Instead of being driven by a twisted sense of vengeance, protagonist Ichiban, a washed-up gangster in his 40s, seeks answers. He’s a welcome antidote
It sounds like the set-up for a violent revenge movie. Low-ranking yakuza Ichiban Kasuga takes the blame for an inter-clan assassination and does 18 years in prison to protect the organisation’s patriarch. But, on his release, the gang disowns him and the boss, who he considers a father figure, shoots him and leaves him for dead. Kasuga wakes up days later, destitute and alone in another city. Surely, the stage is set for bloody retribution?
Well … not quite. Kasuga is not that kind of protagonist.
