Part 2 of Yakuza Papers, the "Japanese Godfather"Story begins in 1950 in Hiroshima. While serving a two year sentence on assult, Yamanaka becomes acquainted with Shozo. His first day out prison he falls in love with Boss Muraoka's niece Yasuko and starts a rivalry with hothead Katsutoshi Otomo, the son of Otomo clan. After caught having an affair with Yasuko, Yamanaka goes into hiding under the Takanashi family for a year. He pays his way back into the Muraoka clan after he does a hit on one of the clan's rivals and gains a major reputation in the underworld.Katsutoshi's men set off a firecracker at Muraoka's race track. To avoid a war breaking out, Boss Otomo expels his son from the clan. Katsutoshi, determined to take over Hiroshima, teams up under Mr. Tokimori (elder of underworld) and undermines Muraoka's gambling zones. Muraoka declares both Katsu and Tokimori banned from Hiroshima and Katsu shoots up Muraoka's spa house. To avoid any furher blooodshed, Tokimori seeks out Yamamori protection in Kura.Yamamori connives Shozo to look after Tokimori, right as Yamanaka is paying a visit to take him out. To avoid bloodshed on his turf, Shozo arranges to "deliver" Tokimori back to Hiroshima so Yamanaka can kill him. Tokimori smells the trap and escapes. Shozo, under fire by both Muraoka and Yamamori, decides to kill Tokimori himself. Muraoka arranges a marriage for Yamanaka and Yasuko for his loyalty. He's also ordered to hit some of Katsu's men who are plotting on killing Boss Otomo and Muraoka. Yamanaka is imprisoned for life and Muraoka takes over the Otomo clan. When in prison, Yamanaka learns from Takanashi Muraoka is making Yasuko marry her widow's brother. Enraged by the betrayal, Yamanaka breaks out of jail to kill Muraoka. After an elaborate stage to make it seem as if Yasuko has always been in Hiroshima, Yamanaka vows to kill Katsu as his punishment. Katsu, in the meantime has been shooting up clubs, and kidnapping Muraoka's men. After Yamanaka failed hit he decides to hide away in Shozo territory. But Muraoka discovers his hideout and assigns him to kill Takanashi for "snitching". Yamanaka takes the hit but it turns out to be a trap, and is now on the run from the police. Seeing there's nowhere to run, he decides to take his own life.

Famed Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku made a popular series of epic gangster films in Japan in the 1970s, starting with BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY. Hiroshima DEATH MATCH is the second of this five-part series and even better than the first; the first film is good but a little too sprawling and unfocused. It feels like everybody cut their teeth on that one, and went on to even better things with this.The tale is a familiar one for anybody versed with the works of Beat Takeshi and the like: two rival crime families vie for control of post-war Hiroshima during the 1950s, and petty rivalries soon spiral out of control leading to full-blooded murder. A relatively short running time means that there's a heck of a lot of incident packed in here, ranging from love affairs to prison stays, assassination attempts, gang fights, and shoot-outs.The production values of Hiroshima DEATH MATCH are very good indeed and there's a decidedly adult edge to the proceedings, with plenty of violence and blood thrown into the mix. The star players are all very strong too, from the mild mannered Yakuza bosses to the likes of Sonny Chiba as a spaced-out thug with violent passions. PROXY WAR followed next.

The focus of this highly engaging second installment is Kin'ya Kitaoji's "Shoji Yamanaka" character, a brooding, shy, impulsive man who places the highest premium on his love for his boss's niece, a humble, passionate woman who vows to wait for him when he is incarcerated for a series of brutal murders.The political machinations of the yakuza world provide bloody, non-stop thrills in this deliriously anarchic crime drama that is never less than fascinating for its attention to personal details and vivid pictorial exploration of a criminal, country-wide hornet's nest.Despite the impressive performance of Sonny Chiba as an ultra-psychotic "torpedo" and the weighty presence of Bunta Sagawara (who takes a back seat in this episode), the film does belong to Fukomoto. His turn as Yamanaka is extraordinary and he makes us empathize with the character. Fukasaku's handling of the romance is deft and touching without ever becoming cloying.Once again, the action sequences are brutal and unforgiving and the camera-work by Sadaji Yoshida is, at times, mesmerizing. The film's final twenty minutes, where Yamanaka is hunted in the rainy laneways of Hiroshima, are quite beautiful.A plaudit should also go to composer Toshiaki Tsushima who delivers a driving, organic, highly memorable score.Another triumph.