer is now online for the hit action comedy, which stars Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa as two lazy high schoolers moonlighting as career assassins for a private organization with just one important caveat: Their expenses will no longer be covered, forcing them to get regular day jobs when they graduate. Whether or not they can unlearn their sociopathic tendencies and acclimate to societal norms long enough as functioning members of society remains to be seen. However, when their last job ultimately puts them in the crosshairs of an unruly yakuza boss and his incorrigible children, it’s an all-or-nothing fight for survival. Baby Assassins also stars Takashi Nishina, Yasukaze Motomiya, Nagiko Tsuji, Tsubasa Tobinaga, […]

Fantasia XXVI Review: BABY ASSASSINS, Japanese Action Cinema All Grown-Up!

Lee B. Golden III

Originally published July 15, 2022: The last several years have seen a notable of proliferation of the newest J-wave of action cinema titles out of Japan. To this end, films like the HiGH&LOW franchise which remains on-going to this day, stars and figures like Shun Oguri, Tak Sakaguchi, Takumi Kitamura and Masanori Mimoto, and directors like Kensuke Sonomura have all been welcome assets amidst the emerging talents of late, and it’s not over yet with other filmmakers and performers bound to leave their mark in the coming weeks and months. This especially goes for director Hugo Sakamoto, who has been increasingly influential in his craft for at least six years to date, having since made waves stateside at Fantastic Fest last year with his most recent endeavor, Baby Assassins. The film is still trekking the festival circuit in North America, and in no short order looks to be a solid […]

BABY ASSASSINS To Make Landfall At Comic Con International This Month!

Lee B. Golden III

Published July 8, 2022: Director Hugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins is making a pit stop this month during the Kung Fu Extravaganza panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 21. That’s the day the official U.S. trailer will go live for Sakamoto’s latest action comedy, which will release exclusively on Hi-YAH! the following day before releasing on Digital, Blu-Ray and DVD on August 16. Baby Assassins is latest film from Sakamoto who scored the Jury’s Special Award at the 2022 Fantasporto Film Festival back in April, with audience favor earned from screenings at Glasgow and Fantastic Fest. The film, which will also make its run this summer at Fantasia Festival, also marks his second turn at the helm following his January 2021 action crime thriller, A Janitor, whose featured cast were actresses Akari Takaishi and stunt professional Saori Izawa. Sakamoto reunites with both screen talents this time with a […]

SAVAGE DOG, PREMAN, BABY ASSASSINS And More As Well Go USA And Hi-YAH! Announce More Titles To Its Summer Rollout

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA has announced three more titles to its Hi-YAH! roster via social media this week with Isaac Florentine’s Close Range and White Elephant helmer Jesse V. Johnson’s Savage Dog. The announcement also includes footage from Johnson’s ensemble actioner, Triple Threat, as well as Randolph Zaini’s 2021 crime drama, Preman, and the previously announced Fantastic Fest favorite, Baby Assassins from director Yûgo Sakamoto. Florentine, recently in headlines for XYZ Films’ representation of his recently-completed mercenary thriller, Hounds Of War starring Frank Grillo, directs Adkins in Close Range who plays an ex-soldier who must protect his family from an evil cartel and a corrupt sheriff. In Johnson’s Savage Dog, Adkins is joined by Cung Le and Marko Zaror for a story set in 1950s Indochina where a former boxer due for release from prison seeks retribution against its evil warden and its criminal outfit. Zaini’s Preman premiered at Seattle International […]

BABY ASSASSINS Kill Or Be Killed In The First Short Trailer For Hugo Sakamoto’s New Actioner

Lee B. Golden III

If director Hugo Sakamoto’s name doesn’t ring a bell and you a read sites like this, you’ll be pleased with comes next as a warm welcome to your senses… You can begin by familiarizing yourselves briefly with his action crime thriller breakout, A Janitor, which centered on a high school janitor thrust into action when a gang war between families puts his own cousin in the crossfire. Apparently that film came out in January, and while there wasn’t any information logged in any of the English-friendly info sites, I certainly hope this helps puts eyes on Sakamoto’s newest female-fronted effort, Baby Assassins, starring Akari Takashi and actress/martial artist and another favorite of The Hit List, Saori Izawa in a debut lead role. Chisato and Mahiro, a pair of high school girls who are assassins, have to become “members of society” to disguise their true identities from tomorrow. They are tangled […]