Unfortunately, Ryuji fits the ninkyo eiga cliché of the yakuza who sacrificed himself following the code of honour and loyalty, but after being released two years later, he encounters a different organisation and a different world. and that’s the boring part, another cliché is added when he discovers that his sacrifice was in vain because he was betrayed by the Daido-gumi itself for rescuing the now lame Fujinami. It’s insipid because we’re not in the 60s and 70s – the golden age of the yakuza; so the plot of a former yakuza who breaks a code of honour, loyalty and sacrifice in the first place cannot generate tension or sustained interest in the audience, because after making the sacrifice of spending two years in prison, he still does not obtain the honour or loyalty of the clan to which he “belongs” upon his release.

The only one who came to greet him on his release was his apprentice Tatsuya, and at the clan headquarters they feted him with beer and snacks in vain as soon as Ryuji mentioned that he could have been sold in the incident to rescue Fujinami. From then on, the new leader, Seiji Saeki, will look at him with suspicion because the Daido group is also going through the worst crisis of rivalry against the Hanamamura clan. The story is slow and full of unnecessary melodrama, such as seeing Fujinami cry for the old days to return and Ryuji forgive the new leader. Tatsuya’s infatuation with Ushina within the central story is also unfortunate because it weakens the already scarce suspense, which doesn’t even increase when Ryuji starts flirting about switching to another yakuza family while drinking coffee with Kuroda. I have a feeling that many will only enjoy the two sex scenes between Ryuji and his chef.