The Best Hour-and-a-Half That I Have Spent in a Long Time (Death Game Park Review)

So I was trolling through TV-Nihon the other day, looking for the new Kamen Rider movie amoung other things (which I have a review of KR OOO 14 and Chou Den-O Yellow coming soon, it's just been a rough week) when I noticed a new entry entitled "Death Game Park." Interesting title, so I decided to check it out. After a quick Wiki troll, I came back with the knowledge that Death Game Park was essentially Battle Royale with Tokusatsu actors.

Sold.

So after a brief download, I loaded it up, and I was completely amazed by what I saw.

For those of you who are clueless about Battle Royale, here's a primer: An entire Japanese graduating class in shipped to a island where they fight for the right to live and have their entire lives paid for by the state. Sounds badass right? I know.

So Death Game Park is about the same, except swap students with criminals and sub in Kamen Rider Decade and Shinken Red as two of the main characters. The series was actually a string of mini episodes, but the "movie" version is all of those mini-sodes strung together into an hour-and-a-half masterpiece.

The movie opens with Tokunaga Shoudai (Tori Matsutaka [Shinken Red]) about to get his skull crushed by a crazy bastard with a bad hair cut. Right as the metal bar come crashing down a crippled man named Iwai Daigo intervenes and helps Shoudai to his feet. Daigo is played by Masahiro Inoue, of Kamen Rider Decade fame. Erina Mano also starts a young girl hellbent on revenge. REVENGE!!!!!

The game starts off with 13 competitors, all of which are convicted felons condemned to die. Shoudai seems to have no recollection of what he's done to deserve this fate, and periodically experiences flashbacks to a riot of some sort and a mysterious woman dressed in white. The game part consists of five stages with different . . . tests of skill and will to live. The first is a hide-and-seek game with "Oni" doing the seeking. Things only get more intense from that moment.

Without giving too much away, people start dropping off like flies as the games get more and more difficult and merciless.

Matsutaka and Inoue (wow that seems odd that I'm using that name to refer to a guy . . .) both give powerful performances. I can say much about Inoue, but trust me, he's great. Matsutaka proves that ShinKen Red is a badass at whatever he does, no matter the setting or series. He even knows Morse code!



This movie/series is a must see for anyone who is a fan of a well done drama, good acting and fantastic cinematography. Being a fan of Battle Royale helps, as does being a fan of either Decade or Shinkenger, but the real joy of this series is the fantastic storytelling and brilliant writing. 10/10!!! GO SEE IT NOW!