Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
From an outsider’s perspective Japanese pop culture seems to have an unhealthy obsession with teenage girls, skimpy outfits and the ‘ol ultraviolence. But when you actually sit down and watch something like Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981), in which a high school girl inherits a run-down gang of yakuza, it’s surprising how the unseemly scenario actually plays out. There’s an innocent undercurrent at work, a longing for family, acceptance and emotional connections that intermingles with the seedier exploitation elements. Orphaned after the death of her father, Izumi Hoshi is met at her school by a gang of yakuza thugs who inform her she’s next in line for the position of Chairman. Her youth, gender and inexperience don’t detract from the gang’s loyalty however as they take her under their wing in an attempt to build up the family name. But enemy rivals are quick move in on their territory, setting the stage for a showdown over a missing shipment of drugs that could determine wh