The Guys from Paradise

Kohei Hayasake is arrested for possession of a kilo of heroin and sent to a prison in Manila. He faces a harsh new reality among corrupt guards and wary inmates as his future starts to hinge on dangerous power plays inside the facility.

Umino, a Manila restaurant owner, introduces Kohei to Yoshida, a former underworld figure who has chosen confinement to escape his enemies. Yoshida hires Kohei to be his business representative in exchange for access to Yoshida's private toilet.

Yoshida bribes guards to allow Kohei to accompany him to a hotel for a kilo of heroin. Kohei uses the opportunity to escape rather than complete the deal, triggering a dangerous chase.

Kohei goes to the hotel where his wife is staying, only to find she did not return the previous night. Yoshida confronts him and warns that betrayal will be met with violence.

Yoshida starts selling drugs through the warden, who demands money bribes to win Kohei's case. The corrupt system keeps Kohei trapped in legal limbo and danger.

Pedophile Sakamoto drugs Kohei and intends to have his organs removed for sale in a club. Yoshida intervenes and rescues Kohei at the critical moment, exposing how far the operation will go to profit.

Kohei ends his marriage with the realization that his wife is sleeping with the company's lawyer. This personal rupture deepens his isolation from his former life.

Kohei faces a trial and is sentenced to life in prison. The verdict cements his status as a man trapped by crime and corporate scheming.

In the wake of a drug deal, Kohei is attacked by members of Yoshida's old yakuza clan. He escapes and is driven back to prison by Brando, a fellow inmate with a history of legal disputes with Kohei's company.

Yoshida's assistant Belila is shot dead by an attacking gunman while she is stabbing him to death, illustrating the brutal violence surrounding their world. The moment underscores the collapse of loyalties and the danger everyone faces.

The poorer inmates defy the Japanese inmates by banding together, while Brando distracts the guards with money to allow the escape. The escapees help an injured woman and bring her to a village where Sakamoto tends to her and the village’s ill children.

Yabumoto, the pursuing yakuza, arrives in the village and kills Sakamoto, then aims at Kohei just as Murakame arrives to surrender. The standoff exposes shifting loyalties and the reach of clan warfare.

Namie Mishima, a convicted embezzler from the women's wing, tosses gemstones at Yabumoto as part of a bribe, while Kohei pulls a gun from Namie's shorts to kill Yabumoto. Umino leaps in to shield Kohei and Namie as gunfire erupts.

Murakame decides to return to prison, while Taro remains in the village. Kohei adopts the pseudonym Mabini and begins mapping a future for the Philippines through political leadership.

Using the alias Mabini, Kohei wins the Philippine presidential election, aiming to reverse the economy and improve life for the people. His rise to power marks a dramatic turn from prisoner to national leader.