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.
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 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!
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.
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 I told you one of the most deliriously over-the-top martial arts movies ever was made in 2008 and nobody saw it?
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.
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 release. The official teaser arrived as of last week and it comes highly recommended with lots of grittiness and gloss to go with its high-flying stunt spectacle. Check it out!
The following is a version of a segment to a compilation article to which I contributed with other writers over at The Action Elite prior to its publication on February 10, 2015. CLICK HERE to read the article in its entirety.
LAS VEGAS, June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Gunblade Industry SPC, a subsidiary of A mate Inc., a South Korean-based production company, unveiled their newest action drama, “GUNBLADE,” during a press conference at the 2014 Licensing Expo at Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
From the executive producer and director who brought adoring fans the hit popular series, “Power Rangers,” Koichi Sakamoto will bring to life the next generation of superheroes with a new action drama, “GUNBLADE.” The highly-anticipated show will be unveiled during the 2014 Licensing Expo at Mandalay Bay Convention Center on Tuesday, June 17.
Continuing his latest string of action features with beautiful women front and center is famed Alpha Stunts founding member, action director and filmmaker Koichi Sakamoto with his newest feature action flick, Red X Pink. In addition to being a martial arts drama, Tokusatsu fans will also be happy to see a few familiar faces among the cast, including veteran Kamen Rider cast member, model and actress Yuria Haga, along with actresses Asami Tada, Ayame Misaki and Rina Koike, which should grant a little something for big boys and girls everywhere who are familiar with some of Sakamoto‘s work as of late. However, if you aren’t, then you’re just in time to check out a brand new full trailer ahead of the film’s February 22, 2014 Japan release. And yes, a NSFW warning is in order.
SYNOPSIS from Sci-Fi Japan:
Kadokawa Pictures presents “the birth of a new erotic × young girl action movie!” with RED X PINK (赤×ピンク, Aka × Pinku), opening at the Kadokawa Cinema Shinjuku and other Japanese cinemas on February 22, 2014. Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the company’s publishing imprint, Kadokawa Bunko, the film is adapted from the 2003 light novel written by Naoki Prize winner Kazuki Sakuraba and illustrated by Shin Takahashi.
RED X PINK is the story of four young women who participate in “Girls Blood”, an illegal mixed martial arts event held at an abandoned elementary school in Roppongi, Tokyo. Here, members of an underground fight club watch women in revealing cosplay outfits battle in an iron cage, night after night.
One of the fighters, Satsuki, suffers from gender identity disorder. Another, Chinatsu, came to “Girls Blood” after after fleeing from a life of domestic violence. Miko is a S&M queen who wears a blonde wig and bondage gear in combat. And innocent-looking Mayu is into Lolita fashion.
Their lives become increasingly complicated as Satsuki falls in love with a beautiful married woman, and Chinatsu’s abusive husband shows up with a savage hustler friend who has his own plans for the girls. Satsuki and her friends must now fight or face a terrible fate…
Director Koichi Sakamoto is a WAY different man of film nowadays. I mean, I’m astonished! The man has sure come a long way from his days with Alpha Stunts while working on Power Rangers and Mark Dacascos action vehicle Drive. And if his latest work is proof of nothing else (i.e. Travelers, Innocent Lillies), it concludes that the veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator has come into his own, with sexy, gorgeous women front-and-center and in on the action… and not just the usual…well…action.
I remember a much younger Koichi Sakamoto that just focused mainly on Tokusatsu and bringing Japanese superheroes to life on the big screen. Sure, those days are still here as he has been working on the set of Super Megaforce. But after following up with Travelers: Dimension Police, it appears that the man found something worth sticking to.
The upcoming supercharged sexy action thriller will star actress/singer Nao Nagasawa, and actress/model Ayumi Kinoshita in a story about a beautiful law woman working for an interdimensional police force, who serendipitously crosses paths with her former partner-turned-enemy, forcing each other to confront their past while investigating an innerspace terrorist agency, ultimately embarking on a dangerous mission that could decide the fate of the multiverse as we know it. The film also stars Yuko Takayama, Kenji Ebisawa and Kentaro Shimazu with a screenplay by Sotaro Hayashi, and is directed by action impressario Koichi Sakamoto, who intially began his efforts with a proof of concept video he reportedly worked on starting in 2008.
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