The Angel Guts box — The Angel Guts box(Blu Ray boxset)

The Angel Guts box is a Blu-Ray set that collects together five films based on the cult/controversial manga of the same name, which follows the sexual trials and tribulations of a female protagonist Nami, who shifts characters over the manga/ films. The films featured date from between the late 70’s and the early 90’s. They all sit in the Roman Porno genre, being originally released on Nikkatsu studios, focusing on troubling sleaze and tragedy, with an often arty/ creative spin. All the films have been given new HD remasters, with commentary tracks, and a small selection of new/ archive extras. The set appears on Third Window Films, who are one of the main labels in the West focusing on releasing Japanese film.

The first film in the set is 1979’s Angel Guts: Red Classroom (Tenshi no harawata: Akai kyôshitsu). This was directed by Gunma Prefecture, Japan-born Chûsei Sone. Between the early 70’s and late 80’s, he had forty-five features to his name, with seemingly many of these credits sitting in the Pink genre. With titles like Overly-Ripe Breasts: Married Women(1973), Lesbian World: Fondling (1975), and Adultery (1986). Though he did make a few films in other genres- like 1940’s set murder mystery Case of the Disjointed Murder, teen gang drama 'Blow the Night!' Yoru o buttobase(1983), and adventure film Flying (1988).

Angel Guts: Red Classroom runs at one hour and nineteen minutes, and it starts off very troubling. As in low-grade/ jerky footage of a woman being chased through a nighttime school by four or five men. She runs into a classroom, to be thrown to the floor- clothes ripped off, and raped- with the jerky footage makes it all the more troubling. The footage suddenly breaks/ stop, and we see a room full of leering & sweaty middle-aged men watching the film, one of whom is tan-suited and often wears dark glasses, Tetsuro Muraki (Keizô Kanie). The film starts back up, with the gang rape colluding- the young woman drags herself to the front of the glass room, staring bleakly into the camera lens as a broken vase and red flowers sit at her knees.

When exiting the upstairs room where the film showed, Muraki is begging one of the men who played the film for details of the young actress- he knows little or nothing. We find out soon enough that Muraki is the editor of a popular porn magazine- he’s sleeping with a few of his models, often treating them very roughly/ violently when having sex.

Anyway, time passes by with some great satirising of porn shoot set-ups, which are quite amusing. One day, Muraki is scoping another location- a Love Hotel, and running the reception is the woman from the film, who we find out in due course is named Nami (Yûki Mizuhara)

The pair meet, and Muraki's obsession increases- but we find out Nami is rather a damaged person, who is just obsessed with having sex over & over again. But Muraki is look for something more- to help & fall in love with her.

As the film unfolds, we get a blend of awkward/ forced sex- both on the female & male side. Snapshots of Muraki’s life, and his attempt to find Nami again. Along the way, we get some of the most impressive/ impactful shot use- one very memorable moment comes in a brightly lit bedroom encounter, where the footage is somehow filmed through a warping mirror. There is also a most effective use of music- this moves between unsettlingly stabbing electronic texturing and very sleazy bass-bound jazziness.

All in all, Angel Guts: Red Classroom wraps its often-troubling sleaze in moments of tragedy -both of our leads are very good/believable, and the final cramped, attic gang bang is truly soul-searingly upsetting.

On the extras side, we get a new commentary track from genre expert/author Jasper Sharp, as we’ve come to expect from Mr Sharp- we get a very well researched/ informed/ entertaining track. He begins by saying this film is quite a different take on the Roman Porno genre, before giving a brief overview of the genre. He touches on the film's prog rock soundtrack, which was the one and only score from Tsutomu Izumi, who had been the singer/ lead songwriter behind Japanese prog band Cosmos Factory, who also scored a few Roman Porno films. He touches on the history of stag/ blue films in Japan, which were created/ sold by the Yakuza, and were illegal as they featured uncensored hardcore sex. He talks about how this, and the other films by director Chûsei Sone have a wishful melancholic air about them. He comments on the film's art direction and homes in on interesting details in the foreground of some scenes. Later on, he talks about the wider history of the pink genre and the roman porno cycle. He comments on the use of TV & VHS in love hotels in the 70’s. Chats about the film's cast, etc. Otherwise, on the new side, we have From Ink Nibs to Film Reels (14.30) a Video Essay by Frankie Balboa.

On the archive side we have two interviews with the film’s director- one about his career in general(10.07), and one about the Angel Guts series(17.17). And an original trailer.

The second film on the set is 1979’s Angel Guts: Nami. This was directed by Nagano, Japan-born Noboru Tanaka. He has twenty-six features to his name- these move from the erotic drama Beads From A Petal (1972). Onto ritualistic sex-focused period drama The Hell-Fated Courtesan (1973), woozy & unsettling voyeur focused roman porno Watcher In The Attic (1976), violent/ troubling Roman porno Rape and Death Of A Housewife (1978), and true crime drama Village Of Doom (1983).

The film is centred around twenty-something Nami Tsuchiya (Eri Kanuma), who, when we first meet her, is a self-assured and very focused reporter for a magazine called The Woman, which we’re told at one point is the second biggest women's publication in Japan.

She’s been working on a series of articles, which are proving popular with readers and her colleagues. Each sees her tracking down a rape victim, reporting on how they are bearing up….as you can imagine, largely not very at all.

The film is largely built around her chasing down (in some cases, literally) women who have been attacked, and very troubling flashbacks of their attacks. These go from a brutal beating & rape on a car bonnet attack at a barren rubbish tip. On a bed attack from a man with tights over his head. A teen chased & gang banged on gym equipment. And the most extreme/ intense- in a late-night hospital, where a surgical masked man knocks out a woman- twitchingly/ creepily touching her all over with see-through gloves on, then trying to cut open her stomach- later chasing her to a tank floating with corpses where he brutally rapes her.

Along the way, Nami catches the eye of the white-suited, bucket-hatted, and shades-wearing Tetsuro Muraki (Takeo Chii)…who may be friend or foe.

The film, rather brutal, sends up how far the media will go, and the public needs to poke into people's lives, revealing their misery. And we move towards another grim resolve. Both Kanuma and Chii give their all to their roles, with later on the former really put through the grinder.

When I popped Angel Guts: Nami into play, I thought the one-hour and thirty-seven-minute runtime might be too much. But it does keep you held, wondering what will happen to Nami next, and how much more shocking/ troubling the whole thing can get.

On the new extra side, we have another commentary track from Mr Sharp, which is once again excellent. He begins by commenting on the comic book and the red front credits. He talks about how this is the longest and most meaty of the Angel Guts series. He comments on locations in the early part of the film, dropping some interesting facts about the district in Tokyo where they take place. He talks about how the college of rape attacks in the film, rather reminded him of Yoko Ono 1969 barely seen/ troubling art film Rape. We find out the film was first released on the 7^th of July 1979. He comments on the use of well-known Japanese pop music in the rape-like stage performance, and how this shows that this and other roman porno’s where so popular in the country. Later on, he discusses the film's switch into horror territory and gives less-than-positive press quotes of the time regarding the picture. He touches on Japan’s seeming fascination with rape during the period of the film. He gives bios of the lead actress and, of course, much more. The other new extra on this disc is Angle Guts: Arthouse or exploitation (17.07) a video essay by James Balmont.

On the archive side, we have an interview with director Noboru Tanaka (39.57). And a trailer.

The third film in the set, Angel Guts: Red Porno (Tenshi no harawata: Akai inga) is from the year 1981. It was directed by Yamagata, Japan Toshiharu Ikeda. He had twenty-four feature-length credits to his name. These went from the pink sadomasochism of Sex Hunter (1980), splatter-bound and deranged horror film Evil Dead Trap (1988), onto cop thriller of The Brutal Insanity of Love (1993), through to the two-part horror film Ikisudama ( 2001).

This film focuses on Nami Tsuchiya(Jun Izumi) a department store worker. We first meet her rushing home to her apartment at night- been very jumpy that she is being followed/ watched. She gets into her apartment unscathed- puts on some female-led piano-based soul. Anyway, she settles down- with just a red light/ fire glowing in her apartment, she starts doing some prolonged gusset typing- which sets off a big chunk of all-out sleaze, as we move from voyeuristic female masturbation where a creepy man is watching a woman insert/ then poke a giant love bead. There’s male masturbation- once again in red light, and a very slippery/ sliding female fantasy.

In time, we do settle down into a bit more story- Nami friend asks her to do her a favour, and it’s not what she/ anyone else would expect. Basically, it’s a bondage photoshoot- she is less than pleased about. Next, she goes out for a drink with her bespeckled & sweaty manager- he gets her drunk, pushes her into a lift, handing up, forcing himself/ raping her in a hotel room he’s booked…then very improbably they start up an affair.

The film features some great & moody nighttime shooting- from running through the underground, up into the rainy night. Izum, as our lead, is good and is very much put through the sleaze grinder.

Angel Guts: Red Porno has a runtime of one hour and seven minutes, and after the major early sleaze bump, we do get a decent/ compelling story, though we do once more drop down into all-out sleaze later on.

For this film, we get a new commentary track from genre writer/commentator Samm Deighan. She starts off by discussing the Manga the films are based on. She touches on the film's imaginative sex scenes and how close to almost hardcore grain they go. Point out notable and important scenes. Later on, she touches the actors in the film. Discusses the unturned table scene and how she has never seen anything quite like it. And of course, much more.

On the archive side, we have an interview with director Toshiharu Ikeda(36.20)

The fourth film on the set is 1988’s Angel Guts 5: Red Vertigo (Tenshi No Harawata: Akai Memai). It was directed/ written by Sendai, Miyagi born Takashi Ishii- who wrote the original manga. This was his directorial debut, and he went on to helm another nineteen films. These took in love triangle drama, Original Sin (1992), neo-noir The Five (1995), rape revenge thriller Freeze Me (2000), and extreme torture porn Sweet Whip (2013).

The film's joint focus is on twentysomething nurse Nami Tsuchiya (Mayako Katsuragi) and caught stealing mid-aged stockbroker Tetsuro Muraki(Naoto Takenaka). The pair's stories play out separately initially, then when Tetsuro knocks Nami in his car, they cross.

Nami lives with her glamour model photographer boyfriend Kenji Ohta (Hirofumi Kobayashi)- he’s a rather cheeky and randy character, though he claims he is faithful to Nami. She’s often falling asleep at work as she's tired from helping Kenji develop film and fleshy contact.

But as things unfold, Nami ends up being nearly raped/ raped….with the trauma unbelievable turning into love. Acting wise are two leads are fine- though as you’d imagine, she goes through the worst of it.

At the start, the film seemed rather erratically edited/ presented, but as we get into the film, we quickly find out who is who. The picture has fewer all-out sex scenes than the previous film, though I did think the resolve felt at first unbelievable/ the tacked-on.

The film features an effective, largely pared-back score- revolving around sparse, almost blues-like licks, and electro-like pluses. There are also a few moments of warping/stretching reality, which give the film moments of rewarding imbalance. I’m not sure if I was as emotionally devastated by Angel Guts 5: Red Vertigo, but it remained engaging, aside from the rather muddled start.

We get a new commentary track from Japanese film expert Tom Mes. It starts by commenting on the shunted look of the film, which carried on through all of the director's work. We find out in the original manga Takashi Ishii based the Nami character on his wife, and how the character lived in several different realities through the films/the manga. He discusses how the film is constantly undermining the idea of the Roman Porno. He talks about the switch in the mood in the film. And gives a brief bio of the lead actress, Mayako Katsuragi, who mainly worked in hardcore- aside from this film and the second Toxic Avenger film. Later on, he comments on the elements of neon, heavy rain, and nighttime settings. He points out bit part actors, talks about the undermining of expectations, which remains to the end, etc.

On the archive side, we get an interview with Takashi Ishii (32.32)

The fourth disc takes in a bonus film, 1994’s Angel Guts 6: Red Flash. This was once again written and directed by Takashi Ishii. This film feels very much influenced by Western thrillers/ psycho drama, with the fleshy side of things played down compared to the other films in the set. It was originally released as part of the 4 Tales of Nami box set on Third Window Films.

The one-hour and twenty-seven-minute film focuses on Nami (Maiko Kawakami), a twentysomething photographer, who works on taking pictures of rape porn productions. One day on set, while snapping pictures of a teen being attacked by a man, she gets flashbacks to when she was attacked- this causes her to start hitting the bottle more than normal at her local bar owned by the long-suffering Chihiro (Noriko Hayami).

Also involved in the story's unfolding is a seemingly caring, calm, tan-suited, and bespeckled Muraki(Jinpachi Nezu). One night after a heavy session, Nami finds herself naked in a love hotel room- there’s a knife in the sink, and a man's dead body on the floor- and she has to figure out/ piece together what really happened.

This film feels a lot more mainstream than the other films on this set- it’s well enough scoped with a fair bit of use of arty lens flare. We get a decent enough mystery, and towards the end, a quite tense nighttime office chase.

Angel Guts 6: Red Flash is fine, if you're after a more traditional thriller take on the Angel Guts series.

If you have a penchant for well-made, creative sleaze with a largely troubling and tragic focus that often pushes transgressive buttons, then The Angel Guts box will most certainly be for you. Kudos to Third Window for releasing this set, which is one of my early highlights of 2026.