"Actor: Ken Narita"

• Yakuza Apocalypse Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (02/05/2016) from £7.72   |  Saving you £9.53 (147.52%)   |  RRP £15.99

  “Demented brilliance.” 5 Stars - Robbie Collin The Telegraph From acclaimed cult director Takashi Miike (13 Assassins Ichi The Killer Audition) and the producers of The Raid and Starring Yayan Ruhian (”Mad Dog” The Raid) and Hayato Ichihara (All About Lilly Chou Chou). In the ruthless underground world of the yakuza no one is more legendary than boss Kamiura. Rumored to be invincible the truth is he is a vampire-a bloodsucking yakuza vampire boss! Among Kamiura's gang is Kageyama his most loyal underling. However the others in the gang view Kageyama with disdain and ridicule him for his inability to get tattooed due to sensitive skin. One day assassins aware of boss Kamiura's secret arrive from abroad and deliver him an ultimatum: Return to the international syndicate he left years ago or die. Kamiura refuses and during a fierce battle with anime-otaku martial-arts expert Kyoken is torn limb from limb. With his dying breath Kamiura bites Kageyama passing on his vampire powers to the unsuspecting yakuza. As he begins to awaken to his newfound abilities Kageyama's desire to avenge the murder of boss Kamiura sets him on a course for a violent confrontation with Kaeru-kun the foreign syndicate's mysterious and seemingly unstoppable leader!

• Yakuza Graveyard | DVD | (19/08/2002) from £8.47   |  Saving you £7.52 (88.78%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Yakuza Graveyard was one of the stylish, morally ambivalent movies with which director Kinji Fukasaki revolutionised the Japanese gangster genre in the 1970s. These days more famous for his brilliant teen exploitation film Battle Royale, Fukasaki has a proven flair for unsettlingly violent scenes in which the camera dips and twirls as his characters throw each other down stairs and across rooms. An honest cop (Tetsuya Watari) is stationed in Osaka and finds himself caught up in a nightmare world where his superiors launder money and carry out hits for several rival gangs. His sense of honour--already supporting the drunken, promiscuous widow of a man he killed--ties him ever closer to the principal heavy of the gang his superiors are gradually destroying and to the man's half-sister, with whom he falls passionately in love. A torrid interlude as waves beat on the shore--waves that somehow manage to be something other than a cliché--is just a break in the gloomy spiral of degradation and death. This is in some ways as corny as anything, in other ways a minor classic. On the DVD: Yakuza Graveyard is presented in 16:9 widescreen and comes with a short text essay explaining the importance of the film in the development of Fukasaki's career and the yakuza genre. --Roz Kaveney

• X | DVD | (31/12/2000) from £9.11   |  Saving you £8.88 (97.48%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Tokyo is the city where the final battle between the Dragon of Earth and the Dragon of Heaven will take place in the Japanese anime film X, directed by Taro Rin and written by the all-woman writing team Clamp. The Dragon of Earth wants to wipe out humankind because of the damage people have inflicted on the Earth, while the Dragon of Heaven is fighting to protect civilisation. At the centre of all this is Kamui, the chosen one, who must pick a dragon to fight for.Full of dreams and flashbacks that pop up out of nowhere, the structure of X could be considered confusing and needlessly complex if the story weren't so simple. Obviously, we are supposed to root for the Dragon of Heaven to win and save mankind, but the funny thing is, the Dragon of Earth has the better argument. If it were a debate, humanity would lose. But it's not a debate, it's an action film, and many of Tokyo's most famous buildings get destroyed in the battles. As with most anime, the women are either girlishly cute or slutty, but luckily in X, there are no graphic rapes; the love interest is merely crucified three or four times. It may not be the greatest anime film out there, but at least it's never boring. --Andy Spletzer