Vintage Pulp

November 3 2024

A LITTLE CONFLICTED

Nagisa and Tani learn that some things aren't meant to be shared.

Above is a poster for the roman porno flick Osanazuma: Zekkyô. We haven’t watched a roman porno since the summer, and there are good reasons for that. They’re not often fun. This one had no Western release, thus no English title. Its official title 幼な妻絶叫!! means in English “young wife screams.” Okey dokey. We watched it and it’s another cookie-cutter entry from Nikkatsu pictures, this time starring Rina Nagisa, who according to legend was discovered in a nightclub and, after an appearance in Semi-dokyumento: Sukeban yôjimbô, eventually installed as the latest hot thing in Japanese sexploitation cinema.

Nagisa plays an eighteen-year-old smalltowner who elopes to the big city with her boyfriend Nagatoshi Sakamoto, but falls on hard times. She and her man both take low wage jobs, and it’s at Nagatoshi’s gas station attendant gig that he’s noticed by none other than Naomi Tani. Burdened by the knowledge that Rina wants to attend night school, he shags Tani in exchange for 50,000 yen to pay for classes. The tryst leads to lingering problems, but meanwhile, on the opposite side of the roman porno plotline, Rina is noticed by a pervy old stranger who clearly believes that desire and consent are two different beasts. We won’t reveal more.

Roman porno movies, which we’ll note again aren’t hardcore but rather the equivalent of envelope pushing r-rated fare, all have the same sexually violent underpinning, and the same unblinkingly voyeuristic approach. In this era, they all read as indictments of male cinematic tastes. In our efforts to understand the genre we’ve learned mainly one thing: there’s a feminist reckoning coming to Japanese society one day, and movies like Osanazuma: Zekkyô will be right at the center of the discussion. It premiered today in 1976.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Osanazuma: Zekkyô, Rina Nagisa, Nagatoshi Sakamoto, Yu Mizuki, Naomi Tani, pinku, roman porno, sexploitation, poster art, cinema, movie review

Vintage Pulp

May 7 2020

BABES IN THE WOODS

They finally figured out a way to convince their boyfriends to go hiking.

Above, a poster for Joshi daigaku maruhi report: Nikutai nyûgaku-shiki. This never had a U.S. release, thus no English title, but the Japanese would translate to something like Women’s University (Secret) Report: Body Entrance Ceremony. This one is super obscure, and we were unable to find a copy. Again? Yes, again. It premiered in Japan today in 1977.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Joshi daigaku maruhi report: Nikutai nyûgaku-shiki, Women's University (Secret) Report: Body Entrance Ceremony, Rina Nagisa, Mariko Kitazawa, poster art, cinema, pinku, roman porno

Vintage Pulp

October 21 2019

PINK TWICE

What you see is exactly what you get.

Above are two striking pinku posters, both from the roman porno sub-genre. The first is for Osasuri hentai musume, aka Harassing Perverted Girl, with Rina Nagisa. The English title of this is interesting. You can’t be sure if it refers to a perverted girl being harassed, or a perverted girl who harasses. It’s the former—the Japanese title, which would translate to something like “caught hentai girl,” makes that a bit clearer. The second poster is for Onna kyôshi: Himitsu, aka Female Teacher 6, with Miyako Yamaguchi and Etsuko Hara.

As the title suggests, it was part of a series, a run of thirteen Onna kyôshi movies made between 1973 and 1983. How in the hell did Nikkatsu Studios manage to milk the concept for so many films? Because audiences didn’t care a whit about the plots as long as there was what’s known in Japan as fan sābisu, or “fan service”—i.e., giving consumers (usually males) what they want. It’s technically a manga term, but we think it applies here, as both posters promise it, and in a laudable example of truth in advertising, the films deliver. Osasuri hentai musume and Onna kyôshi: Himitsu both premiered—in what was a banner weekend for roman porno fans—today in 1978.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Osasuri hentai musume, Harassing Perverted Girl, Rina Nagisa, Onna kyôshi: Himitsu, Female Teacher 6, Miyako Yamaguchi, Etsuko Hara, poster art, cinema, pinku, roman porno, sexploitation, nudity

Vintage Pulp

November 12 2012

ZONING OUT

Lost in the neon wilderness.

Above is a poster for the Japanese sexploitation movie Tôkyô neon chitai: Josei jishin de go shidô itashimasu, aka Tokyo Neon Zone: Lesson to You, which is pretty much in the same vein as this movie for which we showed you a poster a few weeks ago. Tôkyô neon chitai starred Rina Nagisa, Mami Sakura and Ami Takashima, and was directed by Shoichi Ikeda. Nagisa made several other pinku flicks, all of which seem to be fairly obscure today. That is to say, we haven’t been able to track down a copy of any of them. However we do have another Nagisa poster we’ll show you later. Tôkyô neon chitai: Josei jishin de go shidô itashimasu premiered in Japan today in 1977.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Tôkyô neon chitai: Josei jishin de go shidô itashimasu, Tokyo Neon Zone: Lesson to You, Rina Nagisa, Mami Sakura, Ami Takashima, Shoichi Ikeda, pinku, poster art, cinema, nudity

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

March 16

1968—My Lai Massacre Occurs

In Vietnam, American troops kill between 350 and 500 unarmed citizens, all of whom are civilians and a majority of whom are women, children, babies and elderly people. Many victims are sexually abused, beaten, tortured, and some of the bodies are mutilated. The incident doesn’t become public knowledge until 1969, but when it does, the American war effort is dealt one of its worst blows.

March 15

1937—H.P. Lovecraft Dies

American sci-fi/horror author Howard Phillips Lovecraft dies of intestinal cancer in Providence, Rhode Island at age 46. Lovecraft died nearly destitute, but would become the most influential horror writer of all time. His imaginary universe of malign gods and degenerate cults was influenced by his explicitly racist views, but his detailed and procedural style of writing, which usually pitted men of science or academia against indescribable monsters, remains as effective today as ever.

March 15

2011—Illustrator Michel Gourdon Dies

French pulp artist Michel Gourdon, who was the less famous brother of Alain Gourdon, aka Aslan, dies in Coudray, France aged eighty-five. He is known mainly for the covers he painted for the imprint Flueve Noir, but worked for many companies and produced nearly 3,500 book fronts during his career.

March 14

1964—Ruby Found Guilty of Murder

In the U.S. a Dallas jury finds nightclub owner and organized crime fringe-dweller Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby had shot Oswald with a handgun at Dallas Police Headquarters in full view of multiple witnesses and photographers. Allegations that he committed the crime to prevent Oswald from exposing a conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have never been proven.

March 13

1925—Scopes Monkey Trial Ends

In Tennessee, the case of Scopes vs. the State of Tennessee, involving the prosecution of a school teacher for instructing his students in evolution, ends with a conviction of the teacher and establishment of a new law definitively prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The opposing lawyers in the case, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, both earn lasting fame for their participation in what was a contentious and sensational trial.

BABE IN THE WOODS

This idyllic scene for Folco Romano’s 1958 novel Quand la chair s’éveille was painted by Alain Gourdon, aka Aslan. You'd never suspect a book with a cover this pretty was banned in France, but it was.

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