In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.
Direction
Sono's single-take rap battles are genuinely unhinged cinema.
Production
Practical sets so elaborate they probably bankrupted three smaller films.
Costume
Every tribe's look commits harder than most Oscar contenders.
Director
Sion Sono
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film adapts Santa Inoue's manga where characters literally rap their dialogue — Sono kept this structure, making cast learn choreography for weeks. Most weren't professional rappers.
Released the same year as Sono's Why Don't You Play in Hell?, this represents peak 'Sion Sono industrial complex' — the director somehow released four feature films in 2014 alone, each more unhinged than the last.
JP
