A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.
Practical Effects
Tsukamoto's DIY metal aesthetic, bodies as mangled machinery.
Acting
Tsukamoto directing himself into complete physical breakdown.
Sound
Industrial noise score that weaponizes audio feedback.
Director
Shinya Tsukamoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shinya Tsukamoto cast his own brother Kôji as Kojima, making the on-screen rivalry literally fraternal. The tension wasn't entirely acting.
Part of Tsukamoto's 'metal' trilogy alongside Tetsuo, this captures 1990s Japan's salaryman crisis—white-collar workers literally beating themselves into new shapes.
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