Tokyo Zombie (2005)

dir: Sato Sakichi

To paraphrase Tadanobu himself --interview provided as part of the extras-- Tokyo Zombie is actually a love story between the bald guy --Mitsuo (Aikawa Show)-- and the afro guy --Fujio (Asano Tadanobu). Certainly there are elements of the master-apprentice relationship going on here beyond the repair-man trappings. These bushido-code loyal friends, grappling/jiu-jitsu aficionados/partners are undeniably something of soul mates.

A take on the Western buddy pic, perhaps, the movie's origin comes in the media of manga. The orginal work's [Tokyo Zonbi] author Hanakuma Yusaka, himself a fighting member of Ichibanbosi Grappling, co-wrote the screenplay with director Sato Sakichi, which picks up the tale of the two popular comic book characters, Afuro (Afro) and Hage (Baldie).

A surprisingly refreshing view, given the dystopian-future-set zombie comedy depicts future humans as (d)evolved with increased petty ego-ism, materialism, and a murderously ravenous appetite for entertainment, drawing parallels with human's thirst for blood-sport with that of the zombie's appetite for live flesh.

Done with panache and flair atypical of any of these genres taken individually, the film rises above the sum of its parts, drawing easy comparisons to the sense of humor in Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle. With an open ending one can only hope a sequel is in the works.