Tok-YO!

Well, I have just returned from Japan.
2 days ago actually, to be more precise.
I was there for just under 3 weeks and I can say with much disappointment in my tone that I did not see Godzilla fighting a schoolgirl samurai once. Unacceptable. I took this trip for the cliches, damnit.
Oh well, ignoring the absence of giant radioactive lizards and warrior youth for the moment, allow me to share some tales of my travels.

FILM:
I shuddered as I looked around at “New Release” movie posters in Japan, for the likes of Burn After Reading and Gran Torino were being hailed as fresh viewing; just off the vine, so to speak. I let out a sigh of disappointment...which quickly turned into an exclamation of excitement as I discovered that what they lacked in US releases, they made up for in local fare; exemplified by an impressive trailer which held me in its grip as I stood amongst the aisles of Tower Records and was prevented from continuing in my hunt for art books. Said trailer played out as follows...


Awesome, no?
Well, after seeing this (and cursing the fact that I had not even heard of the first CZ), I found the nearest cinema where it was screening and promptly bought a ticket.
It was money well spent, yo.
Granted, it was expensive ($24 bucks. Ugh.) but it was worth it. Keep in mind, y'all, that this film was badass with a side of fries...even though I DID NOT UNDERSTAND A SINGLE WORD.
That's right. It was all in Japanese (as was expected) yet sans subtitles (unexpected). This did nothing to detract from the experience.
Now, I mentioned my annoyance earlier at the fact that this franchise was unknown to me. Well, add salt to that gaping wound by acknowledging the fact that Takashi Miike directed both films.
Surprised, I most certainly was.
Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a HUGE Miike fan. I haven't seen many of his films (that I know of), but that's just because most of his work that has crept out of Japan seems to be that same old brand of ultra-violent, bizarro, schtick such as Ichi The Killer and so forth. I'm not against said brand...but it just gets stale quickly in my opinion. However, I absolutely LOVED Audition http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235198/ and now I can add Crows Zero II (and the first, once I track it down) to my list of excellent Miike flicks that will hopefully continue to grow; especially now that I have learnt that he can serve up dishes like this.
Now, the story (I'm guessing) is basically about rival school gangs and them solving their problems by polite discussion and reasoned thinking...but then that gets boring and they decide to punch, kick, stomp, bodyslam, elbow-strike, knee and uppercut each other as they go about their daily lives and eventually end up in an AWESOME final showdown which sees the two gangs tear through a school in a King of the Mountain-style siege with the two gang leaders eventually facing off on the school's roof. (None of these Hollywood-style mini 'fights' too, where nobody even breaks a bone, let alone a sweat.) Crows Zero II's finale is epic and you feel like you're with the gangs every headbutt, sidekick and step of the way.

Allow me to add a shout-out at this point:
“Hey Capcom! Make a RIVAL SCHOOLS movie and get Takashi Miike to direct!”

I couldn't help but detect a strong RS flavour while watching all of this. I could imagine Batsu

suddenly appearing and fighting alongside Genji and the others. That'd be tasty, but a RS film probably won't ever happen. They seem to have abandoned that series, therefore I doubt they'd spend coin on a film version. Not when they're already doing amazing things with the Street Fighter franchise...


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Rubbish.

(Anyway, if you ARE a Rival Schools fan, check out Volcano High. It's not the same, but it's got a similar vibe, at least.)
So yeah; definitely check out Crows Zero II if you get the chance. Damn impressive film and the combat is fresh in the way that the gang members are not all mind-blowing martial arts masters or anything. They use pretty stock-standard street fighting moves and never break the reality barrier by pulling off insane moves or 32-hit air combos and such. That being said, they all must be on PCP or something, cause they seem to be quite impervious to pain. I liked that aspect though, so...

GAME:
Ahhhhhh, King of Fighters XII.


It's so refreshing to see a game where the characters don't closely resemble shaved gorillas.
Hi, Street Fighter IV. Boo and hiss, says I.
Now, don't get me wrong; I LOVE Street Fighter and SF IV is a damn good game. But I seriously hate the way it looks. But, I'll go into that in another post.
This post is about the return of the King, yo.
As I said; I'm a SF fan and I'm actually more at home in that arena; but I still loves me some KoF, and I was finally able to play 12 whilst in Japan.
Oh, and I got my ass handed to me.
See, most Japanese folk eat, sleep and drink arcade games. That's just one of the standard ingredients in their lives. They'll hit an arcade after work just as soon as hit a bar.
And so, when I sat down and challenged some unseen opponent in an arcade in Akihabara; who do you think the smart money was bet upon? Not I, says I.
Also, let it be known that I did not 'challenge' some guy to act like Johnny McChallenge; I had no choice in the matter. Tokyo arcades are very crowded and every cabinet is a versus/challenge cabinet and so 9 times out of 10, you're gonna be challenging the guy opposite you. Straight up solo matches are rare. At least where I was.
I can say that I held my own in the first round and a half...but then everything went wrong. I watched helplessly as my unseen opponent ruined my manly roster of Kyo, Terry and then Ryo.
It was brutal.
It was merciless.
It was SO pretty.
From now on, I say if you're gonna get your ass kicked; get it kicked by smooth, hand-drawn 2D animation.
Besides the visuals, the game plays really well, too. Smooth movements and there was a feeling of balance that, despite my loss, told me that given some time, I could've made a comeback.
Perhaps.
I don't feel bad though, mainly cause I'm more of a SF player and also cause my opponent probably saw our match as merely a momentary hurdle in his daily routine of beating KoF XII as many times in a row as he could before catching the train home.
That kind of dedication means I was KO'ed before I sat down.