Nikkatsu Roman Porno Trailer Collection Review

The Film– Nothing more than trailers for the upcoming releases of Nikkatsu Roman Porno titles. Essentially, it’s a softcore version of the 42nd Street Forever series. There’s not too much variety on this collection- it’s pretty much sex comedies or rape films.

I’m not even kidding on the rape stuff. Probably 2/3 of this collection is softcore rape titles. It’s nothing compared to the likes of All Women are Whores or the Flower and Snake series, but there’s some pretty rough looking titles on here (Sex Hunter and Zoom In: Rape Apartment). Most of them are that hokey "rape victim ends up enjoying it and coming back for more" stuff, but coming from the same culture that released an entire series of films called Rapeman, that’s not saying a whole lot…

The other dominating sub-genre showcased on this collection is the sex comedy. Examples include Pearl Divers: Tight Shellfish and Office Girls 9 to 5. Just like the rape films, some of these really stick out, and others seem to fit the mold. There’s some goofy things like a guy who cross dresses to get closer to women, and the whole shellfish theme is pretty funny (unfortunately for me, it just brings back memories of those abominable Japanese hardcore fish sex films). Aside from plot, half of them just have ridiculously retarded titles like Nurse’s Dormitory: Assy Fingers.

When the images on the screen don’t involve forced sex or tomfoolery, you can find some trailers that are…. interesting to say the least. A few good examples include the super hero film Sex Fiend (guess I made the Rapeman joke too early, huh?), a handful of harsh rape films set in feudal Japan, a series about a horny nurse, and several erotic dramas revolving around strippers. That’s pretty much the bulk of the trailers, but there’s a few more things I haven’t mentioned yet.

Now, there’s some totally unique trailers scattered around in here, and it’s like finding a diamond when they pop up. The coolest looking one was Affair in the Early Afternoon: Kyoto Tapestry, and it looked like a surreal sex drama involving a cemetery. Another cool one is the sex/ blackmail/ crime/ revenge film Race Across the Drenched Wasteland, which is styled to look like a Eurocrime flick.

While repetitive in content at times, the Nikkatsu films were never boring. This is a really good place for people interested in Japanese erotica to start. These films are not as intense as, say, something like Lolita Vibrator Torture (or most pinku films), but it’s not as bland as a typical flesh film. While the rape and laughter can interfere with each other in places (it seems like after about 2 or 3 rape trailers there’s a funny one), there’s enough here to entertain pretty much anyone. I really can’t wait for Impulse to start cranking these films out, because I’m dying to see quite a few of them. A great promotional idea and a genuinely fun disk, the Nikkatsu Roman Porno Trailer Collection deserves to be on the shelf of any Japanese sexploitation fan.

The Package– Impulse has presented these trailers in super clear anamorphic widescreen. There’s no major print damage at all, and considering these films were made from 71 to 88, that’s a damn impressive feat. I REALLY hope the films look this good when they come out, because this is one of the overall best looking trailer comps I have ever seen.

The audio is a standard Japanese track with some flawless, if not a little too literal subs. You know how there’s those English sayings that, if one were to translate word for word in another language, would sound just plain stupid? Sayings like pop a squat. Yeah, there’s a few translations like that in here. It’s pretty humorous, but some of them are ridiculously absurd. Subtitles aside, the audio and soundtrack are clear, evenly balanced, and have nice volume.

Typically, Impulse disks are bare bones, but this one includes the shot on VHS short film Ryoko’s Lesbian Flight. It’s 30 minutes long, and looks like it could actually be hardcore, but due to the mandatory Japanese pubic censoring you can’t tell. I’m a fan of Japanese SOV films (Guinea Pig, Niku Daruma, Naked Blood, ect.), and even though this one is a straight porn, I really dig the look. Yet another tease from the folks at Impulse Pictures.