Hiroshi Shinagawa's OUT is an action packed, fun time!

 It's time once again for yet another post about a Live-action adaptation. It can be tough being a fan of a manga that gets adapted for live-action, whether it be a movie or a drama. Heaven forbid Hollyweird get a hold of one of your favourite ones, in the vein of what they did with Death Note and Cowboy Bebop. Anyways, when it was announced that one of my favourite manga, OUT by a mangaka that is allegedly Tatsuya Iguchi and illustrated by the fantastic Makoto Mizuta, I was sceptical. When I found out that Hiroshi Shinagawa was behind the adaptation, I was somewhat relieved. I have greatly enjoyed Shinagawa's previous work with Drop, both the 2009 movie and the 2023 drama. He knows how to handle delinquent stuff and his work has some passion and soul. Thankfully, after seeing what he did with OUT, I can honestly say that he didn't let me down. 

Tatsuya Iguchi is a former delinquent who was known as the Mad Dog of Komae, Komae being the name of the gang he was the leader of. After being forced to spend time creating origami cranes in juvie to the point that he drove him to boredom and led to him punching holes in the walls, he is finally released upon the completion of his sentence. As part of his probation, he is moved away from Komae and is barred from getting in contact with his old friends. He moves to Chiba, under the care of his aunt and uncle who both allow him to work in their yakiniku restaurant. Not long after starting to work with his aunt and uncle, he bumps into Kaname Abe, the second in command of the infamous gang, Kilihito. After a fight, which Tatsuya asks Kaname to change into something of a sumo match, Tatsuya wins. The pair then bond when talking and having a cigarette. Having become friends, Kaname shows up at the yakiniku restaurant and takes Tatsuya to the bowling alley to introduce him to the other Kilihito members. There, he also meets Chihiro Minagawa, the sister of the former leader of Kilihito who was killed in a war with a rival gang. Meanwhile, the dark and shaddy Bakurakan is slowly taking over the underworld and is on the war path. Kilihito just so happens to stand in Bakurakan's way... 

Having read the manga, I can state that I believe that Hiroshi Shinagawa definitely did it justice. Whilst the overall plot had been changed a bit from what I can remember from the first volumes of the manga, the core elements and characterisations were the same. One such change came very early on, with the fight between Kaname and Tatsuya being much more comical in the movie than it was in the manga. Kaname does not write that he will not tell anyone about the fight no matter how much he gets beaten up and the fight itself ends differently with Tatsuya changing it into a sumo fight unlike in the manga were it remains a proper fist fight. 

Shinagawa has vastly improved as a director since his first foray into the field way back in 2003. As someone whom has watched both of his live-action adaptations of the manga Drop, it has been fun to see his overall skill improve. OUT is a beautifully shot movie that makes use of a vast array of shot types, camera techniques and angles. Of course, there's the standard close up reaction shots, mid range shots and some wide angle gloriousness. There's also some very limited usage of slow-motion to emphasise and highlight some of the dramatic moments within the fight sequences. The editing was mostly fast paced, helping the plot move on at a brisk speed whilst also being propped up with some fantastic manga pages. I loved the usage of manga visuals as scene transitions, it paid homage to the source material and gave the movie some flair and style to make it pop that much more. My favourite shot of the movie comes in the second half, in a very important moment in the plot. It's a shot which focuses on a bloody wrench in the foreground as a certain central figure in the plot's hands lose their grip on it before they lose consciousness on the ground. Their is a person off-screen whom had just used the aforementioned wrench to beat the important character. My vague description does not so the picturesque shot justice. 

The fight scenes were pretty darn good for the most part. Some are better choreographed than others with the very first fight or rather the one sided beatdown that Tatsuya amusingly delivers to a couple of delinquents who taunt him the moment he gets out of juvie, being rather cartoonish and comical. The two unfortunate souls go flying off of pretty much every hit and although it is funny, I would still have preferred a more realistic approach. Another negative I have is the fact that certain punches and knees are shown to not actually hit. This could have easily been avoided had the camera angles been a little different. Minor complaints really though as I loved the movie overall and appreciate the fact that Taguchi actually uses some grappling in his fight with Harikawa especially after it is mentioned that he's a judoka. I also loved the various fighting styles showcased with Atsushi Tanzawa using a heavy kick based style whereas Kazumasa Shimohara utilises a submission heavy one. The climatic showdowns and fight sequences are the best in my humble opinion with Kazumasa taking on Harikawa also being a highlight. 

Yuki Kura would not have been my first choice for the role of Tatsuya Iguchi. I would have chosen someone much more masculine and tougher looking for the role if I were in charge of casting. That being said, he did a very good job with what he was given. He portrayed the angry, fight-loving youth with vigour and also nailed some emotional, somewhat tender moments just as well. I loved his comedic scenes, such as the recurring gag of him calling Taguchi an old fart. 

Koshi Mizukami was a fun Kaname Abe. He did extremely well with what he was given and had some really funny moments with Yuki's Tatsuya. I loved the fact that they tried to genuinely get his look and character accurate to the manga. Although, I believe that he also gets made fun of for being old looking at one point in the manga which didn't happen in the movie at all as Koshi looks a lot younger than his manga counterpart. 

Kotaro Daigo also was an extremely good Atsushi Tanzawa. Acchan is an extremely difficult character to do right because it can easily become far too over the top with flamboyances. The right balance was found with the character and it made the contrast between his flamboyancy and his sheer badassery so satisfying. 

Much like with Kaname Abe, the movie also nailed the look and character of Keigo Nagashima and Masaru Taguchi, although Taguchi's introduction had me in sitches due to the afro. The same can be said for Kasumasa Shimohara and his brother Kenzo Shimohara and I appreciate the attempt to allow him to keep his large and lethal wrench in live-action. 

Yuuki Yoda was excellent in her role as an actual strong female character, Chihiro Minagawa. I liked how she stood up to the delinquents around her and their respect for her being the sister of the former leader of Kilihito was handled well. She was convincing as the strong willed, yet kind hearted woman that refuses to allow violence to be the only solution to problems, especially in the bowling alley. It also helped that Yuuki is stunningly gorgeous. 

Jiro Okawara was delightfully slimy as detective Ishido, a man whom is out to get Tatsuya, Kilihito and all of the delinquents in Chiba. Every time he appeared on screen, I wanted him to get a slap across the face, which means he did his job extremely well. 

Overall, it's no big surprise that I loved the live-action movie adaptation of OUT, considering my soft spot for all things involving delinquents. It's a movie that pays homage to the source material whilst making some changes to the plot in order to fit in over 100 chapters of the manga into a tight runtime. There's clearly been passion and soul put into it unlike a lot of the slop that has been produce before and will continue to be. I heartily recommend it to those who love action and/or delinquent stories like myself. Also, right at the very end there is a scene which sets up a potential sequel with Yoshiki being teased. I'd love to see what they'd do with him.