Sukeban gerira (1972)

Miko Sugimoto is the leader of the Red Helmet Gang, a biker girl gang from Shinjuku who wind up in Kyoto and make a bid to take over the local girl gangs there. Successful for a short time ... See full summary »

Director:

Noribumi Suzuki

Writers:

Takayuki Minagawa (screenplay), Noribumi Suzuki (screenplay)

Stars:

Reiko Ike, Miki Sugimoto, Emi Jo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reiko Ike	...	Nami
Miki Sugimoto	...	Sachiko
Emi Jo	...	(as Emi Jô)
Linda Kimoto	...	(as Rinda Kimoto)
Naomi Oka
Ryôko Ema
Miwako Onaya
Midori Hiro
Kaya Hodumi
Kyôko Tsukasa
Tadashi Naruse	...	(as Masataka Naruse)
Michitaro Mizushima	...	Ichiro (as Michitarô Mizushima)
Natsuko Miura	...	(as Naitô Kashiasu)
Cassius Naitô
Tôru Abe	...	(as Tooru Abe)

Storyline

Miko Sugimoto is the leader of the Red Helmet Gang, a biker girl gang from Shinjuku who wind up in Kyoto and make a bid to take over the local girl gangs there. Successful for a short time in ruling the streets it isn't long before Miko and her crew run afoul of the local Yakuza, and are forced to turn to Reiko Ike, a ronin Yakuza girl, and sister to one of the top Yakuza in Kyoto, for help, leading to a murderous showdown at a small coastal resort.

---

Plot Keywords:

sex | female nudity

---

Genres:

Action

---

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

12 August 1972 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Girl Boss Guerilla

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During her fight with Rika, one of Sachiko's flip flops comes off. After Sachiko gets up from getting kicked by Rika, the flip flop Sachiko lost is back on her foot.

---

Connections

Followed by Sukeban: Tamatsuki asobi (1974)

User Reviews

tough girls with tough tattoos

I'm really torn between this movie and Criminal Woman: Killing Melody, both of which are in the Pinky Violence box set. They're both really good, with the stories being similar (gangster girls go for revenge against the Yakuza who did them wrong) and they both have Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike. But I think this movie gets an edge, 'cause in this one the girls are part of a BIKER GANG. And the all have TATTOOS OVER THEIR LEFT BOOBS. Which is so effing cool.

Here we get Miki as the leader of a biker gang from Shinjuku who go to Kyoto and end up taking over the girl gangs there (the scene where the girls face off and do their gangster "who I am" speeches is really cool). Reiko Ike is running around as the sister of one of the local Yakuza and won't align herself with Miki and her crew but serves as kind of a "big sister"/authority figure to the girl gangs of Kyoto.

Eventually Miki and the girls get on the bad side of the local Yakuza boss and the girls hit the road to meet up with Miki's boyfriend, a boxer in training down the coast. He gets himself murdered by the Yakuza as a result and it becomes time for Miki and her crew to make up with Reiko and get down with some revenge.

What I really dig about these movies (as opposed to the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" movies my boyfriend is always bringing home) is that the female leads have some dimension to them that you wouldn't normally expect in an "exploitation" film. I didn't really like Miki's character at first (she was bratty) but I actually felt it when her boyfriend got killed. Up till then she seemed kind of a like a one dimensional power junkie bitch with cool sunglasses, but watching her meet and fall for Michitaro Mizushimi and her grieving at his death filled her out and made her feel like an actual woman. You know, complicated and conflicted.

In fact, as an exception to "action" movies the one-dimensional characters in this film are all men. They're simply greedy or sadistic or horny. Which I'm not saying is a good thing. It's just a nice change of pace.

And did I mention the tough-ass tattoos?