QuaranTV 2: Sukeban Deka
I have a new book to launch (White Tiger, Black Leopard comes out tomorrow, Wednesday November 25 on your favorite ebook retailer…) but I also have had a fever for a week and am locked at home waiting for the results of a Covid test. So instead of worrying about book promotions and things like that (I did not even mention that White Tiger, Black Leopard is a new martial arts fantasy inspired by Chinese wuxia literature and old fashioned pulp adventures) I am watching lots of TV and laying around. Something about flu-like symptoms and low grade fevers makes the couch incredibly tempting. And since, for once, I am not doing 15 other things while I watch TV this seems like a good time to catch up on all those Japanese movies and TV shows I have been meaning to watch when I have the time to sit still and pay attention. Time I have, sitting still is about all I have the energy for and paying attention… well, as long as it is nothing too serious. That means that four hour version of the 47 Ronin is too much but something like Sukeban Deka, which translates roughly to delinquent girl undercover agent or something along those lines, is perfect.
A couple of years ago one of the overstock book and DVD sites I frequent had dirt cheap copies of Sukeban Deka 1&2 and the later remake Yo-Yo Girl Cop. I picked up all three DVDs and placed them on my over growing stack of stuff to watch eventually. I knew the films were based on a manga, but I have never read it and honestly I am not even sure it has ever been translated and released in the US. I was just in the right mood and they were cheap… I think I also bought a box set of Delinquent Girl Boss movies on the same order.
So flash forward to the era of Covid, a fever I would normally ignore forcing me to stay home and boredom pushing me to look for something other than the tokusatsu shows I have been watching lately… Sukeban Deka seemed the perfect choice. And I have to say: it surprised the hell out of me!
What I did not realize going into the film was that it was based more on the Sukeban Deka television series than the original manga. Starring Yoko Minamino (who is the second delinquent turned undercover high school agent code named Sukeban Deka in the series) the 1987 film serves as a bridge between the second season starring Minamino and the third, starring Yui Asaka as the third agent Sukeban Deka. In fact, I did not really know any of this until after I finished watching and looked the movie up on Wikipedia. Not knowing the background did not really keep me from enjoying the movie and I did enjoy it.
High school students dealing with extreme circumstances of the real world (like being secret government agents) is a fairly common theme in manga and Sukeban Deka falls firmly into the genre. Basically, it is a typical action film with the stars wearing school uniforms. Actually, it is pretty heavily drawn from Enter The Dragon with plucky teenage girls wielding explosive/electrified yo-yos and flinging marbles instead of Bruce Lee. Right there, that exact sentence tells you if you should watch the movie or not. If you did not read that and immediately say “That sounds like the dumbest damn thing ever” and you have a soft spot for cute pop stars turned action heroes then go find a copy of Sukeban Deka! At least the first one; I have not gotten around to watching the sequel or remake yet.
One thing really did surprise me, though. The filmmakers were very respectful of the characters and actresses. With the exception of a pink jogging suit, the uniform the team chose when attacking the enemy stronghold, I think Yoko Minamino wore an ankle length skirt the entire movie (either with a fluffy pink sweater or as part of her sailor outfit school uniform). That kind of reads like a complaint, but it is not. It was nice watching a piece of Japanese action fluff that did not feature gratuitous nudity or exploitation of the young stars. I don’t know if this is because the movie was actually made for TV (although everything I have found seems to indicate it was a feature film) or just restrained, but Sukeban Deka was more chaste than I would expect from any Japanese program… something more like I would expect from late ‘80s Hong King cinema. If you have read this far and have a chance to grab a copy (or stream it from somewhere) I would say watch Sukeban Deka. It should be of interest to many Asian cinema fans.
