The same structure as in “Battles without Honor and Humanity”… “Sad similarities” between hit men and Japanese idols
Akio Nakamori, The Johnny's Theory of Desire Chapter 1: "Battles without Honor and Humanity" and Johnny's (2)
Part I of this article, “” Only Mr. Janney knows everyone’s name…” The ‘Astonishing Reason’ for the Unusual Unity of Johnny’s Idols “
In the first part of this article, I confided in you about the overwhelming differences between Johnny’s idols and idols from other agencies. We will now delve further into the “backbone” that they seem to have in common.
Hints of the second work, “The Hiroshima Death Struggle
In order to solve the mystery, I would like to draw an auxiliary line of reasoning. I will try to hit on it by introducing something completely outside of the genre.
There is a movie called “Battles Without Honor and Humanity. It was released in 1973, and the five-part series was a huge hit until the following year of 1974.
Toei, known for its ninkyo films featuring Koji Tsuruta and Ken Takakura, broke out of the old mold and went for a real-life documentary. Based on a non-fiction book by Koichi Iiboshi. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara, known for his in-depth reporting, conducted further research and interviews to flesh out the story. The main character Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) and the other characters all have models.
The most controversial of the five-part series is the second part, “The Battle of Hiroshima. Many have called it a masterpiece.
Bunta Sugawara plays the role of a rhapsodist in this film and has a small part in the story. There are two main characters in the story. One is the postwar gangster Katsutoshi Otomo (Shinichi Chiba), and the other is a contrasting yakuza named Shoji Yamanaka (Kinya Kitaoji).
Yamanaka is a killing machine on his way back from prison. He hums a song from his pre-college training camp and carries a pistol in his pocket, calling it “my Zero-sen. He is living the romance of a wartime military youth.
This may reflect the sentiments of screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara, who faced the end of the war as a boy navy soldier. But that was not all.
