Pink Cut & Top Stripper – Kani (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1982 (Top Stripper), Japan, 1983 (Pink Cut)
Director: Yoshimitsu Morita (Both Films)
Cast: Kaori Okamoto, Ken Miyawaki, Nami Misaki, Ayako Ota, Jun Ueno, Yudo Yoshikawa, Akio Kaneda (Top Stripper), Mayumi Terashima, Mai Inoue, Ryoko Watanabe, Chie Yamaguchi, Miki Yamaji, Katsunobu Ito, Michiko Asô, Hirofumi Kobayashi, Tamami Kyô, Kôji Satô, Shoetsu Sato, Hitoshi Takahashi, Katsurô Yamada (Pink Cut)

Release Date: December 2nd, 2025
Approximate Running Times: 67 Minutes 28 Seconds (Top Stripper), 68 Minutes 13 Seconds (Pink Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Japanese (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

Top Stripper: "A bright-eyed delivery boy who misguidedly falls in love with the stripper next door, Gloria (Kaori Okamoto)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Pink Cut: "Mami (Mayumi Terashima) and Yuka (Mai Inoue) open a barbershop best known for its… special services." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (Both Films)

Here’s the information given about the transfers, "High Definition presentation."

Pink Cut and Top Stripper come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 39.3 GB

Feature: 18.2 GB (Top Stripper), 18.4 GB (Pink Cut)

All of the sources look excellent; they far exceed any of these films' previous home media releases. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, contrast, and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5 (Both Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. All audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an introduction by Kazuko Misawa for Top Stripper (3 minutes 40 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an introduction by Kazuko Misawa for Pink Cut (3 minutes 55 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to 1,000 units), and a 20-page booklet with an essay titled The Fantasy Game: Yoshimitsu Morita’s Roman Porno Films written by Aaron Gerow and on-set photographs.

Summary:

Yoshimitsu Morita directed Top Stripper and Pink Cut. He’s most known for The Family Game, Sorekara, Haru, and Lost Paradise.

Top Stripper: A delivery boy falls in love with a stripper who has no idea he exists.

Top Stripper is the first of two Pinku Eiga films directed by Yoshimitsu Morita, the other being Pink Cut. Top Stripper does a superb job fulfilling the requirements of this genre, and its main location, a strip club, provides a perfect setting for sexual escapades. The women who perform at the strip club do more than take their clothes off; they perform choreographed sex shows, many of which include audience participation.

Although the narrative does a superb job balancing exposition and erotica, it is the latter where it really shines. The erotic sequences are exquisitely photographed and overflowing with inventiveness. That said, when it comes to sex scenes, they are often brief and never match the quality of the strip club performances.

While Top Stripper’s main focus is sex, it is also a coming-of-age film. Its protagonist, a delivery boy named Yoichi, must ultimately choose between his fantasy girl or the real thing. Yoichi is a naive character, and Ken Miyawaki’s performance flawlessly captures it. Another performance of note is Kaori Okamoto, who portrays Gloria, the stripper who Yoichi falls madly in love with. Ultimately, although Top Stripper is a well-crafted Pinku Eiga, it is not one of this genre's more memorable films.

Pink Cut: Two friends open a barbershop that only employs women and serves a male clientele.

For his second foray into Pinku Eiga, Yoshimitsu Morita makes a film with a more lighthearted tone. In Pink Cut, most characters are just looking to have a good time with no complications, and the few on the opposite end of the spectrum, fortunately, play a limited role in the story that unfolds. While sex is the focal point, Pink Cut surprises with how effectively it employs humor.

The narrative is a perfect blend of eroticism and exposition. The narrative exceeds expectations when it comes to fleshing out characters and storylines. Things move briskly, and the narrative does a superb job building to its very satisfying finale. That said, moments of erotica are well-crafted, and the visuals always capture things in an inventive way.

Pink Cut is best described as a romantic comedy through the lens of Pinku Eiga. It has a solid premise that grabs you: an all-woman-operated barber shop where their male clientele care more about ogling than how their haircut turns out. For whatever reason the barber shop is successful, despite being very busy. Ultimately, Pink Cut is a highly entertaining Pinku Eiga whose playfulness is infectious.

Kani brings together two Pinku Eiga films directed by Yoshimitsu Morita and gives them solid audio/video presentations and informative extras. Highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer