Vintage Pulp

September 25 2019

ROKKU STARS

Yamauchi and Shibata are back for an encore.

Several years ago we shared a rare tateken sized poster for Bankaku Rokku, aka Bankaku Rock, aka Ranking Boss Rock, and today, above, we’re circling back to the film with the hansai sized poster, which we usually just call standard sized. We didn’t share this in the earlier post because we didn’t have it then. It just wasn’t available at the time. That omission is now rectified. Something else that wasn’t available back then was the movie. Well, we found that too. Our efforts are unceasing.

Bankaku Rokku is a juvie delinquent pinky violence flick in which the Akabane 100 Club and Ikebukuro Cavalry battle for supremacy. Emiko Yamauchi plays Yukiko, the “bankaku,” or chief bodyguard of the Akabane 100. When she’s released from reform school she decides to settle an old score with the Cavalry gang’s leader Taka, played by Etsuko Shibata. But Yukiko’s revenge gets complicated when she’s accused of a murder that was actually the work of Johuku Clan, a male gang of pimps and thieves.

This flick is all alienation and disaffection. When the police come looking for Yukiko her authoritarian father even urges them to give her the death penalty. Will Yukiko dodge the cops and get her sweet revenge? It wouldn’t be pinky violence if she didn’t at least get the chance. Broken bottles, supersharp scissors, and razor blades are the order of the day, along with numerous boobs and climactic bloodspray. There may not be much of a point to it all, but for pinky violence fans it should hit the spot. Bankaku Rokku premiered in Japan today in 1973.

Japan, Toei Company, Bankaku Rokku, Bankaku Rock, Ranking Boss Rock, Emiko Yamauchi, Etsuko Shibata, pinku, pinky violence, poster art, cinema, movie review

Vintage Pulp

September 25 2015

BIG BANKAKU THEORY

Our theory is this would be an enjoyable movie—if we could find it.

We’ve always called posters of these dimensions “panel-length,” but that’s just our personal lingo—they’re actually “tatekan” posters in the parlance of collectors. This rare tateken for Bankaku Rokku, aka Bankaku Rock, aka Ranking Boss Rock has a washed-out look, but the colors are true. The designers seemed to be shooting for something less garish than the typical Japanese promo (though we love the garish). We couldn’t track down the movie—lot of that going around lately—but we know it’s about a war between two female gangs, the Akabane 100 Club and the Ikebukuro Cavalry, and it focuses mainly on the Akabane 100’s chief badass Yukiko, played by Emiko Yamauchi of Neon Jellyfishfame. Though we didn’t find the film, we did find a bunch of promo shots, which you see below. Bankaku Rokku premiered in Japan today in 1973.

Japan, Toei Company, Bankaku Rokku, Bankaku Rock, Ranking Boss Rock, Emiko Yamauchi, Etsuko Shibata, pinku, pinky violence, poster art, cinema

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.

October 3

1908—Pravda Founded

The newspaper Pravda is founded by Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles living in Vienna. The name means “truth” and the paper serves as an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.

October 3

1957—Ferlinghetti Wins Obscenity Case

An obscenity trial brought against Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the counterculture City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, reaches its conclusion when Judge Clayton Horn rules that Allen Ginsberg’s poetry collection Howl is not obscene.

October 3

1995—Simpson Acquitted

After a long trial watched by millions of people worldwide, former football star O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson subsequently loses a civil suit and is ordered to pay millions in damages.

October 2

1919—Wilson Suffers Stroke

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. He is confined to bed for weeks, but eventually resumes his duties, though his participation is little more than perfunctory. Wilson remains disabled throughout the remainder of his term in office, and the rest of his life.