Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 15, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy.

If you’re not already familiar with Takashi Miike, you could spend several hours getting to “know” him via any of several of his films, many of which have been released on Blu-ray. And what an incredible assortment they are: Audition, Ichi the Killer, The Happiness of the Katakuris (my personal favorite), Sukiyaki Western Django, Crows Zero, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, 13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Over Your Dead Body and Yakuza Apocalypse will provide more than ample evidence that Miike is both intentionally provocative as well as incredibly protean. Miike has become almost infamous due to some of the depictions and story elements in films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, and that proclivity is certainly on hand in each of the three films contained in this set, though perhaps not in the same context as those two aforementioned entries. Kind of ironically, this so-called Black Society Trilogy (which is also known under some alternative names, including Black Triad Trilogy and—just for good measure—Triad Society Trilogy) really isn’t a trilogy in a standard sense, for each film exists as a standalone entry and can only be linked to the others tangentially in terms of overall plot dynamics featuring criminals and, in some cases, shared casting.

Shinjuku Triad Society seems to be dealing on its surface with a rogue cop named Kiriya (Kippei Shiina), who appears to have gone over to “the dark side” (so to speak), as well as a nefarious criminal named Wang (Tomorowo Taguchi) who is trafficking in human organs. But there are a number of interesting, if perhaps (for some viewers at least) disturbing, subtexts going on here, including rampant gay sex and a perhaps less overtly provocative but still psychologically acute depiction of intercultural clashes between Chinese and Japanese, as evidenced by Kiriya’s own mixed race status.

As in many Miike offerings, the images are often discomfiting from any number of standpoints, but as commentator Tom Mes points out, many of the most disturbing visuals aren’t actually seen—they’re hinted at and then the viewer is left to imagine the rest. But anyone who is squeamish or especially those easily offended by some frank and graphic depictions of homosexual behavior may find this the most unsettling of all three films in this set.

Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shinjuku Triad Society is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet doesn't shed much light on the provenance of this presentation, stating only that "the high definition masters were made available for this release by Kadokawa Pictures", something that may indicate that any quality control issues were outside of Arrow's purview. This has a fairly "dupey" look throughout the presentation, with a really thick grain field that can actually mask fine detail, especially in the many dimly lit or downright dark (as in nighttime) sequences. While the bulk of this presentation is pretty soft looking, fine detail can spike at least marginally in any of the many close-ups Miike utilizes, especially if lighting is adequate. Due to the overall secondary look of the elements, blacks tend to crush (watch in a car scene at around 1:02:00 where two black suits basically merge, for just one example). While the palette is reasonable looking, large swaths of the film are slightly yellow and/or green in appearance, something that can skew flesh tones oddly and which further detract from fine detail levels.

Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shinjuku Triad Society is, like its siblings in this set, a multi-lingual affair, and it in fact comes with this text card at the beginning:

Shinjuku Triad Society includes dialogue in languages other than Japanese. In order to depict this more accurately for foreign viewers, subtitles for non-Japanese dialogue have been placed in brackets.

That said, the LPCM 2.0 track is reasonably robust, especially when some of the pulsing music cues are being utilized. Dialogue, some of which looks to have been post dubbed, is presented cleanly and various sound effects also reverberate with some energy.

Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:25)


• Commentary features Miike biographer Tom Mes.

Shinjuku Triad Society Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shinjuku Triad Society is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Miike is still establishing his style in this film, but he offers a viscerally compelling story of exile within both the strictures of the yakuza and Japanese society as a whole. Video suffers from some limitations, but audio is fine and the commentary is quite enjoyable.