One from the to watch pile…
Hentai Kamen (2013)
The cover of the Australian DVD release
Film: Ahhhhh, manga and Anime: the formats where any perversion, no matter how tentacley is welcomed. I’ve read and watched a lot of stuff over the years, and two manga that certainly caused the weirdo in me to stand up and take notice are Go Nagai’s Kekko Kamen, about a nude heroine who rides a motorcycle, and the one this movie is based upon, Keishū Andy’s Kyūkyoku Hentai Kamen, about a young man who gets super powers whenever he smells the… aroma… of the panties he wears on his face as a disguise.
This adaptation was done by Yūichi Fukuda, both direction and writing, who seems to be mainly a TV writer and director, but is also responsible for the sequel to this film Hentai Kamen: The Abnormal Crisis, which came out three years after this first one.
Kyosuke (Ryôhei Suzuki), the son of a now-deceased police officer and a bondage mistress, is a confused young man. He has inherited his father’s sense of justice and tough guy attitude, but no matter how hard he tries in martial arts training, he just can’t match that with any sort of crime-fighting skill, until the day his new crush, Aiko (Fumiko Shimizu) gets held hostage by a bunch of crooks.
An example of the quality, Shakespearean dialogue.
On this day he manages to find his strength, sneaks into the building, knocks out a guard and takes his clothes, including his mask, but when he goes to put the mask on, he accidentally picks up a pair of unwashed girls panties, and once the… um… aroma… hits him, his perverted gene that he inherited from his mother kicks in and he becomes the superhero Hentai Kamen!!!
Hentai Kamen quickly finds his powers are needed to save his school from the grips of mad criminal who sends assassin after assassin to defeat him, but will brute force beat Hentai Kamen, or will a more cunning plot prevail?
The object of HK’s affection: Aiko.
The main actor, Ryôhei Suzuki, has to be given a huge amount of credit in this film though. He is dressed throughout the film in mainly what only can be described as a white mankini and a pair of panties across his face. Thankfully there isn’t a scrap of fat on his entire body, and I have to admit that maybe my wife stopped whilst I was watching the film and emitted a ‘phwoar’ before casting a disappointed glance in my direction.
Overacted, a touch overlong, with a ridiculous script and some pretty bad CGI all make for a pretty funny movie that entertains and surprises throughout. Not for the faint of heart though, and there are more dick jokes than you could shake a stick at.
One thing this film definitely IS, however, is the cure for all the Marvel and DC movies that are littering the cinemas.
Score: ***1/2
The Australian DVD menu screen
Format: Hentai Kamen: Forbidden Superhero runs for 101 minutes was reviewed on the Australian Madman DVD release which is presented in an excellent and clean 16:9 image with a perfect Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Score: ***
Extras: The only extras on this disc are trailer for this film, and for Ace Attorney, Real, Badges of Fury and A Werewolf Boy
Score: *1/2
WISIA: This film is 100% a one-watch only. It’s funny, but has no longevity.
Well, why don’t you..?
The To Watch Pile 