The Roman Porno + Pink thread

[Guro Taku]

Soap Kôshinkyoku Yume no Shiro / ソープ行進曲 夢の城 (1984, dir. Masaharu Segawa)

This is odd... Did Japan ban to the word "turkish bath" as well now? I ask because the poster for the film above clearly has トルコ行進曲　夢の城 as its title but the forthcoming Happinet DVD retitled it to ソープ行進曲 夢の城. What gives?

[HungFist]

Soap Kôshinkyoku Yume no Shiro / ソープ行進曲 夢の城 (1984, dir. Masaharu Segawa)

This is odd... Did Japan ban to the word "turkish bath" as well now?

They did, in fact. I think that was in the late 80s. I guess the Turks weren't too happy about Japan using their country's name as a synonym for brothels (especially when it was just "Toruko / Turkey" in common speech with the "furo / bath" commonly omitted).

Just imagine this self-introduction:

ユセフと申します。トルコからきました。



Anyway, the Turkish Baths were all renamed into Soap Lands back in the 80s. Young adults in Japan don't even know the word Turkish Bath anymore. I've had to tell them that it means Soap Land.

[Guro Taku]

Quite understandable, yes. There is actually a precedent for Happinet renaming a トルコ film that escaped me during the original announcement and release:



What's interesting, though, is that this seems to apply to physical BD/DVD releases only! There's quite a few films with トルコ still in the title on amazon prime video, for example, including Toei's Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (怪猫トルコ風呂) and indeed even トルコ１１０番　悶絶くらげ, which had its title changed for the BD! A weird double standard, isn't it? Maybe they think Turkish people have no internet?

[HungFist]

Maybe they think Turkish people have no internet?

There's been some strange inconsistency before, too, e.g. Lusty Discipline in Uniform (1982):

Theatrical: Sailor fuku shikijô shiiku (セーラー服色情飼育)
Theatrical re-release: Seifuku shikijô shiiku (制服色情飼育)
VHS, DVD and BD: Sailor fuku shikijô shiiku (セーラー服色情飼育)

It seems like they decided sailor suits were fair game after all when the film came out on VHS. Yet some other films, like Young Girls' Holding Cell (セーラー服鑑別所) lost their sailor suit on VHS (制服鑑別所).

[Guro Taku]

Cover artworks for the January 8th releases:

Blu-ray:

Afternoon Affair: Kyoto Holy Tapestry / 昼下がりの情事 古都曼荼羅 (1973, dir. Masaru Konuma)



Hoteru hime / 火照る姫 (1983, dir. Shogoro Nishimura)



DVD:

Suite / スウィートルーム (1993, dir. Sadaaki Haginiwa)



Tsuma San-nin: Hada Kurabe / 妻三人 肌くらべ (1973, dir. Isao Hayashi)



Kaoru Kiri: The Best Lesbian in Japan, a Docu-Drama / 実録 桐かおる にっぽん一のレスビアン (1974, dir. Katsuhiko Fujii)



Soap Kôshinkyoku Yume no Shiro / ソープ行進曲 夢の城 (1984, dir. Masaharu Segawa)



Attacked Female Teacher / 襲われる女教師 (1983, dir. Nobuyuki Saito)



Sexual Abuse Compilation / ザ・折檻　番外篇 (1986, dir. Go Ijuin)

[Guro Taku]

Killing Angel Muhan is a solid and nicely violent V-cinema action flick. I'm not happy that Happinet is now including 90ies flicks in their lineups since they're eating into the amount of actual roman porno that can be released, but this is a nice addition and I will gladly upgrade from my non-anamorphic DVD from 2002.

Happinet spectacularily dropped the ball on their so-called "remastered" release of Killing Angel Muhan! It is, in fact, the exact same non-anamorphic transfer that was previously on the Pioneer DVD from 18 years ago.

Pioneer (2002):



Happinet (2020):



Pioneer (2002):



Happinet (2020):



I think the old Pioneer DVD actually has the better encode of this ancient transfer. And I don't care if everyone at Happinet had Corona, there's no excuse for releasing this and calling it a remaster.

[HungFist]

Crazed Fruit BD (part 1/2)

I recently got the Happinett Crazed Fruit (狂った果実) (1981) BD. I haven’t sat through the whole disc yet, but the picture quality looks alright. 1080i. Quite a bit of black crush, but I'm not too bothered by that. Not perfect by any means, but not the kind of disco pop colour contrast remix abomination like some of the other BDs. I think this looks about the same as the Rolling on the Road BD. And the old DVD was a VHS master anyway, so no point holding on to that one. A couple of quick caps below:

[HungFist]

Crazed Fruit BD (part 2/2)

The photo gallery on the disc is once again fantastic. Lots of stills and behind the scenes photos. Almost worth the price alone. A few examples below.





Director Negishi is the young dude on the right.


Ninagawa, Honma, Negishi


Here's a wild guess: could the woman holding the script / shooting plan be Akane Shiratori (白鳥あかね)???

[Guro Taku]

March 3rd covers:

Blu-ray:

Reijo niku-dorei / 令嬢肉奴隷 (1985, dir. Junichi Suzuki)



Flower and Snake 4: White Uniform Rope Slave / 花と蛇 白衣縄奴隷 (1986, dir. Shogoro Nishimura)



DVD:

Zoom Up: Seiko's Thigh / ズームアップ　聖子の太股 (1982, dir. Koyu Ohara)



Wakazuma ga nureru toki / 若妻が濡れるとき (1978, dir. Katsuhiko Fujii)



Boso Rhythm: Thank God for Women / 房総ぺこぺこ節　おんな万祝 (1974, dir. Nobuaki Shirai)



Roppongi Reijo: Fushidara / 六本木令嬢 ふ・し・だ・ら (1987, dir. Hiroshi Shinomiya)



Izumi Shima Swapping (Secret Report) Rape Lecture & Nami Matsukawa Bondage: Crazed Pistil「志麻いづみ　スワッピング（秘）レイプ講座」＆「松川ナミ　縛り　狂った花芯」(1982, dir. Katsuhiko Fujii & Fumihiko Kato) - These are hardcore porn (not that you'll be able to tell with all the pixels on screen) roman porno "spin-offs", basically made to compete with the AV market. They started releasing these earlier this year.



New Lily Lovers 2 / 新・百合族　2 (1994, dir. Osamu Murakami) - Another spin-off of sorts, and a sequel to one of the "films" released in the September batch. This one's supposedly "inspired" by Hiroyuki Nasu's two Sailor Suit Lily Lovers flicks. There's a third one as well and I'm sure we'll be blessed with its arrival on DVD soon enough.

[Guro Taku]

DIGS/Dimention have announced that they will release Koji Wakamatsu's 1974 film WET DICE (濡れた賽ノ目) on DVD on April 2nd. This film has been previously unavailable and for the longest time the camera negative was considered lost. To this date it isn't even listed in most filmographies of actor Jinpachi Nezu. The release is to coincide with Wakamnatsu's 85th birthday the day before.



Here's a trailer for the release, which totally spoils why the film has the title WET DICE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSgRJlZvTWA

[Guro Taku]

Nikkatsu just announced several new batches of their roman porno releases, all the way to 2022:

Coming July 2nd:

BD:

Female Teacher (女教師) (1977) dir. Noboru Tanaka
Flower and Snake: Sketch of Hell (花と蛇　地獄篇) (1985) dir. Shogoro Nishimura


DVD:

Love Beast: Red Lips (愛獣　赤い唇) (1981) dir. Akira Kato
Bed Partner (ベッド・パートナー) (1988) dir. Daisuke Goto
Castle Orgies (色暦大奥秘話) (1971) dir. Isao Hayashi

September 3rd:

BD:

Gate of Flesh (肉体の門) (1977) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
Blazing Bondage Lady (団鬼六　縄炎夫人) (1980) dir. Katsuhiko Fujii

DVD:

Do It Again: Like an Animal (モア・セクシー　獣のようにもう一度) (1981) dir. Akira Kato
Pink Curtain 2 (ピンクのカーテン２) (1982) dir. Yasuaki Uegaki
Entrails of a Virgin (処女のはらわた) (1986) dir. Kazuo Komizu
Madam Scandal (マダム・スキャンダル　１０秒死なせて) (1982) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
Technical Virgin (テクニカル・ヴァージン) (1990)

November 5th:

BD:

A Woman Called Sada Abe (実録阿部定) (1975) dir. Noboru Tanaka
China Scandel: Exotic Dance (チャイナスキャンダル　艶舞) (1983) dir. Koyu Ohara

DVD:

Koichiro Uno's Girl Dormitory (宇能鴻一郎の修道院附属女子寮) (1981) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
Rusted Body: Guts of a Virgin III (拷問貴婦人) (1987) dir. Kazuo Komizu
White Rose Campus: Then... Everybody Gets Raped (白薔薇学園　そして全員犯された) (1982) dir. Koyu Ohara
Kaoru Oda's Undercover Experience Report: Shibuya Dogenzaka Love Hotel 24:00 & Endless Night: Megumi Himemiya (小田かおる 潜入体験レポート 渋谷道玄坂ラブホテル24時＆夜はエンドレス 姫宮めぐみ
Scent of a Spell (魔性の香り) (1985) dir. Toshiharu Ikeda
A New Tale of Happiness and Embarrassment (新うれしはずかし物語) (1991) dir. Yasuyuki Otani

January 7th:

BD:

Uptown Lady: Days of Eros (山の手夫人 性愛の日々) (1980) dir. Masaru Konuma
Waiting Wet Woman (「雨ごもり」より　待ち濡れた女) (1987) dir. Yasuaki Uegaki

DVD:

Rouge (ルージュ) (1984) dir. Hiroyuki Nasu
Female Teacher: Dirty Rumor (女教師　汚れた噂) (1979) dir. Akira Ktao
Red Rope: Until We Expire (赤い縄　果てるまで) (1987) dir. Junichi Suzuki
Affair at Twilight (たそがれの情事) (1972) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
A New Tale of Happiness and Embarrassment 2: Weekend Cinderella (新うれしはずかし物語２ 週末のシンデレラ) (1991) dir. Yasuyuki Otani
Megumi Kiyosato: Wet to the Core & Sexy Dream of Love: Yuka Tachihara (清里めぐみ 心まで濡らして＆恋のセクシードリーム 立原友香)

March 2nd:

DVDs:

Female Teacher in Rope Hell (団鬼六 女教師縄地獄) (1981) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
Debauchery: Salome's Lips (猟色　サロメの唇) (1984) dir. Katsuhiko Fujii
Captured Mother and Daughter: She Beast (母娘監禁　牝) (1987) dir. Nobuyuki Saito
Sigh of Roses (薔薇のためいき) (1972) dir. Shogoro Nishimura
Tokyo Hotel: Beast Play (東京秘密ホテル　けものの戯れ) (1976) dir. Atsushi Fujiura
She-Beasts' Warm Bodies (しなやかな獣たち) (1972) dir. Akira Kato
Taboo (タブー 赫いためいき) (1997) dir. Yutaka Kohira
New Lily Lovers 3 (新・百合族　3) (1995) dir. Osamu Murakami

Some thoughts:

- Apparently, they are now issuing films on DVD that were previously BD exclusives on a 1 per month rate (Madam Scandal, Scent of a Spell, Rouge, Female Teacher in Rope Hell)
- Some films that are reissues of previous Geneon DVDs are prized at 3000 yen instead of the usual 2000 yen. White Rose Campus for example. Not sure if that listing is a mistake or if it would indicate a remaster.
- Are they phasing out BD releases completely? The fact that March 2022 is a DVD only batch might indicate as much.
- Releases I'm excited about? Uh, Red Rope: Until We Expire finally getting a DVD release is good news for Takashi Ishii completists, since he wrote the script. As a fan of Keiko Asano's breasts, I also won't mind upgrading Rusted Body from my 20 year old Dutch PAL DVD. I just hope they don't pull a Killing Angel Muhan and use the exact same master again anyway. Maybe Koichiro Uno's Girl Dormitory since the previous Koichiro Uno flick I watched was kind of amusing.

[HungFist]

Thanks for posting this.

Uhm, not sure of there's anything for me. I might consider picking up Red Rope.

Waiting Wet Woman is rather good. It's got a Haruhiko Arai scrip, Ako is in a small supporting role, and Yasuaki Uegaki does better job helming it than he usually does (he's overrated IMO). It's one of those films that could just as well have been an ATG release, like some of Kichitaro Negishi's films.

[Guro Taku]

Waiting Wet Woman is rather good. It's got a Haruhiko Arai scrip, Ako is in a small supporting role, and Yasuaki Uegaki does better job helming it than he usually does (he's overrated IMO). It's one of those films that could just as well have been an ATG release, like some of Kichitaro Negishi's films.

Thanks for the tip! I'll probably pick this up as well, then, since it's a BD and comes with Japanese subtitles. Have you seen Tanaka's Female Teacher (1977) film? I know he directed two Female Teacher films in 1973 but I don't think I'm familiar with this one from '77.

[HungFist]

Have you seen Tanaka's Female Teacher (1977) film? I know he directed two Female Teacher films in 1973 but I don't think I'm familiar with this one from '77.

I have seen it, and forgotten all about it. All I recall is it being rather boring.

I must have written something about it, though. Let's see... yep, here:

Female Teacher (Japan, 1977) [DVD] - 2/5
A commercially successful, but underwhelming re-start of the Female Teacher series. A music teacher is raped by her students, which kicks off a series of events that lead to murders and kidnapping. This is one of the few Roman Porno films that actually deal with the psychological and social consequences of rape in other that purely exploitative way. Unfortunately, it still doesn't hold up as a drama, and at 100 minutes it runs way too long. The first and final third work, but the middle part drags quite a bit.

Certainly one of Tanaka's weakest films IMO. As for the Female Teacher series, I'm no fan. The only one I thought was a bit better than the rest was Female Teacher Hunting. The rest are 1.5 or 2 star films in my books.