Kikoku

2003 Japanese yakuza film

This article is about the Japanese film. For the actress, see Kikuko Inoue.

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Kikoku

Directed by| Takashi Miike
Written by| Shigenori Takechi
Produced by| Saburō Naitō

Release date

* June 25, 2003 (2003-06-25)

Running time

| 100 minutes
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

Kikoku (鬼哭, distributed as Yakuza Demon in the United States) is a Japanese yakuza film directed by Takashi Miike. The film reunites Miike with Riki Takeuchi, who stars as the main character.

## Plot

[edit]

Seiji (played by Takeuchi) grew up as an orphan who was raised by his boss Muto. The Muto family is composed only of the boss Muto, Seiji and Yoshi and serves as a branch of the larger Date family. When Muto is called upon to settle his dues to the gang, he instead vows to assassinate a top officer of the rival Tendo family. Seiji offers to carry out the assassination himself but Muto forbids it because Seiji already served a 15 year murder sentence for a gang related hit. A day later, Muto is arrested for possession of an illegal firearm and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

Seiji ambushes the leader of the Tendo family at his villa and leaves him in critical condition. This act compromises the future of the Date family, and the Tendo family responds quickly with a wave of brutal murders.

While visiting his girlfriend, Yoshi is killed by an assassin squad under the order of the Tendo family. After hearing of his boss's expulsion Seiji returns to the Date headquarters and shoots the first person who yells at him. A member of the Date clan explains boss Muto was expelled because he turned himself in to the police and went to prison in order to avoid carrying out the assassination. Seiji readily explains it was he who told on the boss in order to protect him. Seiji carries out the assassination of the number two boss but is shot shortly after.

Seiji then goes to the bar of Muto's wife Sachie, who takes him to a doctor. Soon after, Date is assassinated. The Taiwanese arms dealer shows up at Sachie's house with weapons. Before he leaves he tells her that Seiji must love her because of his actions. Boss Muto is murdered in prison. Seiji then retaliates by killing boss Muto's killer on the way to his trial. Seiji and Sachie plan to escape to the Philippines.

As their boat begins to arrive, Sachie throws Seiji's gun into the water with hopes of a peaceful future. As they turn to get their luggage, they notice Egawa, a policeman who had provided information to Seiji, hanging from a crane nearby. The two become aware they are cornered at the end of the dock and their boat turns around when it sees trouble. The assassin squad closes in on them and open fire as Seiji blocks all the shots from hitting Sachie. As Seiji lies dead, the leader of the assassin squad tells him that he is showing off too much. The squad then walks away without harming Sachie.

## Cast

[edit]

* Riki Takeuchi as Seiji
* Hideki Sone as Yoshi
* Mickey Curtis
* Kenichi Endō as Budai
* Renji Ishibashi
* Koichi Iwaki
* Hiroshi Katsuno
* Ryōsuke Miki
* Yasukaze Motomiya
* Kazuya Nakayama
* Yōko Natsuki
* Gorō Oohashi
* Mikio Ōsawa
* Tetsurō Tamba
* Columbia Top as Millionaire

## Alternate ending

[edit]

An alternate ending available on the home video release shows Seiji being shot by the assassin squad and then reaching into his chest and pulling out a glowing ball of force that he throws at the assassins, causing an explosion that can be seen from space, which is a reference to the ending of Dead Or Alive, another Miike film starring Riki Takeuchi.

## External links

[edit]

* Kikoku at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Takashi Miike

Films|

* Eyecatch Junction (1991)
* Lady Hunter: Prelude to Murder (1991)
* A Human Murder Weapon (1992)
* Bodyguard Kiba (1993)
* Shinjuku Outlaw (1994)
* Bodyguard Kiba: Apocalypse of Carnage (1994)
* Bodyguard Kiba: Apocalypse of Carnage 2 (1995)
* Osaka Tough Guys (1995)
* Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)
* Ambition Without Honor (1996)
* Peanuts (1996)
* The Way to Fight (1996)
* Fudoh: The New Generation (1996)
* Ambition Without Honor 2 (1997)
* Young Thugs: Innocent Blood (1997)
* Rainy Dog (1997)
* Full Metal Yakuza (1997)
* The Bird People in China (1998)
* Andromedia (1998)
* Blues Harp (1998)
* Young Thugs: Nostalgia (1998)
* Ley Lines (1999)
* Silver (1999)
* Audition (1999)
* Dead or Alive (1999)
* Salaryman Kintaro (1999)
* The City of Lost Souls (2000)
* The Guys from Paradise (2000)
* Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)
* Family (2001)
* Family 2 (2001)
* Visitor Q (2001)
* Ichi the Killer (2001)
* Agitator (2001)
* The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
* Dead or Alive: Final (2002)
* Kumamoto Stories (2002)
* Sabu (2002)
* Graveyard of Honor (2002)
* Shangri-La (2002)
* Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (2002)
* The Man in White (2003)
* Gozu (2003)
* Yakuza Demon (2003)
* One Missed Call (2003)
* Zebraman (2004)
* Izo (2004)
* Three... Extremes ("Box" segment, 2004)
* The Great Yokai War (2005)
* Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006)
* Waru (2006)
* Waru: kanketsu-hen (2006)
* Sun Scarred (2006)
* Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)
* Crows Zero (2007)
* Like a Dragon (2007)
* Detective Story (2007)
* God's Puzzle (2008)
* Yatterman (2009)
* Crows Zero 2 (2009)
* Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (2010)
* 13 Assassins (2010)
* Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
* Ninja Kids!!! (2011)
* Ace Attorney (2012)
* For Love's Sake (2012)
* Lesson of the Evil (2012)
* Shield of Straw (2013)
* The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2013)
* Over Your Dead Body (2014)
* As the Gods Will (2014)
* The Lion Standing in the Wind (2015)
* Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)
* Terra Formars (2016)
* The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (2016)
* Blade of the Immortal (2017)
* JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I (2017)
* Laplace's Witch (2018)
* First Love (2019)
* The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021)
* The Mole Song: Final (2021)
* Lumberjack the Monster (2023)

TV|

* Man, A Natural Girl (1999)
* Man, Next Natural Girl: 100 Nights in Yokohama (1999)
* MPD Psycho (2000)
* Negotiator (2003)
* Ultraman Max (2005)
* Masters of Horror (Imprint episode, 2006)
* K-tai Investigator 7 (2007)
* Idol × Warrior Miracle Tunes! (2017)
* Magical × Heroine Magimajo Pures! (2018)
* Secret × Heroine Phantomirage! (2019)
* Police × Heroine Lovepatrina! (2020)
* Connect (2022)
* Onimusha (2023)

Other|

* Black Society trilogy (1995–1999)
* The Making of Gemini (2000)
* Pandōra (2002, music video)
* Demon Pond (2005, stage play)
* Ryū ga Gotoku (2005, video game)
* Zatoichi (2007, stage play)
* Midnight (2024, short film)

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