Tokugawa Sex Ban – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1972
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Writers: Masahiro Kakefuda, Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Hiroshi Nawa, Ruriko Ikejima, Sandra Julien, Miki Sugimoto, Taiji Tonoyama, Fumio Watanabe, Akira Ôizumi, Utako Kyô, Yôko Mihara

Release Date: March 10th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 88 Minutes 27 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Japanese
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"In Tokugawa era Japan, Princess Kiyo (Miki Sugimoto), youngest daughter of mighty Shogun Ienari Tokugawa, weds country lord Tadateru Ogura. Unfortunately for Kiyo, her new husband is a “man’s man” who has no interest in women. To help Tadateru discover his sexual side, his courtiers bring in Sandra (Sandra Jullien, star of Ravishing Dany and The Shiver of the Vampires), a French courtesan who arrives in a wooden box, like a porcelain doll. Her extraordinary sexual technique awakens Tadateru to the fun he’s been missing all these years. Unfortunately, he enjoys it so much that he decides it’s too good for commoners and so enforces a sex ban on the rest of his subjects, decreeing that any of them having intercourse will be executed. Soon the enraged populace are storming Tadateru’s castle with a battering ram shaped like a giant phallus!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand new 2k transfer from film negative, digitally restored."

Tokugawa Sex Ban comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28.8 GB

Feature: 23.9 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Japanese with are removable English subtitles. The audio is in great shape. Dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles), interview with film critic Kōshi Ueno who provides an overview Norifumi Suzuki early films as a director and Tokugawa Sex Ban (17 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.

Summary:

Norifumi Suzuki directed Tokugawa Sex Ban. He’s known for The Lustful Shogun and His 21 Concubines, School of the Holy Beast, The Killing Machine, Star of David: Hunting for Beautiful Girls, and Roaring Fire. He also directed several films in the Girl Boss and Terrifying Girls' High School film series.

The virgin daughter of a shogun is married to a lord whose sexual inexperience causes problems between them. The lord's most trusted advisors put him with women who will help him increase his sexual prowess. When the lord becomes attached to his French mistress, his wife becomes jealous and has her arrested and tortured.

Tokugawa Sex Ban, like Hot Springs Mimizu Geisha, another film directed by Norifumi Suzuki, are prime examples of Toei’s forays into Pinku eiga. Though most of these were period set films, Toei’s take on this genre would evolve into what is now known as Pinky Violence. Whether set in the past or present, all of Toei’s Pinku eiga are known for their mix of eroticism, violence, and action. Also, films like Tokugawa Sex Ban and Hot Springs Mimizu Geisha can be seen as successors to Euro guro films like Teruo Ishii’s Joys of Torture series.

Tokugawa Sex Ban’s narrative is nothing more than a series of erotic moments. Outside of the protagonist and his wife, there is no time spent building up characters. Fortunately, none of these things matter, since it is its moments of eroticism that drive the narrative. That said, the most surprising aspect of Tokugawa Sex Ban is how effectively it employs humor. The humor comes from two sources: the sexual situations and Lord Tadateru Ogura’s ban on sex and subsequent revolt from the locals.

When it comes to the performances, the entire cast is outstanding, especially Hiroshi Nawa (Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture), who portrays Lord Tadateru Ogura, who is unable to satisfy his wife. Not to be overlooked are the two female leads, Miki Sugimoto (Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs), who portrays Lord Tadateru Ogura’s frustrated wife, and Sandra Julien (The Shiver of the Vampires), who portrays Lord Tadateru Ogura’s French mistress. Throughout, director Norifumi Suzuki never misses an opportunity to showcase these two women’s beauty. 

Visually, there are many striking moments in Tokugawa Sex Ban. That said, none is more striking than a scene where a woman committing harakiri begs her husband to finish her by chopping her head off. Other notable moments are a scene where Sandra Julien and Miki Sugimoto frolic naked in front of a waterfall and a scene where the French mistress is hung upside down on a cross as the ocean's water rises and submerges her head. Ultimately, Tokugawa Sex Ban is a film that quickly draws you in, and it does a superb job building to an ironic finale where Lord Tadateru Ogura finally achieves ecstasy, albeit at a cost.

Tokugawa Sex Ban gets an excellent release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer