Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 30, 2016

Note: This film is available as part of Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2.

It’s kind of interesting that around the same time Hollywood studios were forsaking their old “contract star” system, at least with regard to feature films, the Japanese studio Nikkatsu was building up its roster of performers “bound” to the corporation. When television started making in roads on audience numbers, and anti-monopoly efforts divested studios of their theaters, suddenly a lot of American actors (or at least actors attempting to work in America) found themselves “free agents”, as it were. Some, like Burt Lancaster, rather easily made the transition to managing their own careers outside of studio supervision, while others weren’t quite able to make the jump into unmonitored waters (so to speak). Nikkatsu may not have spent tons of money on its so-called “Diamond” line of action-adventure (ish) films, but it managed to keep a stable of beloved performers regularly employed for several years. This second volume of Nikkatsu Diamond features from Arrow (Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Vol 1 appeared a few months ago) offers three lightweight but generally enjoyable films that are often bright and breezy if not especially memorable.

Tokyo Mighty Guy is in some ways the most unusual of the three films contained in Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 2. This surface deep but still often ebullient offering features Akira Kobayashi as Jiro Simizu, a chef who has returned from the culinary hotspot of France to try to open a new boutique restaurant in Ginza. That might not seem to gel all that well with Nikkatsu’s penchant for action-adventure outings, and while that is in fact true (at least in the early going), it’s also what tends to set this film apart from some of its other “diamond” siblings. While the perhaps expected element of criminals intruding into Jiro’s world is a part of the ultimate direction, Tokyo Mighty Guy also offers a corrupt politician who is threatening Jiro’s girlfriend Hideko (Ruriko Asaoka). There’s nothing very earth shattering about the predictable plot arc here, but the film is often quite bold from a visual perspective and it even delves into some song and dance moments.

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All three films in Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.42:1 (for Danger Pays and Murder Unincorporated) and 2.50:1 (for Tokyo Mighty Guy). Frankly all three of these films could be graded across the general 3.0 — 3.5 spectrum, but I've given Tokyo Mighty Guy a 3.0 and the other two a 3.5 to differentiate some subtle but noticeable differences between them. Because a contrast and compare is probably the best way to describe these, I recommend those interested to parse all of the screenshots of the three film reviews as well as the set review. Tokyo Mighty Guy is the least pleasing of the three transfers, with faded elements that tip toward the brown side of things, and rather shallow densities at times that tend to keep the palette from popping very vividly. Some long day for night sequences feature actually pretty commendable shadow detail but are subtly skewed toward blue, something that also attends some similar sequences in Murder Unincorporated. Danger Pays actually shows a slight bluish tint through large swaths of the film, though it's notable that a long sequence bathed in red light doesn't really tip very drastically toward purple as might be expected. Murder Unincorporated also suffers from some noticeable horizontal wobble. Elements in all three films show various signs of age related wear and tear, but all three are certainly watchable given reasonable expectations. Grain, while somewhat heavy at times, resolves naturally across all three films, and even with all three placed on one BD-50, there are no noticeable compression artifacts at play.

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All three films in this set feature LPCM mono tracks in the original Japanese, and unfortunately all three suffer from at least some distortion. It's worst on Tokyo Mighty Guy, where the opening fanfare and jaunty credits tune are hobbled by not just typical distortion but regular crackling. This abates somewhat after the opening few minutes, but is still noticeable throughout the presentation, especially during music cues or when higher frequencies are being utilized. Danger Pays and Murder Unincorporated also offer slight distortion, especially in the opening moments, but overall sound at least incrementally better. Danger Pays can sound a bit brittle on the high end, and dialogue is occasionally boxy. Murder Unincorporated is the best sounding of the three, and it features one of the most winning scores, a kind of quasi-jazzy affair with walking bass lines and lots of snare drums. It appears that at least parts of the films were post-looped, and so there are occasional sync issues with regard to lip movements and what's actually being spoken.

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All three films included in Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 are on one Blu-ray disc, along with supplements. A complete list of supplements is included in the Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 2 Blu-ray review. Supplements directly related to this film are:

• Trailer (1080p; 3:47)


• Gallery (1080p)

Tokyo Mighty Guy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tokyo Mighty Guy struggles a bit to find its traditional Nikkatsu action-adventure footing, but it's often quite a bit of fun, and it's almost relentlessly colorful. Unfortunately this has the least compelling technical merits of the three films in this set, so fans should set their expectation bars accordingly.