First Love – Review

Wrapping his hands and putting in earbuds, boxer Leo Katsuragi (Kubota) trains in the gym with his coach before a real match kicks in. As he K.O.s his opponent, across Tokyo a head rolls from an alleyway into the street, after being swiftly sliced off by a katana-wielding mystery figure.

Leo is on a winning streak, but his trainer says eventually he will lose. Inspiring. As cop Otomo (Ômori) arrives at the beheading scene, he quickly chats up a young Yakuza named Kase (Sometani). It appears a Filipino drug lord was sliced up. War is in the air, per the cop’s intuition. Maybe it was the Chinese who did the attack, however.

Meanwhile, Yakuza Gondo (Uchino) is released from prison and picked up by his gang. Leo goes to work at a Chinese restaurant, washing dishes and scraping by. In his next fight, he has a strange reaction and goes down wobbling despite only a soft blow. Something seems off, so he hits up the doctor office.

Next, drug afflicted and haunted street worker Yuri, who goes by Monica professionally, is in a bad spot and in need of money. But, so is everyone… and there is a large drug shipment coming in soon. A bunch of competing parties suddenly have their sights set on making some big paydays off this drug loot, and forces are set to collide in unanticipated ways.

First Love is a creatively bonkers criminal affair. Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, dirty cops, assassins, drug shipments, blades, bullets, blood and Leo and Yuri all get blended up into insane chaos. What’s not to like? The film is well acted and directed, with an entertaining script and multiple creative presentation techniques. Miike is a veteran director who makes multiple movies a year and covers a crazy number of genres through his work.