4 Star

The Man, The Stare, The Fist.

By 1973, director Ryûichi Takamori (Yakuza deka: Oretachi ni haka wa nai, Yakuza deka: Kyofu no doku gasu) was well established as a director in the action, crime genre, and also collaborating with Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter Trilogy, YAKUZA WOLF 1 & 2, The Executioner Collection, THE BULLET TRAIN). Now comes these two features designed to show off the Karate skills of our hero bodyguard, all based on the action-manga by Ikki Kajiwara (Karate Jigokuhen), and set in the violent and sexually charged early 1970s.

The thing that links these two action films is the rivalry between the Tesshin School of Karate, and its fierce rivals, the Kikoku-ryu school of karate. The Tesshin school is ostracized due to its ultra tough and deadly training.

Bodyguard Kiba

But despite all that, the real problem is the Mafia and its rivalry between the Asian “Yellow Mafia”, as they vie for drug supremacy while Don Salbadole Locco is gunned down by many bullets.

Onboard a Pan Am flight to Japan, terrorists tied to the Middle East attempt to hijack the flight, They did not expect Naoto Kiba (Chiba) the champion of the Tesshin Karate School to be onboard and he takes them all down with the power of his feet and his fists. Hailed a hero, he holds a press conference to advocate the teachings of Sensei master Tetsugen Daito (Mas Oyama) the wrong named “The Bull Killer”. He is here to advertise the skills his school teaches, and offers his services to anybody that needs a bodyguard, for the right price.

A church attic is the perfect place for ‘God Hands’ to have its office.

Someone was watching the TV, and soon approaches Kiba and his second Dan sister Maki (Yayoi Watanabe, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable) to hire him for four days, at ten-million yen a day starting right now. Do you take a cheque? Yes.

This encounter leads Maki to be attacked as she goes to get the woman’s cheque book from her car, they all have tattoos on their wrists, marking them as members of the mafia. They leave Maki naked and scared with “Cosa Nostra” – ‘Our Thing’. They have mistaken Maki for the mysterious woman upstairs.

Where can this job lead Kiba and his sister?

Bodyguard Kiba: Deadly Triangle Jump.

The rivalry rears its head as Kiba (Chiba) is declared ‘All Japan Karate Champion’ but the Kikoku School disputes this and challenges Kiba to a duel to settle the argument. Duels are illegal and soon Kiba finds himself in prison for three years, as he disassociates himself from the school. In jail, he meets fighting fan Takeshi Nanjo (Tsunehiko Watase, Furueru shita, Ten to Chi to), the pair befriend each other, even though they owe each other a fight.

Kiba is released and is picked up by a friend of his sister, Maki (Etsuko Shihomi, Sister Street Fighter, Legend of the Eight Samurai). Kiba is told to go to club Night Plaza so he does, where he meets owner Akamatsu (Akiyoshi Fukae, Rebellion Reward, Retaliation) and his protection detail Tatsumi (Hideo Murota, Original Sin, Endless Waltz), and the deadly Kikoku-ryu school of karate student Ryuzuka (Eiji Gō, The Yakuza, Karate Inferno).

Akamatsu hires Kiba to be his bodyguard, as he is breaking away from Tatsumi and their main partner Karasaki (Rokkô Toura, The Sun’s Burial, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs), with rivalry and secrets and throw in the beautiful Mari (Maki Mizuhara, Trail of Blood, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx) what could possibly go wrong?

BODYGUARD KIBA 1 + 2 (Eureka Classics) Special Edition is definitely one for the Martial Arts shelf, as Chiba et al. show off their incredible skill set.

BODYGUARD KIBA 1 + 2 (Eureka Classics) Special Edition is available on Blu-ray .

SPECIAL EDITION TWO DISC BLU-RAY FEATURES

Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Chris Malbon
1080p presentations of both films across two Blu-ray discs, from new restorations of the original film elements by Toei
Original Japanese mono audio
Optional English subtitles
Brand-new feature length audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
The Bodyguard – alternate US version of Bodyguard Kiba
Talking Chiba – Brand-new interview with action choreographer and director Kenji Tanigaki
Kiba or Chiba – Brand-new interview with Tom Mes & Jasper Sharp
Original theatrical trailers
PLUS: A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp