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Details
This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray. The limited edition slipcover was limited to 1,000 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.
Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America. Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!
Before The Family Game redefined the Japanese cinema of the 1980s, Yoshimitsu Morita cut his teeth on two remarkable erotic films for Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno line: Top Stripper (1982) and Pink Cut: Love Me Hard, Love Me Deep (1983). Marked by an atypically sweet, sex-positive tone and an infectious pop sensibility that stands out amongst the more tortured classics of the genre, both films find the independent filmmaker working with studio resources for the first time and therefore experimenting with various new modes of filmmaking.
Top Stripper follows Yoichi (Kensuke Miyawaki), a bright-eyed delivery boy who misguidedly falls in love with the stripper next door, Gloria (Kaori Okamoto). Shot on-location in a near-documentary style that forefronts delightful bygone locations and the camaraderie inherent to the strip club’s troupe, the film hits a surprising note of coming-of-age, suffused with open-ended questions about spectatorship that prove critical of the medium itself. Its pop-inflected counterpart, Pink Cut: Love Me Hard, Love Me Deep, sees Morita working on a set for the first time, basking in the artificiality of it all. Morita goes as far as staging musical numbers, in a fantasmatic tale of entrepreneurship that finds Mami (Mayumi Terashima) and Yuka (Mai Inoue) open a barbershop best known for its… special services. A pure candy-colored concoction emblematic of the 1980s, it reveals Morita as a thoroughly versatile filmmaker that here takes his first steps towards the striking, playful postmodernism that would define his entire oeuvre.
directed by: Yoshimitsu Morita starring: Kaori Okamoto, Ken Miyawaki, Nami Misaki, Ayako Ota, Jun Ueno, Yudo Yoshikawa, Akio Kaneda 1982, 1983 / 130 min (combined) / 1.85:1 / Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Region A Blu-ray
High Definition presentation
Interview with producer Kazuko Misawa on Yoshimitsu Morita (2025)
Kazuko Misawa introduces Top Stripper (2026)
Kazuko Misawa introduces Top Stripper
Booklet with on-set photographs and new writing from Aaron Gerow
New art from Seosie Kim
English, English SDH subtitles
Overall rating: 4.7040815 / 5 from 98 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
This Blu-ray release offers a double feature of Yoshimitsu Morita's erotic films, 'Top Stripper' and 'Pink Cut: Love Me Hard, Love Me Deep', both known for their sweet, sex-positive tone and infectious pop sensibility. The films are presented in high definition with Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio and English, English SDH subtitles. Additional features include interviews, introductions, a booklet, and new art.
"It looks fantastic and both Pink Cut and Top Stripper are equally good, perfect pairing of features!" — Eli O.
"The packaging is superb with some great artwork and the movies look great on blu ray." — Christopher K.
"It's a good selection of more wholesome feeling films, yet with a good amount of sex scenes." — Patrick D.
Reviews
A beautiful two-film collection of pink cinema
"This two-film collection is colourful, quirky, and stylistically interesting early works from Morita, though the stories are fairly light and sometimes feel more like experiments or genre exercises than fully developed narratives. Top Stripper works as a slice-of-life coming-of-age story, while Pink Cut is more stylized and playful with pastel sets and musical elements. The slipcover is a thing of beautiful art, the Blu-ray comes with some well-appointed extras, and the booklet offers a necessary context for both titles, so this comes a strong package from Kani."
— Roberto P. (5/5)
Cute Nikkatsu Pinku Roman Porno
"This Pinku double bill leans far more lighthearted than the usual Roman Porno fare. Think wholesome sliceâofâlife energy rather than the darker, more violent tones the genre is known for, a genuinely refreshing change of pace. Yoshimitsu Morita brings an easygoing charm to these fluffy stories about strippers and the young women who lure and pamper (wink wink) horny men in their barbershop. His direction is colorful, breezy, and full of small, authentic observations about Japanese society and culture in the 80s, all filtered through his unmistakably playful style. The Kani release looks gorgeous, and the films themselves feel like a delightful discovery - an unexpected, warmly entertaining addition to the collection."
— Peter B. (4/5)
Kani Does Nikkatsu
"Saw Top Stripper at Japan Society some time ago, and it was nice to revisit it. Glad that Kani dipping into Nikkatsu’s Roman line. We’re in a renaissance or vintage Japanese film on home video right now, and I’m here for it. Nice slipcover with great art, and a nice book, though the special features are a bit thin otherwise. Still a very solid release."
— Kenneth F. (4/5)
Love it!
"Beautiful pink movies, really delightful"
— Ian S. (5/5)
A Bit Overrated, But Still Fun!
"I didn't know what to expect from this. I bought it mostly because of the immediate hype when it was selling out quickly in its initial release and the intriguing DVD cover. This collection is very sweet, colorful, and just cotton candy fun. Top Stripper was very entertaining and surprisingly tender. Pink Cut was admittedly kind of boring in comparison but was much raunchier and sexier but with not much if any plot; it was more visual candy aesthetics if anything. IMHO this was a little overhyped, but both films still brought a smile to my face for how very 80's it is. They're films very much of their time in all its poppy and effervescent splendor."
— Vanessa C. (4/5)
Perfect pink package
"Amazing Kani release! I’m a fan of Kani and it’s incredible to see them put out this double bill of bubble gum Nikkatsu Roman Pornos. I hope we get more of this from Kani, the Nikkatsu library has plenty more that would fit and they need to be more widely seen. The release is great, beautiful transfers (the colours in these films are Incredible), nice reversible cover artwork (the top stripper artwork is my favorite) an intro for each film from the producer (and wife of the director) and great essays in the booklet. Highly recommended and I hope we get more Nikkatsu (or pink) from Kani."
— Ben C. (5/5)
Pink fun
"Fun little pack of early '80s Japanese erotic films. Pink Cut has some fun surreal sections, though the plot description is a little misleading. The video quality is fantastic, though I wish there were more special features."
— Marcus P. (5/5)
Great double feature
"A beautiful looking release of two Roman Porno titles. This is probably a good first buy if you're interested in the line. They get much darker and weirder than these. Lots of nudity, a fairly quick pace and short 67 minute runtimes make for a decent set. Another label put out about 40 Roman pornos over the last several years, but very few have hit HD as far as I'm aware. None look better than these. Recommended."
— Ed K. (5/5)
Fun Pink Double
"Fun Pink Double"
— Jonathan G. (5/5)
Cool flick
"The transfer looks great and has lots of extras. Great ending."
— Guillermo M. (5/5)
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