Takashi Ishii: The Angel Guts Collection – Third Window Films (Blu-ray)
Theatrical Release Dates: Japan, 1979 (Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Angel Guts: Nami), Japan, 1981 (Angel Guts: Red Porno), Japan, 1988 (Angel Guts: Red Vertigo), Japan, 1994 (Angel Guts: Red Flash)
Directors: Chûsei Sone (Angel Guts: Red Classroom), Noboru Tanaka (Angel Guts: Nami), Toshiharu Ikeda (Angel Guts: Red Porno), Takashi Ishii (Angel Guts: Red Vertigo, Angel Guts: Red Flash)
Cast: Yûki Mizuhara, Keizô Kanie, Jun Aki, Ken Mizoguchi (Angel Guts: Red Classroom), Eri Kanuma, Takeo Chii, Mimi Sawaki, Miyako Yamaguchi (Angel Guts: Nami), Jun Izumi, Masahiko Abe, Kyoko Ito (Angel Guts: Red Porno), Mayako Katsuragi, Naoto Takenaka, Hirofumi Kobayashi, Jun Izumi, Kazuyo Ezaki, Akira Ôtaka, Akira Emoto, Saeko Kizuki (Angel Guts: Red Vertigo), Maiko Kawakami, Jinpachi Nezu, Noriko Hayami (Angel Guts: Red Flash)
Release Date: February 23rd, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 78 Minutes 35 Seconds (Angel Guts: Red Classroom), 97 Minutes 50 Seconds (Angel Guts: Nami), 67 Minutes 17 Seconds (Angel Guts: Red Porno), 73 Minutes 32 Seconds (Angel Guts: Red Vertigo), 87 Minutes 46 Seconds (Angel Guts: Red Flash)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Interlaced / MPEG-4 AVC (Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Angel Guts: Nami), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Interlaced / MPEG-4 AVC (Angel Guts: Red Porno, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Angel Guts: Red Flash)
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Japanese (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films)
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £49.99 (UK)
Angel Guts: Red Classroom: "When Muraki, a porn magazine editor, watches a blue film depicting a gang rape in a school, he becomes obsessed with the lead actress, leading him down a dark path into obsession." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Angel Guts: Nami: "While investigating stories of rape for a magazine article, a determined but callous reporter becomes perversely aroused as she meets the women who are suffering through the horror of their experiences." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Angel Guts: Red Porno: "Nami is a department store worker who agrees to stand in for a friend in a magazine photo shoot, which turns out to be for an S&M magazine. When the photos are published, she is sacked, her lover abandons her and her life turns upside down." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Angel Guts: Red Vertigo: "Nami is a nurse and the unwilling object of her patients’ lust. When she is hit by a car whilst fleeing from the home of her unfaithful boyfriend, the driver of the car takes her as a sexual prisoner." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Angel Guts: Red Flash: "Nami is a photographer on the set of a porn film. When photographing a rape scene between a teacher and a schoolgirl, she becomes uncomfortable, having remembered a similar incident in her own past." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Video: 4/5 (Angel Guts: Red Flash), 3.5/5 (Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Angel Guts: Nami, Angel Guts: Red Porno, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo)
Angel Guts: Red Classroom comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 26.3 GB
Feature: 19.8 GB
Angel Guts: Nami comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 34.6 GB
Feature: 24.8 GB
Angel Guts: Red Porno and Angel Guts: Red Vertigo come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 44.9 GB
Feature: 16.9 GB (Angel Guts: Red Porno), 18.4 GB (Angel Guts: Red Vertigo)
Angel Guts: Red Flash comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 30.2 GB
Feature: 21.9 GB
All of the films except Angel Guts: Red Flash are interlaced. According to Third Window Films, there is no other source currently available from the rights holder. Angel Guts: Red Flash is the same transfer that Third Window Films used for their Takashi Ishii: 4 Tales of Nami box set. The sources for the other four films are free of any source-related damage. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction. That said, despite being interlaced, these four films noticeably improve over ArtsMagic's 2005 DVD release.
Audio: 4.25/5 (All Audio Tracks)
Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. All tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and range-wise, ambient sounds are well represented.
Extras:
Extras for Angel Guts: Red Classroom include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 7 seconds, DTS-HD mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with filmmaker Takashi Ishii where he discusses Chûsei Sone (10 minutes 7 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Takashi Ishii where he discusses the Angel Guts film series (10 minutes 7 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Frankie Balboa titled From Ink to Reels (14 minutes 30 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.
Extras for Angel Guts: Nami include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 44 seconds, DTS-HD mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Noboru Tanaka (39 minutes 57 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), a video essay by James Balmont titled Angel Guts: Arthouse of Exploitation (17 minutes 1 second, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.
Extras for Angel Guts: Red Porno include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 28 seconds, DTS-HD mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Toshiharu Ikeda (36 minutes 20 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Samm Deighan.
Extras for Angel Guts: Red Vertigo include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 32 seconds, DTS-HD mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Takashi Ishii (32 minutes 32 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Tom Mes.
Extras for Angel Guts: Red Flash include an archival interview with Takashi Ishii (32 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Matthew Carter titled The Many Faces of Nami (16 minutes 2 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Japanese film clips), and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.
Other extras include an 8-page booklet with an essay titled Finding Nami written by Midori Suiren.
Summary:
In the early 1970s, the Nikkatsu Corporation, Japan's oldest film studio, encountered financial challenges, leading to the decision to adopt a new strategy. The Nikkatsu Corporation decided to focus entirely on a new genre called romantic pornography films. Over the next eighteen years, from 1971 to 1988, the company produced around 850 films in this genre. The Angel Guts film series is based on a manga created by Takashi Ishii in 1977 and one year later, the first film, High School Coed, was released.
Angel Guts: Red Classroom: A young girl runs through the school hallways as her thugs chase after her. They corner her in one of the classrooms as each of them takes turns raping her. We soon find out that the action that we are watching is nothing more than a staged blue movie that a group of dirty old men have been watching. Muraki is the boss of an S&M magazine who becomes infatuated with Nami, the girl in the film. When he tracks Nami down and approaches her about working with him, he finds out that she is now a prostitute who has no desire to do those ever again. They forge a friendship that is put to the test when Muraki doesn’t show up one day to meet Nami because he has been arrested. Will Muraki be able to gain Nami’s trust again or has he lost her forever?
Although Chûsei Sone returns for the second film in the series, he does not rehash what he did for Angel Guts: High School Coed, beginning a trend that would continue for the next three films in the series, in which each director brings a distinctly different viewpoint. It’s not surprising that Chûsei Sone was chosen as the director to establish the Angel Guts film series; his notable romantic pornographic film credits include Hellish Love, Naked Rashamon, and Female Ninja Magic: 100 Trampled Flowers. While he did not work much outside of this genre, his most notable film is Case of the Disjointed Murder, and as a screenwriter, he co-wrote Branded to Kill and Blind Woman’s Curse.
When Angel Guts: Red Classroom begins, it introduces the viewer to a woman who's being chased and raped by three men. This opening looks unusually rough and not polished like one has come to expect from Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films. Once everything settles, the camera pulls back to reveal that what just happened was a film that a group of men were watching. The narrative that unfolds is a cold and cynical perspective on the world of pornographic films, refusing to romanticize the industry.
Chûsei Sone’s direction hits all the requirements of the genre, and visually every frame is filled with arresting imagery and symbolism that heightens the mood. The sex scenes are equally depraved and absurd, with moments like a faux genealogist sequence, a golden shower, and a full-circle finale where another girl suffers the fate that befell the protagonist Nami at the beginning of the film. The film "Angel Guts: Red Classroom" and others in the series had to find creative methods to portray sex scenes due to Japanese censorship. Instead of diminishing what was happening on screen, their choices consistently enhanced the eroticism.
Angel Guts: Red Classroom is a film that connects with you on a deeper level than other films in the series. Where the other Angel Guts films are more concerned about shocking and arousing you, Angel Guts: Red Classroom is a film that does a superb job exploring Nami’s trauma. Another strength is how well it balances sex scenes and exposition and it never rushes things when it comes to pacing. While critics and audiences do not always recognize performances in Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films, Yûki Mizuhara's portrayal of Nami is one of this genre's best. Ultimately, Angel Guts: Red Classroom is an exemplary film that does a phenomenal job showcasing elements that are synonymous with Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films.
Angel Guts: Nami: Nami is a reporter who writes articles about women who were raped and their experiences. Muraki is a former editor of a hugely successful magazine who has spent the last three years looking for his wife. His wife left him for the man who raped her one night while Muraki was too busy working because the rapist, unlike her husband, could satisfy her. Along the way, Nami and Muraki join forces as he helps her work on her next feature. While interviewing a former rape victim, Nami is assaulted and raped by the woman. Can Muraki help Nami or will she be forever traumatized by the consequences of her violation?
For the third film in the Angel Guts series, a new director, Noboru Tanaka, is brought in. His notable Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films are Night of the Felines, The Hell-Fated Courtesan, The Oldest Profession, A Woman Called Sada Abe, and The Watcher in the Attic. Like most of his contemporaries, he spent most of his career making Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films; his most notable film outside this genre is Village of Doom.
The first thing you notice while watching Angel Guts: Nami is how much time it devotes to exposition, and its 98-minute running time is around 20 minutes longer than most Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films. While Nami is once again the protagonist, there is a considerable amount of time devoted to Muraki. Their characters are on a similar path, albeit for different reasons. Nami, a reporter, solely writes stories about rape victims and Muraki, a former editor, also explored similar stories after his wife was raped by a burglar. The narrative does an excellent job fleshing out these two characters and bringing their stories together for the climax.
The main drive of the narrative is its exploration of the trauma experienced by rape victims. Nami’s ambition is to get the story at any cost and she does not see the harm that she's inflicting on them until she is violated. Eri Kanuma's portrayal perfectly captures Nami's journey. She does a remarkable job transforming from a woman full of confidence to someone shattered. Another performance of note is Takeo Chii (Lady Snowblood) in the role of Muraki; his character does his best to steer Nami away from things that will harm her.
The narrative does a superb job drawing you in, holding your attention, and maintaining momentum that effectively builds to a very satisfying finale. There is a jarring tonal shift in the last 20 minutes that veers into the realm of surrealism. It is at this point in the story that Nami has suffered a mental breakdown. That said, these moments are most satisfying and visually arresting. Ultimately, while some viewers might find Angel Guts: Nami’s 98-minute duration daunting, for most it is another solid example of a Nikkatsu romantic pornographic film.
Angel Guts: Red Porno: An unseen stranger stalks Nami as she walks home from work. He calls her, breathing heavily and remaining silent until she hangs up. One of Nami's bosses is pursuing her, and she currently works at a department store. He is a married man, and she becomes his mistress. Years earlier, she reluctantly participated in a bondage photo shoot, which has now resurfaced and is creating difficulties in her current life. When her boss's lover's wife discovers Nami’s past, she becomes anxious that if her history is revealed at work, their affair will also come to light. In response, he fires her. Meanwhile, a mysterious man has been stalking Nami, and she is now in fear for her life.
For the fourth film in the Angel Guts series, a new director, Toshiharu Ikeda, is brought in. His notable Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films are Sex Hunter and Blue Lagoon: A Summer Experience. He’s one of few directors who've had a lot of success outside of Nikkatsu romantic pornographic films. Notable films he’s directed include Mermaid Legend, Scent of a Spell, and Evil Dead Trap.
Toshiharu Ikeda’s Angel Guts: Red Porno is easily the weakest film in the series. Although it has all the core requirements of a Nikkatsu romantic pornographic film, the result is an uninspired film that never takes any risks. The most notable flaw is its slow-moving narrative that never builds any momentum, and for a genre where films clock at 70 minutes or less, it's never a positive thing when a film feels 30 minutes longer than it is.
While Angel Guts: Red Porno falls short in many aspects, the same cannot be said for the sex scenes, which rank among the most graphic in the series. Another area where Angel Guts: Red Porno excels is Toshiharu Ikeda’s direction. He has a knack for creating striking moments that greatly enhance the mood. The most notable scene is a moment between Nami and Muraki having sex under a jungle gym in the pouring rain. Ultimately, Angel Guts: Red Porno feels more like a collection of visually arresting pieces than a cohesive film.
Angel Guts: Red Vertigo: Nami's boyfriend Kinji is a pornographic photographer who is having an affair with one of the girls he is photographing. Nami is cornered at work by two men who rape her. She is forced to leave work early because of this trauma. After Nami arrives home, she soon discovers that her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Distraught, she leaves, and while she is walking down the road, she is hit by a car driven by Muraki. He is a former stockbroker who embezzled millions from his clients. Nami remains unconscious at first and Muraki, not wanting to get into trouble for hitting her, keeps her captive in his car. When Nami comes too, she tries to escape only to be captured once again by Muraki. Will Nami ever escape her captor or has she fallen for him?
For the fourth film in the Angel Guts series, Takashi Ishii, who created the manga, takes over. For Takashi Ishii’s directorial debut, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo, he introduced themes and obsessions that he would return to throughout his career. Notable films he’s known for are Original Sin, Gonin, and Freeze Me.
The main theme that runs throughout Angel Guts: Red Vertigo is trust. Nami is unable to trust because of her boyfriends’ infidelity and her recent rape, which lowers her view of men in general. Muraki has betrayed everyone who has ever come in contact with him and now he expects Nami to forgive him for what he has done to her. The two lead characters' lives, Nami and Muraki, seem to intersect as they meet at each other's lowest point.
While Angel Guts: Red Vertigo was not the first film to dabble in surrealism—that distinction goes to Angel Guts: Nami's use of surrealism is arguably stronger than that of the aforementioned film. Throughout Angel Guts: Red Vertigo there is a constant blurring of the line between reality and fantasy. When it comes to the visuals, Takashi Ishii creates imagery filled with symbolism and moments that elevate the mood. That said, Takashi Ishii’s strongest asset, which sets him apart from his contemporaries, is how effortlessly he blends sex scenes and exposition.
The narrative does a phenomenal job introducing its characters and building momentum to a bittersweet finale in which Nami somehow finds a moment of joy. The two leads, Mayako Katsuragi in the role of Nami and Naoto Takenaka in the role of Muraki, deliver outstanding performances. In the case of the latter, he would become a frequent collaborator of Takashi Ishii, working with him on 11 films. Ultimately, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo is a solid directorial debut that holds up well with the rest of the Angel Guts films.
Angel Guts: Red Flash: A blackmailer torments a woman with a troubled past.
Angel Guts: Red Flash is the sixth and final film in a series of films based on a manga series written by Takashi Ishii. Angel Guts: Red Flash and Angel Guts: Red Vertigo are the only films in this series that Takashi Ishii directed. Takashi Ishii would write or co-author the screenplay for every film in this series except Angel Guts: High School Coed.
Angel Guts: Red Flash is in line with the films that precede it. If it's your first time watching an Angel Guts film, you are in for a jarring experience in which erotica and carnage perfectly fuse. All of the Angel Guts films and several other films directed by Takashi Ishii have a character named Nami. Besides sharing a character named Nami, all of these films dive into subject matter that explores the darkest sides of humanity.
The narrative revolves around a woman named Nami, whose job as a photographer who shoots stills for pornographic films brings back memories of a traumatic event. She tries to navigate her pain by drinking, only to black out and wake up next to the body of a man who was bludgeoned to death. From there her life further spirals out of control as someone blackmails her about the man she might have killed.
All of the performances evaluate the story that unfolds. Maiko Kawakami’s (Violent Cop) portrayal of Nami does a superb job putting you into her state of mind, while Jinpachi Nezu (Orchids Under the Moon) delivers an equally compelling performance in the role of Muraki, a co-worker who helps her navigate what’s happening to her. In the case of the latter, his character serves as a red herring of sorts, since his motivations are not always clear.
When watching a Takashi Ishii film, something you notice is how much he puts into the visuals. Every shot is carefully composed for maximum effect, and his use of colors creates striking moments that greatly enhance the mood. Even when it comes to his opening credits, he creates stylish moments; case in point, Angel Guts: Red Flash, which opens with an extreme closeup of a woman's lips. Not to be overlooked is how he stages erotica; he creates moments that always serve the story in favor of titillation.
From a production standpoint, there is not an area where Angel Guts: Red Flash does not excel. The flawlessly crafted narrative does a phenomenal job drawing you in and building momentum with tense moments that build upon each other. Another strength of the narrative is how it employs flashbacks to flesh out Nami’s backstory. Ultimately, Angel Guts: Red Flash is so much more than a pinku eiga; it is an outstanding thriller that is among Takashi Ishii’s best films.
While the interlaced transfers are disappointing, don’t let that dissuade you from what is most likely the best release these films will get on home media. Takashi Ishii: The Angel Guts Collection is a first-rate release from Third Window Films that provides each film with an excellent audio and video presentation, along with a wealth of insightful extras. Recommended.
Written by Michael Den Boer
