Noboru Iguchi's Robo-geisha is a pretty, visual delight of fun action
But, the battle soon becomes complicated when the businessman turns out to be a shell for two tengu-masked Japanese girls, one sitting on the shoulders of the other, who resume the fight with the Robo-geisha.
Robo-geisha (2009 Noboru Iguchi) is definitely the prettiest film I’ve seen this year and also the one in which I had the most fun. The first time I saw the trailer, I admit, I thought this looked stupid. But after seeing the 35mm print projected in a theater, I now see it as a work of art.The rivalry which exists between a geisha and her sister who works with her is the center of the drama. The plot involves Kageno Steel, an evil corporation that kidnaps and brainwashes young women into servitude for corrupt purposes. And the CEO of the corporation, who happens to be the romantic interest of both the geisha and her sister, has a diabolical plan to take over the small town with his army of robo-geisha.
Tengu #1 and tengu #2 are collectively referred to as the tengun. Played by Cay Izumi and Asami, these girls wear black boots, fishnets, bikinis, and red, phallic-nosed, evil-looking masks (matching masks cover their breasts, and shoot out corrosive “milk from hell”). The tengun are the coolest part of the movie because they are not only badass mecha-equipped warriors with, among other things, ass-katana, they are also abrasively loud, aggressive, and sexy counterpoints to the sweet Robo-geisha who features as the film’s protagonist.
The color palette, with its pink hues and soft shades, and CGI blood make for a glossy, although absurd, visually delightful and highly entertaining work from Iguchi. This exploitative film’s final act left me aghast with pleasure. Consistently comical, Robo-geisha’s innocent playfulness has no peer when it comes to cool, imaginatively implausible fun. Unsurprisingly, special makeup effects artist Yoshihiro Nishimura teamed up with Iguchi again on this film, and the two have something wonderful going on here.
Trivial Observations: In the second act, when Robo-geisha meets her first client, the Japanese Yakuza boss is played by Yoshihiro Nishimura.
In attendance for the film, Noboru Iguchi informed the audience that in the print screened, “hip-katana” was incorrectly translated in the subtitles, and should actually read “ass-katana.”
Attended screening on 9/25/09 at Fantastic Fest, Robo-geisha premiered in Japan on October 3, 2009.
Labels: Action, Japan, Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura


Ninja Assassin (2009 James McTeigue) dispatches the action before you can blink an eye, and in this sense, foreshadows the stealthy attack methods of the figure its high-concept title announces. No detail is spared from the iconography. Everything is here, from throwing stars to impossibly-agile, black-clothed wall-scalers. And of course, there are the fight scenes.
Special makeup effects artist Yoshihiro Nishimura has established his reputation as director with his second film, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009 co-directed with Naoyuki Tomomatsu), and his previous movie, Tokyo Gore Police (2008), with prosthetic latex creations which display every imaginable way to see people dismembered in the goriest possible ways, with a few hundred gallons of stage blood drenching the productions for a good hour, at least.
Miike previously directed Audition (1999) and Ichi the Killer (2001); two of the darkest, most visceral and disturbing movies to come from Japan in the past 10 years, which also happen to be modern masterpieces of the transgressive urban narrative. Always one to try new things, Miike has no problem helming this family-friendly big-budget action pic.
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009 Grant Heslov) next plays a credit sequence over various video excerpts depicting the Middle East, Saddam, Bush 41 etc . . .




