Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, etc
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chazgower01
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Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

Post by chazgower01 »

Saw this came out on Amazon yesterday and promptly ordered my copy.... or actually it looks like it's still a pre-order, even though it SAYS released on September 12th... anyone know?

Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji
https://www.amazon.com/Unchained-Melody ... meiko+kaji
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HungFist
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Re: Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

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A bit interested in this book. Please let us know your thoughts when you get it.
mirkoraba
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Re: Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

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Mine shipped yesterday. I usually like Tom Mes books even if I don't always agree with him. Looking forward to this one.
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chazgower01
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Re: Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

Post by chazgower01 »

It's very well done. Very informative, with what seems like a good understanding of Japanese history and culture and how it relates to some of the movies and their relationship with them... and some great pictures, some of which I don't believe I've ever seen, including a young Meiko posing in a ligerie ad from the mid-60's.
It's smaller in size not much bigger than a blu-ray case, and really could probably be read in an afternoon. BUT....glad to have it.
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HungFist
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Re: Unchained Melody: The Films Of Meiko Kaji

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I thought this was a decent beginner's book... but it left me a bit underwhelmed for a number of reasons.

1) I was hoping Mes had had a chance to view and review some of the rare Kaji films like Mini Skirt Lynchers, but that wasn't the case. He covers the films that hard core Kaji fans have already seen.

2) While he has some great trivia to share, most of that info actually comes from the old DVD interviews he conducted for older releases. If you've seen interviews on the Rapid Eye / Arrow Sasori DVDs / BDs, you are already familiar with a lot of the content.

3) While his analyses on the Sasori films are very good, I was shocked by how similar they were to my own Finnish language, yet to be completed and published reviews. Damn you Mes, people are gonna think I stole that from you :lol:

For someone less educated on Kaji, I think this book will be an enjoyable and informative read. For me it didn't have that much to offer.
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