No. 82 in Kinema Jumpo’s Top 100 Japanese Films of All Time Poll in 1999, “Knockout” was one of the biggest successes in Japan on its year of release, netting awards for direction and cast from the majority of the local competitions.
Eiji Adachi fell in love with boxing from his childhood, eventually following up until he became a champion, always having Takako in his corner, both in the fights and real life, although the romance between them never actually materialized. As the story begins, however, Eiji suffers a shattering defeat, which sends him to the hospital with brain damage. The operation is successful but the doctors inform Eiji that he will no longer be able to fight. Frustrated, angry with everyone around him, even punching all those who try to help him, eventually he decides to open his own gym, with the help of a transvestite promoter, forgetting his promise to both his former coach,...
Eiji Adachi fell in love with boxing from his childhood, eventually following up until he became a champion, always having Takako in his corner, both in the fights and real life, although the romance between them never actually materialized. As the story begins, however, Eiji suffers a shattering defeat, which sends him to the hospital with brain damage. The operation is successful but the doctors inform Eiji that he will no longer be able to fight. Frustrated, angry with everyone around him, even punching all those who try to help him, eventually he decides to open his own gym, with the help of a transvestite promoter, forgetting his promise to both his former coach,...
- 7/13/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Boxing has always been a very cinematic sport, with the its overall rules and the head-to-head mentality providing material for both captivating scripts and impressive visuals. Asian cinema has also been dealing with the concept, even if sporadically, but recently, there has been a surge of titles revolving around boxing, as we are still waiting for Brillante Mendoza’s “Gensan Punch”, which the protagonist, Shogen, having described the shooting as a once in a lifetime experience.
Among these titles, we picked 15 we think are among the most captivating to watch, as always with a focus on diversity in country of origin, filmmaker and style, although Japan has taken the lion’s share of entries in this list. The list is in chronological order.
1. Knockout
Violent, funny, dramatic and quirky are few of the contradictory words that can describe both “Knockout” and Hidekazu Akai, who plays the protagonist here, Eiji. As...
Among these titles, we picked 15 we think are among the most captivating to watch, as always with a focus on diversity in country of origin, filmmaker and style, although Japan has taken the lion’s share of entries in this list. The list is in chronological order.
1. Knockout
Violent, funny, dramatic and quirky are few of the contradictory words that can describe both “Knockout” and Hidekazu Akai, who plays the protagonist here, Eiji. As...
- 7/12/2021
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
It’s sometime in the 90’s (according to Miike – year 199X), and the Osaka’s shabby neighborhood is impatiently waiting for the live transmission of the match of the year from the Tokyo dome – a mixed martial vent featuring the Bantam-weight boxing champion Kazuyoshi Tamai (Kyosuke Yabe) and the wrestling champion Takeshi Hamada. It is announced that it will be a dirty game with no rules, with all tricks allowed, a reason more for the crowd to get frantic about it. As men start placing bets on the winner, the fighters are preparing for their first clash ever, making sure their hidden trumps will cause the painful damage to the opponent.
Based on Seijun Ninomiya’s novel of the same name (adapted by Masa Nakamura) which was inspired by the true Japanese fighting legends Hidekazu Akai and Akira Maeda, Miike Takashi’s “The Way to Fight” is...
Based on Seijun Ninomiya’s novel of the same name (adapted by Masa Nakamura) which was inspired by the true Japanese fighting legends Hidekazu Akai and Akira Maeda, Miike Takashi’s “The Way to Fight” is...
- 8/9/2019
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.