high & low saga

HIGH & LOW: THE WORST X Review: Fisticuffs And Hard-Fought Friendship Lead The Way For Another Supercharged Sequel

The last eight years or so of thrills from the hive mind at Japanese brand LDH and the writers of HI-AX have brought forth what stands to be one of the best multimedia action franchises ever created, with Shochiku and Netflix raking in much of the earnings. Credit as of late goes to the shared directorial powers of Daisuke Ninomiya and Norihisa Hiranuma, and action stylist Masaki Suzumura with a window of at least three years since Shigeaki Kubo transitioned the High & Low saga into a new era, one led by “The Rampage” members Kazuma Kawamura and Hokuto Yoshino, along with actor and franchise favorite Goki Maeda who now return for their continuation, High & Low: The Worst X. The story reimmerses you once more into long-established pentaterritorial S.W.O.R.D. whose Oya High confab still flexes its best under the otherwise still nascent leadership of the precocious and rambunctious Fujio […]

Coming To Netflix In March: FURIES, HIGH & LOW: THE WORST X

Lee B. Golden III

I’m plenty of hours late for at least one of these announcements but so far the best news for action fans adherent to Netflix has arrived as of Tuesday with the upcoming additions of Vietnamese action prequel Furies, and Japanese beat ’em up saga continuation High & Low: The Worst X. Of course there’s more in the streamer’s catalog but these are most certainly my picks. Coming March 23, Furies returns actress Veronica Ngo (Furie) to the action saga in prequel form as director, as well as co-starring opposite Dong Anh Quynh. The 1990-set story sees three vigilantes who find themselves questioning their purpose while on a campaign to take down a sinister crime syndicate in Saigon. On March 25, High & Low: The Worst X marks the seventh feature film entry in the saga next to the cinematic feature chapter, Road To High & Low which culminates the events […]

HiGH&LOW: THE WORST – X (CROSS) Scores A Brand New Official Trailer And Poster For The New Action-Packed Chapter

Lee B. Golden III

Get ready to immerse yourselves into the excitement once more with HiGH&LOW: THE WORST – X (CROSS), the latest installment of EXILE HIRO’s high-energy action franchise. The newest official trailer made landfall on Thursday following a spate of special promos and a teaser back in late Spring ahead of the film’s September 9 release. DTC Yukemuri Junjo hen From HiGH&LOW helmer Norihisa Hiranuma succeeds Sigeaki Kubo who has shephered most of the franchise between its television and theatrical properties leading up to 2019’s HiGH&LOW: The Worst. THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE member Kazuma Kawamura is back to reprise his lead role as leading Oya High troublemaker and badass Fujio Hanaoka, leading a cast from a script penned by Hiranuma along with Shoichiro Masumoto and Kei Watanabe Kei, which takes from Takahashi Hiroshi’s “CROWS” and “WORST” manga publications. More from LDH: In the latest work “HiGH&LOW THE WORST X”, Oya High […]

The Crows Are Coming, As HIGH & LOW: THE WORST Is Announced For Late 2022 Sequel Release!

Lee B. Golden III

We may never know what becomes of the mysterious figure, “Bulge”, hinted at with the end of 2017’s High & Low: Final Mission. I’m not really sure, though it’s exciting to think about now that the hit action franchise is back in the headlines. More to the point, Japanese trade news sites are now reporting the early Fall 2022 release of a sequel to Shigeaki Kubo’s High & Low: The Worst, from Shochiku, in a new video which you can view above, and a poster announcement featuring the cast which you can check out further below on this page. The sequel, to be directed by HiGH&Low franchise co-scribe Norihisa Hiranuma (director of DTC Yukemuri Junjo hen From High & Low), will bring back a mix of both returning and new cast members; Actors Kazuma Kawamura, Hokuto Yoshino, Ryuji Sato, Fuju Kamio, Kohei Fukuyama, Ryu, Takahide Suzuki, Satoshi Uekiya, Ken Nakajima […]

HIGH & LOW: THE WORST Review: An Exhilarating PSA That Graduates A Hit Saga

Lee B. Golden III

It was a little over a year ago that filmmaker Shigeaki Kubo and team HI-AX bookeneded the High & Low franchise following five years of major success on both the small and big screen; With the events of the first five films and three of the franchise’s supporting characters take the wheel for their own lighthearted adventure in the sixth, Kubo returns to form with High & Low: The Worst, invariably another action-packed and dramatic tale of childhood, crime and family, albeit toned with a keener anti-drug message that puts our delinquents at the forefront of a noble cause. Alas, we revert back to the stomping, no holds barred grounds of S.W.O.R.D. faction, Oya High School, amidst the fallout between leader, Murayama (Yuki Yamada), and second in command Todoroki (Goki Maeda), over the involvement of full-time and part-time students in fights, leaving the school in a fractured state. Arriving just […]

DTC: YUKEMURI JUNJO HEN FROM HIGH & LOW Review: A Tale Of Three Men, A Little Lady, A Couple In Love, And Moving On

Lee B. Golden III

Up until 2018, the High & Low franchise was pure adrenaline, filled with action and high drama that raised the stakes between five warring gangs, and the criminally corrupt and politically imbued. Going forward, you get little nuggets of those events popping up in Norihisa Hiranuma’s directorial debut, DTC: Yukemuri Junjo Hen from High & Low, but make no mistake, as this one is an entirely different beast. By and large, the lives of Dan (Kenjiro Yamashita), Tettsu (Kanta Sato) and Chiharu (Taiki Sato) have drastically changed. Having left Sannoh Hoodlum Squad for good, they’re forced to contend with the usual financial struggles, realizing they’ll no longer be able to solve their erstwhile usual problems with their fists. Desperate to make a change, the trio embark on a road trip to get away from the rigmarole, only to wind up without gas or cash, and ultimately resolving to find temporary […]

HIGH & LOW THE MOVIE 3: FINAL MISSION Review: A Groundbreaking Japanese Action Saga Comes To A Rousing Close

Lee B. Golden III

Peaking as the third (or fourth – or fifth – and final depending on your preference) main act of the High & Low saga, High & Low The Movie 3: Final Mission, at long last brings Cobra face-to-face with heavy-hitting criminal organization, Kuryu Group. The film doesn’t start off right away, but it does flash forward briefly in a key torture scene before its da capo revert to the aftermath of the epic train station battle between S.W.O.R.D. against Doubt and the Mighty Warriors. Little do the gangs of S.W.O.R.D. know, just as Boss Yoshitatsu (Goro Kishitani) of Kuryu’s Zenshin clan’s arrival offsets a climatic confrontation with Cobra (Takanori Iwata) and the rest of S.W.O.R.D., that Kuryu has already begun its violent campaign against the district, targeting the Rude Boys’ Nameless City as its key demolition target, in order to commence a major casino project. With the gangs all then […]

HIGH & LOW 2: END OF SKY Review: Sad Goodbyes, Sinister Plot Twists And Blockbuster Action Mark The Beginning Of The End

Lee B. Golden III

Following his solo turn at the helm for High & Low: The Movie, the aftermath of Yudai Yamaguchi’s High & Low: The Red Rain now brings our attention to the latest of major final chapters of the High & Low film saga. It’s understandable if you feel like things have hit a fever pitch too, especially if you’ve seen both seasons of the NTV and Hulu dramas that pre-empt the current film saga from LDH Pictures and Shochiku. Still, it bares noting the freshness and practicality with which these films have been treated in bringing this contemporary Japanese gangland action cineverse to life, with none other than some of J-pop’s brightest stars composing most of the roster. In High & Low 2: End Of Sky, things are heating up even more in the district of S.W.O.R.D., with the emergence of outside gangs looking to muscle their way in amid the […]

HIGH & LOW: THE RED RAIN Review: Action And Drama Hit Hard And Heavy With Sentiment And Swagger

Lee B. Golden III

Director and screenwriter Yudai Yamaguchi, best known for arousing regional cult film fandom with respective credits such as Battlefield Baseball, Deadball and Yakuza Weapon, as well as Ryuhei Kitamura’s Versus and Alive, cuts to the long-awaited chase in the High & Low universe, spinning off with High & Low: The Red Rain. Exile Tribe’s multifaceted in-house talents: Takahiro of Exile, and Hiroomi Tosaka of J Soul Brothers, reprise their roles respectively as Masaki and Hiroto Amamiya, otherwise infamously known as the Amamiya brothers, who are long heralded as two of the fiercest fighters among all the established gangs that make up the S.W.O.R.D. district. As the High & Low franchise presents thusfar up to this point, the Amamiyas have long been searching for their missing brother, Takeru (Takumi Saito). Highlighting a prelude to current events, High & Low: The Red Rain takes off in high octane fashion with the Masaki […]

HIGH & LOW: THE MOVIE Review: …Gang’s All Here!

Lee B. Golden III

In incredible, staunch fashion, international talent staple LDH’s film banner spent a good deal of the past decade building a sprawling, original entertainment franchise comprised of some of today’s regional stars of music and film. After winning fan favor with streaming series High & Low: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D., and revving things up with 2016’s Road To High & Low, writing unit Team HI-AX and director Shigeaki Kubo followed through that year as the pivotal inaugural film entry of the franchise, High & Low: The Movie, revealing the intial phase of a story that combines the gritty gangster drama of Sons Of Anarchy with Crows-style action on a level equal to that of the MCU’s The Avengers. Following the tone-setting events of Road To High & Low, High & Low: The Movie takes off in explosive fashion with a terror attack that sets off in Rude Boys’ territory, Nameless City. […]

HiGH&LOW: One Of Japan’s Biggest Hit Action Franchises Arrives On Netflix September 20

ROAD TO HIGH & LOW Review: Shigeaki Kubo’s Epic Motorcycle Gangster Action Drama Revs Up With A Sizeable, Emotive First Chapter

Lee B. Golden III

As obscure as any news can be about Japanese film productions, this site has certainly made an ample effort over the last six years to update readers on the progress of LDH’s hit mega franchise, High & Low (stylized as HiGH&LOW at home). That it comes packaged with a frontline of A-list screen and stage talents from the music and acting scene bodes a formidable offering as well, and it especially helps that those catching on out here in the West have since taken a liking to the work of directors like Takashi Miike, especially since High & Low speaks indelibly to the deliquent gangster genre fanbase. Led off by a two season drama on NTV and Hulu in Japan, the film end of the franchise launched on Sunday on Netflix with all seven feature films now streaming; Sharing the helm for the first-season NTV drama, High & Low: The […]

HiGH&LOW: One Of Japan’s Biggest Hit Action Franchises Arrives On Netflix September 20

Lee B. Golden III

Kick me. Punch me. Parkour me in the face already. News of the pending September 20 arrival of all seven film entries of the hit HiGH&LOW franchise hit me hard in the good feels of my solar plexus on Thursday night. The films aren’t even the start of it though as the franchise launched on NTV in late 2015 as a 10-part drama, and starring members of supergroup, Exile Tribe, who play warring gangsters in a fractured town known as S.W.O.R.D.. The most recent entry, HiGH&LOW: The Worst, led off with a six-part NTV prequel series. I can’t speak on either series or how they may weigh into the films since I haven’t seen it, though I take comfort in the line-up including at least seven of the titles beginning with the origin film, Road To HiGH&LOW, for good measure. Shepherded by Exile Hiro, LDH and showrunner/filmmaker Shigeaki Kubo, the […]

The Epic Gang Saga Continues In The First Teaser For HiGH&LOW THE MOVIE 2: END OF SKY

Lee B. Golden III

I couldn’t tell you much about LDH and NTV or their innerworkings on any given day, except for what little I know of Japanese supergroup Exile Tribe and their stunning reign in TV and film as of late 2015 with in-house megaproject, HiGH&LOW. It’s only been available in Japan with its first two seasons of HiGH&LOW: The Story Of S.W.O.R.D. featuring the brewing drama and explosive action as gangs and crime families battle each other for dominance in a town divided by five warring territories. Apart from live concerts and events (the music itself kicks ass too), the saga ultimately led to last summer’s feature film debut with Kubo Shigeaki’s HiGH&LOW: The Movie, followed by its subsequent spin-off, HiGH&LOW: The Red Rain from Yamaguchi Yudai, and now Shochiku is poised to follow up on its trilogy with two more titles between August 19 and November. For this, the first short […]