Tokyo Tribe (film)

Tokyo Tribe
Tokyo Tribe
	Film poster
	トウキョウトライブ
Directed by	Sion Sono
Written by	Sion Sono
Based on	Tokyo Tribes by Santa Inoue
Produced by	Yoshinori Chiba; Nobuhiro Iizuka; Naoko Komuro; Shin'ichirō Masuda; Ayako Oguchi; Kinya Oguchi; Tadashi Tanaka; Keizō Yuri
Starring	Ryōhei Suzuki; Riki Takeuchi; Young Dais
Cinematography	Daisuke Sōma
Edited by	Jun'ichi Itō
Music by	B.C.D.M.G.
Production; companies	Django Film; From First Production Co.; Nikkatsu
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release date	August 30, 2014; (Japan)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウトライブ) is a 2014 Japanese live-action musical crime comedy film based on Santa Inoue's Tokyo Tribes manga series. It was directed by Sion Sono and was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Plot

The film is set in an alternate Japan where street gangs collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes control their respective territories and are in continuous conflict. Mera, the head of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with the violent and sadistic gangster Buppa of Buppa Town with the intent of initiating a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru tribes. When it comes to a confrontation between the two tribes, Mera attempts to kill Kai, a popular member of the Musashino Saru tribe. During the attempt Mera accidentally kills Kai's friend Tera, another member of the Musashino Saru tribe who has been beloved by members of all Tribes since before their formation. This causes all of the other Tokyo Tribes to join forces against Mera and Buppa's forces, leading to an all-out gang war.

Tokyo Tribe mirrors apocalyptic art house violence, horror musical and tribalistic themes from films such as Mad Max, Do the Right Thing, Rocky Horror Picture Show and various Tarantino films. The film is almost entirely scripted in old-school hip-hop rhyme.

Cast

Ryōhei Suzuki as Mera^[4]
Riki Takeuchi as Buppa^[4]
Young Dais as Kai Deguchi^[4]
Nana Seino as Sunmi/Erika
Shunsuke Daitō as Iwao^[4]
Takuya Ishida as Kim^[4]
Yui Ichikawa as Nori-chan^[4]
Bernard Ackah as Jadakins^[4]
Joey Beni as Kamekachi
Arata Matsuura as Skunk
Yuku Ishii as Hasheem
Makato Sakaguchi as Yon
Kokone Sasaki as rookie police officer
Hideo Nakano as veteran police officer
Hisako Ōkata as DJ
Akira Yamamoto
Akio Joe
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi as Chikatilo
Akahiro Kitamura as Mukade
Yoshihiro Takayama as Bouncer
Motoki Fukami
Hitomi Katayama as Yoko
Hiroki Yahiki
Haruna Yabuki
Cyborg Kaori as Beatboxing maidservant
Mao Mita
Miyuki Yokoyama
Shintaro Hazama
Hirokazu Tategata
Yuki Izumisawa
Stephanie
Santa Inoue as Lotus Chief
Mika Kanō as Erendia^[4]
Shōko Nakagawa as Kesha^[4]
Kunihiko Kawakami as MC Kan
Mega-G as Mega-G
D.O.
Neri-Motha Fuckerz
Ego
Simon
Ys
KOHH
Tokage
Young Hastle
Loota
Vito Foccacio
DJ Ken Watanabe
Vikn
Mary Jane
Anarchy
Jesse
Denden as Daishisai^[4]
Aki Hiraoka as Nezumi
Jōi Iwanaga
Tomoko Karina
Yōsuke Kubozuka as Nkoi^[4]
Pacmna as Large Diner
Ryūta Satō as Tera^[4]
Shōta Sometani as MC Show^[4]
Takeshi James Yamada

Box office

The film earned ¥144.3 million at the Japanese box office by September 14, 2014.^[5]

Reception

Mike Hale of The New York Times called the film "an eccentric project" even for Sion Sono and found that the biggest problem was the "screenplay by Mr. Sono that doesn't provide much motivation for all the insults, battles and chases (and casual mistreatment of women)".^[6]
Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, criticizing its "uninspired violence and misogyny" and found that "the film suggests that these mobsters are driven to conquer only to overcompensate for the inadequacy of their manhoods".^[7]
Dennis Harvey of Variety.com also criticized the music, writing that the "soundtrack's mostly generic old-school beats support lyrics by a host of Japanese performers (many of whom have roles here) that are often funny — sometimes inadvertently, but mostly in a deliberately crass, obscene-boasting way" and that "delivery ranges from the decent to the dreadful".^[8]

References

^ "Live-Action Tokyo Tribe Film's Trailer Features a Rap Battle". Anime News Network. August 20, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^ "Tokyo Tribe (2014)". allcinema.net (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^ Tokyo Tribe at IMDb
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m 園子温「TOKYO TRIBE」に佐藤隆太、窪塚洋介、染谷将太ら豪華キャスト結集 : 映画ニュース [Ryuta Sato, Yosuke Kubozuka, Shota Sometani and other gorgeous casts gather in Sion Sono's TOKYO TRIBE: Eiga News]. Eiga.com (in Japanese). 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
^ "Japanese Box Office, September 13–14". Anime News Network. September 22, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^ Hale, Mike (22 October 2015). "Review: 'Tokyo Tribe,' Sion Sono's Hip-Hop Musical". The New York Times.
^ Tsai, Martin (22 October 2015). "'Tokyo Tribe' transfers hip-hop culture to Japan with uninspired violence and misogyny". Los Angeles Times.
^ Harvey, Dennis (7 September 2014). "Film Review: 'Tokyo Tribe'".

External links

Tokyo Tribe at IMDb

[1] "Live-Action Tokyo Tribe Film's Trailer Features a Rap Battle". Anime News Network. August 20, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.

[2] "Tokyo Tribe (2014)". allcinema.net (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved June 3, 2015.

[3] Tokyo Tribe at IMDb

[eiga-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m 園子温「TOKYO TRIBE」に佐藤隆太、窪塚洋介、染谷将太ら豪華キャスト結集 : 映画ニュース [Ryuta Sato, Yosuke Kubozuka, Shota Sometani and other gorgeous casts gather in Sion Sono's TOKYO TRIBE: Eiga News]. Eiga.com (in Japanese). 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2023-08-18.

[5] "Japanese Box Office, September 13–14". Anime News Network. September 22, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.

[6] Hale, Mike (22 October 2015). "Review: 'Tokyo Tribe,' Sion Sono's Hip-Hop Musical". The New York Times.

[7] Tsai, Martin (22 October 2015). "'Tokyo Tribe' transfers hip-hop culture to Japan with uninspired violence and misogyny". Los Angeles Times.

[8] Harvey, Dennis (7 September 2014). "Film Review: 'Tokyo Tribe'".

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