| Femmes Fatales | Dec 25 2021 |
Oh the weather outside is frightful...
And we couldn't go with just one femme fatale. We have so many scanned at this point we may never get to them all. So let's double up. Here's a beautiful shot of Natsuko Yashiro, who appeared in such fare as Inzetsu ama: Uzuku, Shikijô ama midare tsubo, aka Lusty Ama: Stirred-Up Pot, Onna keimusho, aka Women's Prison, Okasu!, Hirusagari no onna: chohatsu! aka Woman of the Afternoon: Incite!, and about twenty other flicks. For someone with such an extensive filmography, we don't get the impression she was ever a top star, but we could wrong about that. This dates from 1974.
JapanHeibon PunchInzetsu ama: UzukuShikijô ama midare tsuboLusty Ama: Stirred-Up PotOnna keimushoWomen's PrisonOkasu!Hirusagari no onna: chohatsu!Woman of the Afternoon: Incite!Natsuko Yashironuditypinkuroman porno
| Vintage Pulp | Feb 7 2018 |
Nikkatsu pushes the envelope of taste—and social responsibility—with Okasu!
Above, a poster for the roman porno flick Okasu!, which premiered in Japan today in 1976. The title here, in a rare occurrence, translates directly—Rape! Considering that Nikkatsu Studios made hundreds of roman porno movies (short for “romantic porno”), and they were wildly successful at the box office, we take them seriously and seek to understand them. So we watched this and... we don't understand. Starring Natsuko Yashiro, who you may remember from her female diver movies, and co-starring Naomi Tani and Yuri Yamashina, Okasu! is the story of a rape victim who develops an obsession for her attacker and searches the city for him, constantly exposing herself to similar dangers.
To be clear, we make no cultural judgments here—around the same time on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital, Luke raped Laura and became the number one hunk on daytime television. So we're not failing to understand Okasu! from a cultural vantage point, but from a generational vantage point. We don't find non-consensual anything sexy. From our perspective this dubious flick has only two plusses: there's a highly ironic, even grimly comical, ending; and Yashiro masturbates with a walnut, which we never knew was possible. Wanna try it? Follow her lead below. But when you're making your way through vintage Japanese movies give this one a pass.
JapanNikkatsuOkasu!Rape!General HospitalNatsuko YashiroNaomi TaniYuri Yamashinapinkuroman pornoposter artcinemamovie review
