Written by: Michael Den Boer on January 15th, 2009
Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 2006
Director: Daigo Udagawa
Writer: Daigo Udagawa
Cast: Mihiro, Haruki Jo, Seiji Nakamitsu, Rio Nakamura, Shô Nishino, Naoya Ohshima, Ikko Suzuki, Yuuken Yoshida
DVD released: November 11th, 2008
Approximate running time: 77 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo Japanese
Subtitles: English
DVD Release: Cinema Epoch
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.98
Synopsis: After her mother is arrested for prostitution, a young woman named Saki is forced to help the police by going undercover and expose a prostitution ring at a local high school.
Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop is clearly inspired by Shinji Wada Manga series Sukeban Deka about an undercover teenager who works for a special police unit. Even with these minor similarities between the two, in the end Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop diverges to far away from what made previous cinematic incarnations of Shinji Wada’s Sukeban Deka so enjoyable.
The plot for Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop starts off with bang, only to eventually meander into an incoherent mess. One of the plot’s biggest mistakes is how it shifts away from having Saki as an outsider driven by her duty to find those behind the prostitution ring. The shift is to jarring as Saki throws everything out the window because she just wants to be a normal girl and be part of the in crowd. With this shift in the story ark she has abandon her original goal of helping the police who promise to release her mother from jail. This change of direction takes away any sympathy she once had.
Another problem this film has is that the sex scenes feel more like padding to what is already a nonexistent plot. To the director’s credit the film has plenty of nudity and other titillating moments that give the viewer something interesting to look at. This film was clearly shot on the cheap and the overall production value is very limited. This is most evident in the set used as the office of the man Saki reports too. The acting is merely adequate with the only performance of note being the film’s lead Mihiro. Ultimately Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop is an uneven film that never lives up to its salacious premise.
The DVD:
Cinema Epoch presents Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Overall the transfer for this shot on video production fares well with nicely saturated colors and black levels remain consistent throughout. There is some minor edge enhancement and some of the darker scenes are not as sharp as the rest of the film.
This release comes with one audio option a Dolby Digital stereo mix and removable English subtitles have been provided. Overall the audio sounds clear and is free of any audio defects.
Extras for this release include a two minute trailer for Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop (in Japanese, no English subtitles), a stills gallery that plays with music from the film in the background and a twenty five minute behind the scenes documentary (in Japanese, no English subtitles). Unfortunately all the extras that are in Japanese have not been given English subtitles. Overall Cinema Epoch gives Yo-Yo Girl Cop a good audio/video presentation, while they drop the ball with the lack of English subtitles on all of the extra content