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I'm a 
big fan of Riki Takeuchi and the Tokyo Mafia series. I think Takeuchi has a good look for this series and plays his role very well. At the same time, I think the Tokyo Mafia series overall is a great blend of action and drama with a keen eye at highlighting the ins-and-outs of various Yakuza (Mafia) factions.
Recently, I had the pleasure of viewing the third part of this series, the Battle for Shinjuku. Watching this movie, I became a little confused, because the events of this movie seemed out of place. But that didn't keep me from liking the film, and as I watched, I started to see this movie as a prequel of sorts. Other than that, this movie, like the one we previously reviewed, kicked ass, gangster-style.
Riki Takeuchi plays Ginya Yabuki, a man who doesn't want to conform to the rules of Yakuza life. His former partner, Simon, has betrayed him and now three years later, Yabuki decides to even the score and battle Simon's powerful gang the Teitokai. This gang becomes very powerful by merging with several other gangs in the area. In order to battle this gang, Yabuki enlists the aid of several former friends, all-looking to make a name for themselves.
From the beginning of the film, you are hooked. A man offers Yabuki a large sum of money to hit the man he's seated next to, right in the forehead. Yabuki does it with no problem. Wow! And it just gets better.
After this casual, yet shocking instance of violence, Yabuki goes back to Tokyo and gets a group ready to steal the cash reserves of the Teitokai. The training scenes were great! It was just cool to see them learn what looks easy; how to reload over and over again until it is done as fast as possible, how to fire a gun quicker than anyone else and how to know all your targets and react without much thought. These scenes were well played out and really developed characters the viewers began to care about.
All the training leads to a big bank robbery and awesome gunfight, where even the female bank tellers are dangerous. This all comes to a head with a climactic battle between the Tokyo Mafia and the Teitokai, featuring guns against swords. While that may sound like a joke, the guys with the swords are more menacing than the guys with guns. The battle is intense and both sides suffer heavy casualties. That's why I love this series! No matter how cool the character may be; he or she may not make it to the end.
One thing about the end of this movie that you can count on is being satisfied. It's a film that delivers. There are some great action scenes filled with intensity. There are scenes filled with emotion, especially the ending, which was actually very artistic. Great writing leaves the viewer glued to his seat, feeling for each character, wondering what will come next, and following from sequel to sequel, and hoping for another one to follow. In the battle for space in my video collection, the Tokyo Mafia series snuffs out the competition.
Send your comments and or questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.