The Way to Fight

A film that probably works better when watching Miike's work chronologically. The Way to Fight feels like a precursor to the Young Thugs films and his Crows Zero work, a mix of micro-Yakuza crime and coming of age cinema. It's not as refined as these later Miike's, but still quite a bit of fun.

Kazoyoshi and Takeshi are the top fighters of their respective high schools. To determine who is the best fighter of the two, a special bout is organized. When the time is finally there, the two seem to be missing each other every time they want to meet up. When they do finally get together, a big brawl is about to go down.

Not quite as mad as Miike's later films, not quite as ambitious either and with a runtime of nearly 120 minutes, the film does lag just a little. But there's still a lot of fun to be had with this one. Miike's quirkiness is already present, performances are decent, and the film oozes love for cinema. It's a stepping stone to Miike's future masterpieces.