''aka'' ''Erotic Sisters'' is a

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese film in

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by

Chūsei Sone was a Japanese film director known for his stylish and popular '' Roman Porno'' films for Nikkatsu, particularly the first two installments of the '' Angel Guts'' series. Despite a somewhat uneven career, many mainstream critics consider Sone th ...

and starring Keiko Tsuzuki and Akemi Nijō.

Synopsis

Three sisters live alienated existences in modern-day Tokyo. One works as a secretary, one is a prostitute, and one is a criminal. The secretary is cynically unhappy with the sexist business world which limits her opportunities for advancement and makes her a target for her lecherous boss. The prostitute lives an aimless life, drifting between men, and often the target of either police or jealous wives. The criminal, who lives by disrupting the society which oppresses her two sisters, is the only happy one of the three.

Cast

* Akemi Nijō: Satsuki Ōtsuki * Keiko Tsuzuki: Shinobu Ōtsuki * Senro Sō: Sumire Ōtsuki * Chigusa Takayama: Fujie Ōtsuki * Kenji Shimamura: Denkichi Ōtsuki * Nobutaka Masutoko: Honda Rokurō * Hiroyuki Mikawa: Ichirō Sawaki * Kiyoko Ōtani: Miyo Sawaki * Mako Mizuki: Yōko Ikuta

Background and critical appraisal

In their ''Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films'', the Weissers fault the film for its story, but praise director Sone for raising the film above its exploitation origins. According to the Weissers, the film is "a great looking production", and Sone gives the characters humanity. Nevertheless, they point out, in line with the exploitation genre, Sone delivers some "chillingly savage" moments.

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

agrees that the film is "not for the timid", but judges that it was one of Nikkatsu's better Roman Pornos of 1972. Dealing with societal alienation, self-destruction and violence, the film works with themes that director

Hisayasu Satō is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the genre of '' pinku eiga'' films, which refers to Japanese films that prominently feature nudity or sexual content. His best-known works are the 1992 pink film ''The Bedr ...

would make his own in the 1980s and 1990s. Director

worked as an assistant director to

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their florid visual style, absurd humour, and a playful rejection of traditional film grammar. He made 40 predominately ...

during the 1960s. He is probably best known for the first two episodes of the ''

Angel Guts is a six-film series of ''pink films'' produced between 1978 and 1994. The Nikkatsu Corporation was responsible for the production of the majority of the series. In accordance with the "pink film" genre, the prevalent theme in the series is sex, ...

'' series, which he directed in 1978 and 1979. Lead actress Keiko Tsuzuki had a leading role in

Yasuharu Hasebe was a Japanese film director best known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the ''Pink film'', such as '' Assault! Jack the Ripper'' (1976), ''Rape!'' (1976), '' Rape! 13th Hour'' (1977) and ''Raping!'' (1978). Earlier genre films di ...

Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style stron ...

satire, '' Naked Seven'' (1974).

Availability

''Lusty Sisters'' was released theatrically in Japan on November 29, 1972. It was released on DVD in Japan on December 22, 2006, as part of

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

's sixth wave of Nikkatsu ''Roman porno'' series.

Bibliography

English

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Japanese

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Notes

{{reflist 1972 films Films directed by Chūsei Sone 1970s Japanese-language films Nikkatsu films Nikkatsu Roman Porno 1970s Japanese films