Aru yo-muin is a stylish low-budget action comedy that is more than it appears to be on the surface.

 

After watching and thoroughly enjoying Yugo Sakamoto's entertaining, sleek, low-budget action comedy, Baby Walkure (also known as Baby Assassins), I discovered that one of his previous projects contained both of Baby Walkure's leads. Not coming across any reviews from the usual suspects online, I went into the movie blind and not knowing much of what to expect. Aru yo-muin was released on January 29th, 2021, several months before Baby Walkure and as such might not be canon to the events of the Baby Walkure timeline. 

Aru yo-muin follows protagonist Akira Fukami. After witnessing the death of his biological father as a small child, Akira was taken in and raised by the head of a powerful Yakuza organisation and his father's sworn blood brother, Yoshiki Majima. Majima raised Fukami as a highly skilled bodyguard and assassin with years later, tasks him with protecting his daughter, Yui. In order to fulfill his task, Akira goes undercover at Yui's school in the guise of a janitor. When Japan's crackdown on criminal activity ramps up, Majima decides to take his organisation to Hong Kong, a decision which upsets one of his slightly erratic and unhinged underlings, Nishimori and ultimately sets off a devastating chain of events as Nishimori and Honda both make their power plays. 

Yugo Sakamoto seems to be a master at making the most of small budgets. He's able to weave together compelling narratives with casts of rather colourful and memorable characters that draw the viewers into the crafted world. This is especially prevalent in Aru Youmin as he took a script from Shozen Matsudaira and turned what could have been a throw away B-movie action comedy and made something much more touching and engaging. His framing is sublime as he included a variety of dynamic shot types ranging from static reaction shots to smooth, fast flowing moving shots. My particular favourite shot is found in the climax of the movie. It's essentially a wide shot that focuses on Akira as he is slouched against a wall. As the camera slowly zooms out, we see Akira attempt to light a cigarette and fail before giving up on it and simply rest. In the background, Yui can be seen walking out of shot and into her new life, a new beginning. This whole scene showcases Akira being resigned to his fate as he could have gone and lived a new life alongside Yui and instead, he urged her to go alone and start anew without him as he's a reminder of her father and that world of assassins and Yakuza. He wants Yui to live a life where she doesn't have to live in fear or be constantly reminded of her father. There's also a great use of colour which highlights certain emotional beats and overall tone of certain scenes. For example, there's a scene in which Yui and her father are having dinner. In this scene the movie has a very orange/red tinge to it and Yui is wearing a red dress. This colour choice could represent Yui's frustration and resentment as well as her desire to be free of her father's control and manipulation whilst also underlining the fact that Majima isn't a good person as by that point in the movie, the viewer isn't aware of how manipulative Majima really is. 

What I love about Aru yo-muin is how the central conflict all from differing ideals. Even the death of Akira's father was due to his father holding different views from that of Majima. Majima followed trends as he felt that he needed to keep up with the times whilst, Akira's father was much more of a traditionalist who disapproved of Majima's actions and as such became an obstacle that Majima needed to remove. Then there's Nishimori. Nishimori viewed Majima's plans to move the organisation to Hong Kong as cowardly whilst knowing the vast majority of his manipulations and using what knew to manipulate Akira into taking action and removing Majima from power by killing him. Honda's motivation came from Majima's action as well. Majima had told Yui to stay away from Honda as he was dangerous and Honda's action throughout the latter half of the movie prove him to be true. Ironically, the father and son pair were both similar in the sense that they viewed their men as expendable pawns in their chess games. 

The action choreography is pretty solid throughout the movie. I really enjoyed Hiro's fight scene with the two tracksuit wearing assassins as he is able to showcase some of his skills as a white belt, which had been mentioned a few times before the scene. Everything looks brutal and impactful as it should and this is helped by the steady movement of the camera with the blows themselves being captured in their whole essence by the framing of the scenes. I appreciated the shaky cam used to convey Inaoka's recovery from being shot twice in his bulletproof vest protected chest. Props have to be given to stunt coordinator Masayoshi Deguchi. 

One of my major criticisms of the movie is the fact that with all of the killing and shooting happening at the school, there are no police to be found anywhere. One would think that gunshots would draw the attention of the local law enforcement. Perhaps Honda paid them off? Something like that would help to explain it, but it isn't ever brought up or explained in the movie. 

I loved the character of Akira Fukami. Fukushi Seiji really nails the role as he expertly portrays the often stoic, quiet and somewhat socially inept, shy assassin with gusto. His lack of emotional outpouring in early scenes really help to heighten the impact scenes such as the one in Majima's office in which he pours out a mixture of confusion, rage, regret and sorrow. In that scene, Akira is a mess. He's very emotionally conflicted as he had just learnt that his father figure who raised him was the one responsible for the death of his biological father. It's tough to not feel for him as he's been forced to kill the man who raised him. 

Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa portray a couple of characters that are very similar to their leading roles in the Baby Walkure movies. They have different names and are actually two antagonists, however with both being assassins chasing after Yui. Their names are credited as being Chika and Shiho, but function very similarly to Chisato and Mahiro as Chisato is the louder, more extroverted assassin whilst Shiho is much quieter and sharper. The pair's wonderful chemistry is on full display and it's easy to see why Sakamoto chose them to lead the Baby Walkure movies with Saori Izawa's action and fight scene capability being a highlight. 

I greatly enjoyed Hannya in the role of Nishimori. He nailed the erratic and unhinged nature of the Yakuza boss and was involved in a lot of my favourite scenes. His scenes with his henchman, Murano in particular made me laugh as he was a total douche to the poor, loyal soul. The character was a key element as far as moving the plot forward as he sets off the chain of events that occur in the latter half of the movie by telling Akira of his father's death at the hands of Majima. 

Imou Haruka did a great job in what was a very difficult role. She managed to make Yui a compelling character despite the fact that she has little agency when being dragged around the school by the assassins. Imou managed to convey her reluctance and resentment towards her father quite well, especially in the dinner scene. I really enjoyed her scenes with Masayuki Ino who portrayed Hiro, as their friendship was really great with Hiro being the only person Yui could confide in. I felt for her when Hiro inevitably died. 

Yamaji Kazuhiro put in a composed and refined performance as Yoshiki Majima. His performance helped to sell the conflict within the office confrontation as he admits to killing Akira's father and calmly accepts his fate.  

Also of note was Kitadai Takashi's performance as Inaoka. Kitadai felt like he was a threat throughout his time in the latter half of the movie as he had an intimidating aura and presence. I appreciated the scene in which he had Akira held at gunpoint and instead of pulling the trigger, he simply smiled and threw the gun and in turn, his biggest advantage, away. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Aru yo-muin perhaps even more so than Baby Walkure. That might be considered a somewhat controversial opinion as Baby Walkure is held in high regard, but I have to be honest in my opinion as I'm not a shill critic. It's an easy recommendation to action movie afficionados, fans of Sakamoto's movies and those who can enjoy low-budget affairs with heart and passion poured into them.