Tokyo Tribe: Blu-Ray Review
Arriving this week on DVD and Blu-Ray is Sion Sono’s Japanese hip-hop musical “Tokyo Tribe”. I must stress that this piece of cinematic craziness is not for everyone. As a classic hip-hop fan myself, I was quite curious about “Tokyo Tribe”. Watching a film with subtitles is one thing, but watching a musical in which you must read the lyrics while trying to listen to the actual song is something quite different.
With most of the words spoken in rap form, keeping up with the subtitles is important. Unfortunately, I admittedly had some trouble focusing on the music and the subtitles and others may have the same problem. This doesn’t mean “Tokyo Tribe” is bad, I just had some trouble taking it all in.
“Tokyo Tribe” is set in the not-too-distant future. Mera (Ryôhei Suzuki), leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro wants to conquer all of Tokyo. To do so, he breaks the peace between multiple Japanese street gangs. This causes an all out war that involves hip-hop and martial arts. Fans of the popular Manga series in which “Tokyo Tribe” is based will probably find much more to enjoy with it. The film’s concept is definitely interesting and Sono was able to make it visually appealing but I just had too much trouble sticking with it.
By: Marc Ferman