Yo-Yo Girl Cop (2006)

Like most people as a kid I had a yo-yo. I would watch the Duncan commercials on television and see the experts make this little piece of plastic on a string do amazing thing. Personally, I could barely get the thing to go up and down. There is a modern myth that the yo-yo was originally designed as a weapon. While this is false it does make for some good cinema. In one of the ‘Substitutes’ flicks Treat Williams demonstrates the war like potential with a group of rough kids in his class. That scene came to mind while reviewing Yo-Yo Girl Cop. Within the world of the popular Japanese television series and a few length films the yo-yo is a weapon so deadly that its use is proscribed by several international treaties. Actually, the Sukeban series has its origins in the Japanese graphic novel format, Manga. Between the live action series and the films the story has moved away from its roots but the basic premise has remained intact. This film is a bit on the corny side but overall fun and enjoyable to watch. It is filled with action, albeit almost as fantastic and lacking in real physics as Hong Kong wire kung fu flicks.

At first glance Saki Asamiya (Aya Matsuura) looks like any number of Japanese school girls. With her short, perky uniform and pleasing smile nothing about reveals the fact that she is deadly. Saki was a natural for a clandestine law enforcement organization whose operatives are known as Saki Asamiya, yo-yo cop girls. Saki was a natural for this assignment. Her mother was the original member of this squad of young girls wielding yo-yos. As the film opens we see a young girl, beaten and bound stumbles into a crowded section of Tokyo. There is something strapped to her chest and it’s counting down. When it reaches zero the girl explodes leaving behind a burnt yo-yo. Meanwhile, in New York City a black female detective has located a young Japanese girl obviously on the run. The girl, who we know is Saki, is being picked up by Japanese detective Kazutoshi Kira (Riki Takeuchi) who looks like an Asian version of Lt. Columbo only with a limb and a bad nicotine habit. Apparently it this little girl sent almost a dozen NYC police offices to the hospital during her capture. The girl manages to get out of her straight jacket and escape. Unfortunately, she is distracted by lost child ad is recaptured. The Kira offers Saki a deal. If she joins his organization they will push to have her mother released from her own assault charges. It turns out that mom has her own violent tendencies. Her assignment will be to infiltrate the Divine Springs Academy. This is believed to be the source of a web site called Enola Gay, after the American plane that dropped the first A-Bomb on Hiroshima. The site is suspected of being behind a sudden increase in violence teaching its visitors about bomb make, torture and other fun subjects. Saki is renamed ‘K’ and told that the previous girl assigned was exploded in Tokyo. The site has recently started a count down clock so the officials of the secret police force know that something bad is coming soon. They inform ‘K’ that her own mother was part of the team, one of the sukeban deka, delinquent girl cops. She is given a yo-yo to serve as both weapon and badge and a uniform that does not remotely look like the ones used in the school. They may be a surreptitious police force but it looks like they missed ‘Undercover 101’ at the academy. Once at the school it is not long before Saki finds trouble. She sees Reika Akiyama (Rika Ishikawa) and her gang of toughs beating up the lamented Taie Kono (Yui Okada). Saki intercedes with a nice martial arts display and befriends the helpless girl. Saki learns that another girl, Kotomi Kanda (Erika Miyoshi) tried to blow herself up and is now a vegetable in a local hospital. Saki digs deeper and discovers that one of the school’s computer nerds, Tokiro Kimura (Shunsuke Kubozuka), may be behind the sinister site and the outbreak of violence. Now it is up to Saki to race against the clock to stop the deadly plot.

This is a face paced action flick that is better than the title may indicate. If you are unfamiliar with the Sukeban series this is a great introduction. For those well versed in the genre you will be more than pleased with the latest installment. Director Kenta Fukasaku provides action in full measure without ever sacrificing the plot. Many action flicks are nothing more than a flimsy excuse for a plot that the editor splices in between the action sequences. Here, there is a fully fleshed out story, and an interesting one at that. The action is just the icing on the cake. If you liked Go-Go versus the Bride in the first Kill Bill movie you are going to love this movie. You may not think a child’s toy can provide the action most audiences have come to expect but here it works and works well. There is even a scene where the audience is provided the answer to the obvious question about yo-yo fighting, what happens if you cut the string. As for the plot the terrorist angle is given a fresh twist here. Little plot points are deftly employed here giving a very satisfactory result.

The casting of this film shows that pop stars wanting to be actors is not just an American experience. Both Aya Matsuura and Rika Ishikawa had successful careers as Japanese pop princesses before taking on films. Unlike many of their American counter parts these young women can deliver with the acting side. Matsuura does well as Saki. She gives the right balance of street wise tough but with an emotional side. She can also handle her yo-yo and martial arts scenes with expertise. Ishikawa is the perfect counter point as the evil girl in the school. She takes the mean girls genre to an ultimate end.

Once again Magnolia Home Entertainment scores a big hit. Their reputation for bringing less known films to the American public is growing and for good reason. They specialize in films like this. Many Americans may shy away from foreign language films and that is a shame. This movie is far better than most of its American counter parts and is worth watching and owning. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is amazingly clear. The color balance is excellent as is the contrast. The Dolby 5.1 audio, available in both Japanese and English fills the room. There are also Spanish and English sub titles for those out there not well versed in Japanese. For extras there is a director’s commentary, some deleted scenes and a making of featurette. Over all this is a keeper.

Posted 07/17/07