Crows Zero 1 Movie Is Based

Before these 5 gangs, the legendary Mugen gang dominated the town.

These gangs are Doubt and Prison gang, and they try to dominate the area controlled by SWORD.

They also go up against other gangs in the area and challenge White Rascals to fight.

To stop the Kyuryu gang, members of the SWORD begin to move.

But as a private detective, what that other Raita does couldnt.

Rumored to be invincible, the truth is he is a vampire-a bloodsucking yakuza vampire boss Among.

The students are called crows and they band together in factions, battling each other for influence and power.

But they all share a common goal, one that has never been reached in the schools history: unification.

Genji Takiya, a transfer student who attempts to take over Suzuran Boys High School and is mentored by old boy yakuza Katagiri as he faces off against rival Serizawa.

Crows Zero 1 Movie Is Based

Hiroshi Takahashi, the author of the manga Crows where this movie is based on is actually The Street Beats fan.

However, with Crows: Episode 0, gone are the extreme violence, though it still retains some flavour normally found in a typical action flick.

Known for movies like Audition and Big Bang Love, Juvenile A, both which were released here, this is probably one of his more accessible films to date, even though it treads on familiar territory with elements of the yakuza.

Crows: Episode 0 is set in an all boys Japanese high school, where instead of having educational classes and courses, what gets put on screen (I havent read the manga obviously) happens to be an ecosystem of triad society split into different turfs according to grade levels, classes and reputation.

Unification of all levels in the school is a challenge, and new boy Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri) throws down the gauntlet on the first day to take down reigning school gangster Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada), which he finds impossible given that the latters picked up by the police.

But of course there are unwritten rules to follow in order to engage the top, and he enlists the help of a two-bit average Yakuza hoodlum Ken Katagiri (Kyosuke Yabe) to help plot his path of success.

For the most parts, the story is simple to follow, as we shadow Genji in his quest to conquer the high school class by class, through sheer brute force, gaining of respect, or simply just friendship established.

As his reputation grows, so does his threat towards Serizawa, which sets up the inevitable climatic showdown where the rival gangs gotta settle whos gonna rule the school.

You cant help it but Koreas Volcano High comes to mind for comparison.

Here, its the good old fisticuffs without a lot of frills, though styled to make the characters seem to have super-strength, no thanks to the sound effects of course.

The art direction is beautifully peppered with plenty of graffiti art, and your eyes would just automatically wander off to read just about every word thats spray painted out there.

Oozing plenty of testosterone and machismo, there are still enough tender moments to make you cringe, bearing in mind that after all, these are pretty looking boys with mean and tough looking exteriors, but sometimes still softies at heart.

If youre a fan of no holds barred street fighting with camaraderie elements thrown in, sprinkled with a dash of humour (from sight gags to the toilet variety), then Crows: Episode 0 would be right up your alley.