Takashi Miike’s long-awaited film Yakuza Apocalypse (Gokudou Daisensou) has been given a release date of 20 June. The movie follows a yakuza who bites other people and turns them into yakuza…or vampires. We’re not really sure which, and maybe neither is the film itself, but it looks pretty cool.

The cast line-up has also been announced including Hayato Ichihara (Rainbow Song, God’s Puzzle), Riko Narumi (The Great Yokai War, Ikigami), and someone in a bright-green frog suit.

The film follows Akira Kageyama (Ichihara), an awkward yakuza member who cannot even get a tattoo because of his sensitive skin. His boss is Genyo Kamiura (Lily Fanky) who is said to have been the strongest yakuza in history earning the nickname “Vampire.”

Kageyama begins to feel disillusioned with the yakuza lifestyle and considers leaving. However, before he can, Kageyama finds Kaimura critically injured by some assassins. Kaimura bites Kageyama on the neck and orders him to “live on as a yakuza vampire!” before dying.

As Kageyama adjusts to his new powers he must both fend off further assassins and work to build his own yakuza empire his way and become the strongest in history. Beyond that things seem to get pretty odd. There’s a school girl who becomes a yakuza or a vampire…or both.

And a big green frog with a bat fits into the film somehow as well.

The cast is a mix of Miike regulars and newcomers such as Pierre Taki who will also appear in the live-action Attack on Titan movie and veteran actor Reiko Takashima who will play a male yakuza lieutenant. Also making an appearance is Indonesian actor Yayan Ruhian who played Mad Dog in The Raid: Redemption.

The concept of a yakuza-vampire movie certainly seems enticing but these genre mash-ups can sometimes feel like too much is crammed into a single movie and leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. It’ll certainly be a ride, but we’ll have to wait until 20 June to know if it’ll be a wild or nauseating one.

Yakuza Apocalypse / Gokudou Daisensou
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Source: NetLab, Cinema Today (Japanese)
Video: YouTube – Cinema Today