DVD Released: July 27th, 2004
Approximate Running Time: 91 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
DVD Release: Adness
Region Coding: Region 1 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.99

Tomie Forbidden Fruit a tale about two girls name Tomie. Tomie Hashimoto (Aoi Miyazaki) is the class geek who is constantly harassed by her classmates. Her life changes one day when she another Tomie (Nozomi Ando) who is her exact opposite. The story gets even stranger when Tomie Hashimoto’s father Kazuhiko Hashimoto (Jun Kunimura) meets this girl who looks just like a girl name Tomie who had loved 25 years ago. It doesn’t take long before Tomie does what she does best seducing those around her and she tries to convince Kazuhiko to kill his daughter so that they can be together.

Film franchises come with a built in audience so it isn’t a surprise that in Asia like in Hollywood sequel after sequel are being unleashed on the viewing public. Most sequels offer very little when compared to the film that starts a franchise. Of course there are a few rules to the exception like The Empire Strikes Back and Godfather 2. The series of films based on Junji Ito’s character Tomie may vary in quality, still they all can stand on their own and they don’t have to be watched in order like most sequels. The Tomie series reached its peak with Tomie Replay and no in its fifth installment the series is starting to wear out its welcome. As this film it progresses spirals more out of control and the motives of characters become confusing as they try to please Tomie. The two girls named Tomie appear have stronger bond then friendship and the attraction between the two girls is most evident when they lay next to each other in the park. Visually this Tomie film is on par with the other films in the series and my only complaint would be this films lack of plot and character depth. My favorite scene in the film is when the three girls who bullied Kazuhiko’s daughter show up looking for her. He beats the living hell out of them as all he can see is his lost love Tomie’s face. The scene is brutal and yet it does have some dark humor in it. All the clichés we have come to expect from horror movies are included in Tomie Forbidden Fruit. Tomie is like Freddy or Jason Voorhees no matter how hard you try to kill her she comes back. The level of violence and amount of gore is the most this series has seen to date.

The DVD:

Tomie Forbidden Fruit is presented in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the films original 1:85:1 aspect ratio. The colors are good; still they are not as vivid as Adness’s Tomie Replay DVD. Detail is sharp through out and darker scenes exhibit strong black levels as grain is kept to a minimum. There are two audio options on this DVD is a Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese and Dolby Digital stereo Japanese. The dialog is comes through clearly without ever overwhelming the viewer. There is no sign of distortion or audio hiss. The English subtitles are easy to read and follow and unlike previous editions the subtitles are more accurate.

The extra is a making of featurette that runs about twenty eight minutes in length. It is in Japanese and English subtitles have been included. Rounding out the extras are trailers for the five Tomie films. Tomie Forbidden Fruit the fifth installment in the Tomie series and the title suggests the final chapter in the Tomie saga. Tomie Forbidden Fruit is the least original of the five as it borrows elements from the previous four films, still this is very satisfying film that achieves everything it has set out to do.