Angel Guts : Takashi Ishii And The Series. The Relationship.
Firstly, some background. Ishii was a film student working part-time at Nikkatsu Studios when a whirlwind romance (and marriage) led him to begin drawing and writing Manga in order to earn money. "Angel Guts" was born in 1977, and quickly became successful, and though often criticised for its' pornographic content it gained much positive attention also.
The title itself refers to the attempt to portray strong and resiliant women (or a particular woman, in this series it's always Nami Tsuchiya) so it's almost literally "beautiful woman with courage". Each film is a separate story showing various situations from which Nami must battle on. Each time the name Nami is applied to a different woman or girl at a contemporary time.
Nikkatsu fell on hard times, like many Japanese studios during the 1970s. The "Romanporno" (or "Romantic Porno") genre was a good blend of commercial appeal and substantial story, which meant the studio wasn't too literally involving itself in the relatively niche market of purely "adult films". Romanporno had begun in earnest during the 1960's and continues to this day. At its peak it made up the large majority of the material being produced within the Japanese film industry. The genre survived between the two worlds of traditional (yet unusual) storytelling and pornography. Viewers obviously wanted a strong sexual element within what they were watching, but also veered towards a more deeply human approach.
The series runs like this :
1st - Angel Guts : High School Co-Ed (1978, by Chusei Sone, Written by Takashi Ishii. Assistant. Dir. : Toshiharu Ikeda) *
2nd - Angel Guts : Red Classroom (1979, by Chusei Sone (Co-Writer with Takashi Ishii)) *
3rd - Angel Guts : Nami (1979, by Noboru Tanaka, Co-Directed and Written by Takashi Ishii. Assistant. Dir. : Toshiharu Ikeda) *
4th - Angel Guts : Red Porno (1981, by Toshiharu Ikeda, Written by Takashi Ishii) *
5th - Angel Guts : Red Dizziness (1988, Written and Directed by Takashi Ishii) *
6th - Angel Guts : Akai Senko (1994, Written and Directed by Takashi Ishii for TV Tokyo and not Nikkatsu)
* those with a star are within the Artsmagic boxset of Nikkatsu produced "Angel Guts" films.
Those informally associated with the Angel Guts series:
1st - Angel Guts : Rouge (1984, by Jiroyuki Nasu; Written by Takashi Ishii)
2nd - Angel Guts : Red Rope Until I Die (1987, by Junichi Suzuki; written by Takashi Ishii)
3rd - Angel Guts : Alone In The Night (1994, Written and Directed by Takashi Ishii)
Ishii returned to Nikkatsu as his Manga became more successful, and was invited to turn his Angel Guts stories and it themes into a script for a film. Initially, Ishii seems to have drawn a Manga as a way of screenwriting - effectively providing storyboards and script in one go. This 5th film in the series "Angel Guts : Red Dizziness" was the first film Takashi Ishii directed in his still ongoing career.
The series remains relatively unseen in the west, and information about them is sparse. The genre has gained a little attention thanks to DVD releases, though it still remains a relatively confusing genre to navigate : they remain the preserve of the more underground appreciators of Japanese cinema.
As with all Romanporno, there are common elements and restrictions, yet a wide variety of approaches on display. Firstly, the Director has freedom with the script as long as the small budget is kept to, and that a strong sexual element is on display - the nature of the sex varies from intimate romance to violent S&M. The budget must cover every aspect of production.
There are usually very few locations and characters involved, resulting in imaginitive and intense (but often apparently twisted) love stories. There's a relatively fast turnaround in terms of the entire production too, neither the Director of Writer being too precious with the source material. Takashi Ishiis' first directorial project for the series was filmed in five days.
Ishii uses his Manga visual style and literally translates it to screen through his writing. The camera is often set at those odd angles, facial close-ups, dramatic distance shots, in simple and baron locations. Moods are intense, and the stories often heavily reliant on disorientation and deep dialogue. Visually they may be simplistic, but in content the depths are unlimited and rely heavily on the imagination and understanding of the director as much as the writer, and indeed the viewer too.
