| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Ken Kaneko | ... | Masaru |
| Masanobu Andô | ... | Shinji | |
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Leo Morimoto | ... | Teacher |
| Hatsuo Yamaya | ... | Boxing Club Manager | |
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Michisuke Kashiwaya | ... | Hiroshi |
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Mitsuko Oka | ... | Coffee-shop Owner, Sachiko's Mother |
| Yûko Daike | ... | Sachiko | |
| Ryo Ishibashi | ... | Local Yakuza Chief | |
| Susumu Terajima | ... | No 2 In Local Gang | |
| Moro Morooka | ... | Hayashi | |
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Peking Genji | ||
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Atsuki Ueda | ... | Reiko |
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Kôtarô Yoshida | ... | Eagle Asuka |
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Takekazu Shigehisa | ... | Trainer (as Koichi Shigehisa) |
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Kyôsuke Yabe | ... | Delinquent group |
Two buddies visit the schoolyard of the high school they used to attend, and remember their young and dumb days. They used to be the bullies in the school, until they find their own ways of life; one as a boxer, and the other as a member of the yakuza. Written by <H@jime>
Life's hard for a couple of juvenile delinquents in Japan. Takeshi Kitano's marvelous 1996 film "Kids Return" skirts around the fringes of his better known gangster pictures to look at the seeds that, once planted, might turn a boy into a gangster or, as happens here with one of our anti-heroes, a boxer. This is a very likable, small-scale film full of all the affection of friendship where even violence seems like a necessary evil in the process of growing up. Drawing superb performances from his young cast Kitano, who wrote, directed and edited the picture, keeps things light and easy with just the right degrees of sadness and humour. This may not be one of his better known films but it's just as good as anything he's done.