One of my favorite Japanese movie series of the 80s was Nasu Hiroyuki's absurdly violent Be-Bop High School, which was based on Kiyuchi Kazuhiro's popular manga series that ran in "Weekly Young Jump" from 1983. It was outrageously violent and portrayed high school life as a battlefield, where personal combat was a means to prove a teen's worth and masculinity.

Enter Miike Takashi's recent Crows Zero which almost plays like an updated version of Be-Bop High School albeit with his own unique flourishes and stylistic nuances. Based on Takahashi Hiroshi's gritty comic series Crows, which runs in "Monthly Shonen Champion" magazine, the movie follows the exploits of Takaya Genji, the son of a high ranking Yakuza ganglord, who has transferred into the notorious high school Suzuran. Suzuran's student body has the unique distinction of being the most violent, lawless and brutal. Formal education is the least of the worries at the school as daily classes are almost non-existant and students spend most of the time either fighting with each other or allying themselves with the various factions that control the school.

The top "A" class comprises of allies of the current king of the school, Serizawa Tamao (Yamada Takayuki) who is called the "Hyaku Jyu Oh" (King of the Hundred Beasts) for his ferocity and strength in fights. Despite his baby-faced good looks and somewhat goofy personality, he is ruthlessly determined to keep his top position at whatever costs and beats down all challengers to his throne. New transfer student Genji Takaya (Oguri Shun) has just entered the school and begins to make a name for himself, first by beating up a group of Yakuza who had a run-in with Serizawa and then by beating a leading school warlord, Tamamura "Chuta" (Suzunosuke) to take over his class.

One of the Yakuza thugs sent after Serizawa, Katagiri Ken (Yabe Kyosuke), himself a former dropout from Suzuran, takes Genji under his wing and offers to teach him how to become the new king of the school, an achievement that Genji hopes will eclipse his father's reputation and give him fame. Together with Chuta, they begin to unite the other warring school factions in an effort to strike at Serizawa's class. Genji's allies include the dim-witted yet fiercely loyal Makise Takashi (Takahashi Tsutomu) and the brutal and calculating Izaki Jun (Takaoka Sousuke).

Genji's ambitions bring him into conflict not only with former schoolmate Tatsukawa Tokio (Kiritani Kenta), who has become Serizawa's right hand man, but also endangers the life of beautiful hip-hop singer Aizawa Ruka (Kuroki Meisa) a childhood friend, who is love with the "bad boy" Genji.

While Fudo Shugo's lively and energized script clearly draws inspiration from Takahashi's manga, it seems to also draw heavily from other similar high school delinquent manga adaptations like Be-Bop High School, Rokudenashi Blues and Sakigake! Otokojuku. There also seems to be elements reminiscent of Walter Hill's 1984 rock-n-roll fairy tale Streets of Fire, particularly with regards to the romance in between Genji and Aizawa.

Miike's direction is wickedly entertaining in its outrageousness and eye-catching style. Miike never fails to make visually interesting films and Crows Zero is no exception. Make no mistake, Crows Zero is a guy's film and it is filled with testosterone pumped action and showy machismo almost to a comical level. Yet, Miike surprisingly also inserts some genuinely nice and moving moments involving the complicated relationships between the various characters.

Miike's young cast is superb and does an awesome job bringing Takahashi's exaggerated characters to life. Oguri Shun (Azumi, RoboCon, Hana Yori Dango TV series) is mesmerizing in his role as Genji. His action scenes are terrific and he brings a devilish charm to his character. Yamada Takayuki (Dragonhead, Maiko Haaan) is also very charming in his role as Serizawa. He is not your typical villainous thug and in fact is quite likeable despite his character's actions (He's very similar to Russell Crowe's Ben Wade character in 3:10 To Yuma).

The stunningly Okinawan beauty Kuroki Meisa (Camus Nante Shiranai, Vexille) does terrific work in her small part and also gets to showoff her talents as a singer. Yabe Kyosuke (Sukiyaki Western Django, Kids Return, Dead or Alive) is another standout as the bumbling Yakuza Katagiri Ken. Yabe brings much heart and sympathy to his character and one can't help but feel for him as he tries to live his life's dream of conquering the Suzuran vicariously through Genji. The punk rock soundtrack - compliments of groups Ginjirou, The Street Beats and The Birthday - are appropriately loud and infectious as is Kuroki's R&B/hip-hop numbers.

Crows Zero is not for everyone and its over-the-top story won't win any awards. However, for your average male movie-going demographic, it is an absolute winner which is sure to please. (JMaruyama 2008)