Year: 2017
Runtime: 133 mins
Language: Japanese
Director: Sion Sono
Tatsuhiko Shiratori works as a talent scout, seeking out young women for the adult entertainment industry. After relocating from Shinjuku, Tokyo, to Yokohama, he finds himself in direct competition with Masaki Taki, the CEO of a rival scouting company. The ensuing conflict creates tension and challenges for Tatsuhiko as he navigates the competitive landscape.
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One year has passed since the death of Hideyoshi. Sumitomo, president of the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association, announces plans to open a new gentleman’s club in Yokohama, marking a fresh push into the city’s adult entertainment scene. Tatsuhiko Shiratori, a scout from Burst who recruits girls for the business, relocates from Shinjuku to Yokohama to recruit talent and expand the agency’s foothold there. He soon clashes with Masaki Taki, the CEO of the rival Wizard agency in Yokohama, who is equally determined to recruit new girls for the opening night and resents this upstart encroaching on his turf.
The tension escalates as Seki, a fallen figure who once took the blame for a murder to protect Taki, returns to Yokohama after twelve years. Taki treats this as a personal vendetta and a challenge to his control. He aligns himself with Inspector Sunako of the Yokohama Central Police and with President Tasaka of the Monbu group to push Burst out of their territory. To strike at Burst directly, Taki orders the Wizard agency to seize Burst’s hold in Shinjuku, where they destroy Madame Ryoko’s club, broadening the conflict and proving how ruthless the battle for Yokohama has become.
A dramatic fallout follows when Masaki Taki and Tasaka clash over money and control, and Tasaka is shot in the resulting dispute. In Yokohama, a beauty contest is held to showcase the competing agencies’ girls, but Burst is hampered by having only half as many recruits in Yokohama as the Wizard agency. Madame Ryoko dispatches her remaining girls from the destroyed club to compete, reshaping the lineup and pressure for the contest. Burst ultimately wins the contest, though Tatsuhiko Shiratori has already left to protect his longtime friend Yosuke, highlighting the personal stakes behind the professional rivalry.
Amid the chaos, Masaki Taki has a complicated relationship with one of his girls who becomes entangled with Yosuke. He allows the arrangement so long as Yosuke is dealing drugs for him, pulling Yosuke deeper into a dangerous world. Yosuke’s dependence grows, and the plan is for him to make one last deal before stepping away. When the deal goes awry and Taki confronts him, the conflict brings the past back into the present. Seki appears to defend Yosuke and challenges Taki about the twelve-year-old fracture in their history. As a struggle unfolds, a gun slips from Taki’s pocket and is picked up by Yosuke, bringing the tension to a new tipping point.
Hideo Nakano as Tasaka’s successor, Arai of the Monbu group, and Tatsuhiko clash in a confrontation that ends with Tatsuhiko fleeing, while Yosuke and Tatsuhiko race to escape the mounting fury. The confrontation reaches a turning point when Hayama, Nobuaki Kaneko in his role as Yosuke’s stern ally, reminds Yosuke of Hideyoshi’s death linked to his drug use. Hayama refuses to permit Yosuke to rejoin Burst and engages Tatsuhiko in a brutal dispute, during which Yosuke finally confesses that he indeed played a part in Hideyoshi’s death.
Back in Taki’s office, Seki discovers a letter from Taki addressed to him, hinting at a plan to flee Yokohama just as Seki did years earlier. The note closes with a stark decision: Taki declares that he is returning Yokohama to Seki, signaling a shattering shift in who will hold the city’s criminal and entertainment power. The film tracks a web of loyalties, betrayals, and personal debts, showing how one city’s nightlife becomes a battlefield where ambition, friendship, and revenge collide in a brutal, long shadow of a legacy.
Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 13:05
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Gritty tales of ambition and brutality within organized urban crime syndicates.If you liked the brutal competition between scouting agencies in Shinjuku Swan II, explore these movies about organized crime power struggles. Find similar stories of gritty ambition, betrayal, and tense conflict within the urban underworld, featuring fast-paced action and morally complex characters.
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