Big Bad III Review: In ISOLATED, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi Is An Army Of One In A Yakuza Thriller That’s Loads Of Fun
ISOLATED enjoyed its world premiere at the second edition of the Big Bad Film Fest.
Koichi Sakamoto
Big Bad Film Fest 2025: GLADIATOR UNDERGROUND, PRISONER OF WAR, Koichi Sakamoto & More Round Out The Action Festival’s Third Edition!
The third-annual BIG BAD FILM FEST returns to Los Angeles on August 22!
Streaming Sleepers: In SHOGUN’S NINJA, Love And Female Ninjas Go Hand-In-Hand
The Koichi Sakamoto-directed action adventure is now streaming for free on YouTube.
Streaming Sleepers: Steve Wang’s GUYVER: DARK HERO Slays Aliens For Free On The Samurai VS Ninja Channel!
“The Guyver Unit. It’s been a year since the alien armor invaded my body and became a part of me. A year since I first became the Guyver and destroyed the Chronos Corporation and their shape changing killers, the Zoanoids. Now Chronos is gone. But the Guyver stays in me. Calling me to fight. To kill.”
TATSUJIN WARRIORS: New Teaser And Poster Revealed For Koichi Sakamoto’s Latest Indie Action Ensemble
On Friday, Koichi Sakamoto fans get a double dose of action with two assets: The release of Shogun’s Ninja on the membership end of the Samurai VS Ninja YouTube channel, AND, the first official teaser footage for his latest independent action ensemble, Tatsujin Warriors. Actress and Asai-ryu Muchi Ken proponent, Hoshimi Asai (Versus, Murakumo: Ghost Agency), stars from a script by Ultraman veteran Juinichiro Ashiki (Ninja VS Shark), which sees our protagonist in the role of Hikaru, an ex-con fresh out of a five-year prison sentence for manslaughter. Upon returning to her once peaceful hometown, now besieged by a violent gang of hooligans, she forms a band of martial arts heroes to take her town back and restore order. The cast is comprised of a bevy of martial artists and performers bringing their own specialties to the table, including Takahide Kitagawa (Systema) and Ryuji Shirakawa (Aikido), Seiryukutsu Narashino (Nindo), four-time […]
Streaming Sleepers: Koichi Sakamoto’s BROKEN PATH Paves Way For Streaming Enjoyment On Plex
BROKEN PATH stays steady on our streaming radar this week!
SHOGUN’S NINJA: Official International Trailer Debuts For Koichi Sakamoto’s Latest Period Ninja Thriller
Koichi Sakamoto is further cementing his relevancy in 2025 with a few projects in toe. One of the latest to arrive is Shogun’s Ninja, with a brand new trailer that broke exclusively at Deadline on Thursday. Set in 17th-century Edo, an era of unprecedented peace under the rule of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, samurai govern the land. However, beneath this tranquility, a gripping tale of revenge and survival unfolds. Kagaribi and Okyo, descendants of the once-legendary FUMA ninja clan, are determined to restore their family’s lost honor. Struggling to survive, they take on various tasks for the townspeople, barely getting by, while clinging to the hope of reviving their clan’s former glory.Their peaceful lives are shattered when their friend, Oran, is kidnapped by the formidable YAGYU clan, the Shogun’s elite samurai force. At the same time, the Shogun, disillusioned with his own belief, plots to betray the very Shogunate he commands. […]
TATSUJIN WARRIORS Debuts Poster For Hoshimi Asai’s Latest From Koichi Sakamoto
Legendary action auteur Koichi Sakamoto is breaking away a bit from dazzling superhero fanservice with his latest film, Tatsujin Warriors. The cast is led by actress and Asai-ryu Muchi Ken (Whip/Fist Karate) proponent, Hoshimi Asai who last hit our radar with 2023’s Murakumo: Ghost Agency. Asai stars from a script by Ultraman veteran Juinichiro Ashiki (Ninja VS Shark), which sees our protagonist in the role of Hikaru, an ex-con fresh out of a five-year prison for manslaughter. Upon returning to her once peaceful hometown, now besieged by a violent gang of hooligans, she forms a band of martial arts heroes to take her town back and restore order. Asai brings her Whip/Fist fighting trade to the table as well, bolstering the film’s martial arts authenticity even more with a cast also lists the following: Respective Systema and Aikido academics Takahide Kitagawa and Ryuji Shirakawa, Nindo expert Seiryukutsu Narashino, four-time Taido […]
SHOGUN’S NINJA Trailer: Koichi Sakamoto Returns This Month With More Kunoichi Hero Action!
Koichi Sakamoto is back with more fun stuff in 2025!
Trailer: Koichi Sakamoto’s Superbly Violent Genre Thriller NINJA VS SHARK Teases The First Massacre Of 2023
The promotional campaign for Koichi Sakamoto’s latest spectacle, Ninja VS Shark has been a bit stealthy since the West took notice back in January. It helps that we’ve had to wait until about last week to finally see some trailer footage and it looks about as glorious as folks could hope given the hype. In the Edo period, at the remote village of Okitsu, the evil cult leader Koushirou uses ninjutsu to ensorcell sharks and forces them to attack local pearl divers so the cult can steal the pearls from their mangled corpses. Desperate for help, the village chief hires Kotaro Shiozaki, a guard at a nearby temple, but Kotaro soon finds his path blocked by lady ninja Kikuma, and a gigantic shark that doesn’t seem like something from this world. It’s been years since Sakamoto’s done any feature work in the West. Indeed, many of us miss the potential […]
Koichi Sakamoto Goes Mockbuster This Spring With NINJA VS SHARK!
Kudos to @HeadExposure on Twitter for spotting this new poster now going around to promote Ninja VS Shark, the latest from director, Tokusatsu and DTV martial arts fan favorite Koichi Sakamoto. The film stars Hirochika Hirano in the role of a temple warrior who is sought by a village chieftain to hunt down an evil sorceror who manipulates sharks using ninjitsu to purloin pearls from villagers in order to gain immortality, leaving masses of bodies in his wake. The film also stars Kamen Rider franchise familiar Shun Nishime and Yuuichi Nakamura, and actress Julia Nagano in her return to the feature film front since Ryuta Tasaki’s Salvage Mice (2011). The film also rejoins Sakamoto with martial artist and actress, High Kick Angels co-lead Kanon Miyahara following 2020’s Ultraman Z and 2019’s Blackfox: Age Of The Ninja among other credits. Yoshinori Chiba of yesteryear Sushi Typhoon fame and whose recent credits […]
Koichi Sakamoto’s Latest Period Film Delivers Killer Swordplay Thrills In The Official Trailer
Japanese cinema is still a hurdle for me most days since I’m neither fluent nor literate, but it helps to be able to translate things for these kinds of discoveries. Such is the case with 『漆黒天 -終の語り-』, or as Google Translate notes: Raven Story: The End Of The Story, rejoining famed Toku action Koichi Sakamoto with none other than actor Hirofumi Araki following their previous work together on Sakamoto’s live-action Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast movie back in January. The film is a continuation of a franchise between live stage shows and films, with Hidenori Ishida’s Gozen: The Sword Of Pure Romance kicking off the feature film series in 2019, and Takayuki Shibasaki’s Grim Reaper Case Book following suit a year later. This one sees Araki starring as a lone, nameless swordsman who journeys into Edo and finds himself squaring off with scores of thugs after rescuing a woman. Sakamoto, best […]
GOOD MORNING, SLEEPING LION Gets New Trailer
The upcoming film Good Morning, Sleeping Lion, led by beloved tokusatsu suit actor Seiji Takaiwa (Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Hero) has been hotly anticipated, not the least by this writer. The film is set to feature the veteran to re-unite with several talents, behind the camera and in front of it, including Koichi Sakamoto, prolific Action Director, as the director of the film. A new trailer recently debuted, and features cameos from not only actors from Takaiwa’s previous works, but some small Easter Eggs for fans! Good Morning, Sleeping Lion stars Takaiwa as Kazuma Kujo, an entertainment manager deep into middle age but still deeply passionate for his work. One of his charges, Reimi Watanuki (Miho Watanabe of Idol Group Hinatazaka 46) has been targeted by a mysterious group, and it’s up to Kujo to protect her while keeping his headstrong idol in line. Additional staff include producer Hideaki Tsukada (Producer, Kamen […]
SEIJI TAKAIWA and KOICHI SAKAMOTO Re-Unite for New Film
Legendary Tokusatsu suit actor Seiji Takaiwa (Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Hero) , aka “Mr. Heisei Kamen Rider”, will be re-uniting with several toku veterans for a new film to debut later this year. Good Morning, Sleeping Lion is set to debut starting this April on Japanese video distribution service “Hikari TV”, and features Takaiwa in a rare, out of suit, lead role. Good Morning, Sleeping Lion stars Takaiwa as Kazuma Kujo, an entertainment manager deep into middle age but still deeply passionate for his work. One of his charges, Reimi Watanuki (Miho Watanabe of Idol Group Hinatazaka 46) has been targeted by a mysterious group, and it’s up to Kujo to protect her while keeping his headstrong idol in line. The show is directed by Koichi Sakamoto, one of the best known action directors in Tokusatsu and a regular Takaiwa collaborator on Rider and Sentai, even working in America by way […]
BUNGO STRAY DOGS THE MOVIE: BEAST: Koichi Sakamoto’s Supernatural Fantasy Thriller Adaptation Now Playing In Japan
I’ve only recently started on the Bones-produced anime for Kafka Asagiri’s Bungo Stray Dogs series, so I can’t really tell you the ins and outs, but it turns out that a new live-action film adaptation is hitting the ground running this week out of Kadokawa Japan in the form of Bungo Stray Dogs The Movie: Beast, and it’s directed by none other than Koichi Sakamoto of all people. Cool beans! What if the Port Mafia’s hellhound, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, had joined the Armed Detective Agency? Likewise, what if Nakajima Atsushi belonged to the Port Mafia? In the parallel world of Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast, fledgling detective Akutagawa’s desperate mission to rescue his younger sister from the Port Mafia’s clutches brings him face-to-face with the organization’s fearsome “White Reaper”, a.k.a. Nakajim a Atsushi. What does fate have in store for the two beasts in this alternate tale of darkness versus light? I’ll […]
BROKEN PATH: A Look Back At Koichi Sakamoto’s Lost Martial Arts Masterpiece
What if I told you one of the most deliriously over-the-top martial arts movies ever was made in 2008 and nobody saw it? That’s the story with Broken Path, directed by Koichi Sakamoto and starring Power Rangers alum and voice-actor extraordinaire Johnny Yong Bosch. The movie is filled with wall-to-wall action and a simple but compelling story but for some reason to this day has seen no proper U.S. release. Broken Path opens with Bosch’s Jack living the country life on a remote ranch with his wife Lisa (Pamela Walworth) and their daughter Maddy (Lanie Taylor). Their idyllic life is shattered when the house comes under siege by a group of masked assailants, all of whom seem to have history with Jack. One of the assailants in particular, a man named Yoshi, (Dan Southworth) claims to want to help Jack. It turns out Jack has a past he’s never told […]
Koichi Sakamoto’s BLACKFOX: AGE OF THE NINJA Teaser Revealed
World-renowned martial arts champion, actress Chihiro Yamamoto, makes her lead debut in Blackfox: Age Of The Ninja. Hailing from Nihon Eiga Broadcasting for in-house paid TV service, Samurai Drama Channel, the first teaser is already making the rounds – billed as a live-action prequel feature to the pending October 5 release of sci-fi anime, Blackfox. Yamamoto will play a girl named Miya whose special ability makes her the target of mercenaries. In wake of her father’s murder at the hands of the killers, Miya not only salvation in a chance meeting with Hyoe and his granddaughter Rikka Isurugi, who comes from a long line of ninja in her family, but also a potential ally in avenging her father. Legendary action director and filmmaker Koichi Sakamoto, who has worked on numerous costume television franchises like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Power Rangers among other film and TV credits, directs from […]
Sakamoto’s HURRICANE POLYMAR Brings A Forecast Of Kick-Ass In The First Teaser!
Whoever made the decision that veteran action director and filmmaker Sakamoto Hurricane Polymar, already looks like an exciting feat that Tokusatsu fans can appreciate and may want to check out by then. Born within the walls of Tatsunoko where Casshan and Gatchaman were created at the time, Ninomiya Tsuneo directed the original 1974 animated series kicking off the adventures of a tough street fighter-turned-private investigator and martial arts expert who uses a special suit made of an artificial polymer stronger than steel to fight crime for its 46-minute duration at a time. For this, we get a live-action rendering of a superhero that can transform into five different vehicles such as a formula-one race car, a submarine and a high-powered jet. Mizobata Junpei stars next to actresses Mikie Hara as a newly established character for the film and J-idol Yanagi Yurina, and actor Yamada Yuki for the film’s forthcoming May […]
Check Out The Killer Second Trailer For KIRI: PROFESSIONAL ASSASSIN!
It won’t be long before director Sakamoto Koichi heads back to the big screen with just a few weeks to go until the release of his latest live-action manga treatment, Kiri: Professional Assassin. Actress Shaku Yumiko makes her comeback in her first action role in well over a decade, which makes it even more welcoming for those who remember her role in Sato Shinsuke’s The Princess Blade, especially with the first trailer of her new film already servicing with much approval. This week, a second trailer has arrived with an extra bit of focus on actor Kubota Yuki and actress Ayane among the antagonists at hand as we get a further glimpse into the vengeful plot that unfolds, and it’s safe to say that things are about to get quite brutal…and bloody… in the process. Manga author Nishikawa Hideaki’s work here proves positive toward providing a perfect playing field for […]
Tortured Heroines Put Their Training To The Test In The Latest Trailer For INNOCENT LILLIES: THE END AND THE BEGINNING
Wonders never cease with Toku action auteur, Sakamoto Koichi as he’s definitely found a niche with an ever-growing body of work host to sexy actresses in some of the most powerful roles to date. That said, he’s already gotten some attention this year with actress Shaku Yumiko’s return to the genre with Kiri: Professional Assassin, and Japan audiences will soon have another by this June with the forthcoming sequel release, Innocent Lillies: The End Of The Beginning. The cast is headlined once more by the members of Japanese geek-idol group, DEMPAGUMI, Inc. with a story based on Yoshida Reiko’s script that follows up Sakamoto’s 2013 fantasy Toei/TV Asashi adventure centered on an entire academy where broken-hearted girls go to harness their intense suffering through a series of tasks in order to become fully-endowed in their powers of witchcraft. The sequel, which arrives on June 13, will pit our heroic White […]
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