The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo (1987)

 

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto

Screenplay: Shinya Tsukamoto

Cast: Nariaki Senba as Denchu Kozo; Nobu Kanaoka as Sariba Sensei; Kei Fujiwara as Future Eve; Shinya Tsukamoto as Kondo; Tomorô Taguchi as Hijikata; Mitsuru Saga as Okita; Kenji Nasa as Ryoma Sakamoto

Canon Fodder

 

Before Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Shinji Tsukamoto was part of Kaijyu Theatre, the future film production company of his originally a tent where Tsukamoto, wanting to act more, performed plays of his and collaborators in what looked like a sex monster as a tent, hence “kaijyu” after the Japanese for “sea monster”. The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo, or The Adventures of Electric Rod Boy, was one of the first micro-features as a director Tsukamoto helmed based on plays of theirs, following the aforementioned teen boy born with a giant electrical pylon growing out of his back. Bullied, he is however protected by Momoko, a female friend who out of gratitude he offers a homemade time machine to her only to be sucked into a time wormhole himself.

This takes him into a future where vampires have turned civilization into a post-apocalypse where they rule the world, showing the ingenuity which would be found throughout Tetsuo here already. It is, for a forty minute plot, a delirious production in itself, where the vampires created “Adam Junior”, which allowed them to envelop the sky in darkness twenty five years from where our lead was taken from. Now they need to develop Adam Special for more power, before the sunlight returns, and it allows collaborator Kei Fujiwara to act as the virginal "Future Eve", reaching puberty, part of Adam Special who they are waiting to mature and allow her to become an encompassing and powerful force on their side. A female teacher there will help Denchu-Kozo, as well as another time travelling rod boy, in what is a delirious work which is proudly over-the-top in tone. I think how there is a child choir at one point, like a Japanese animated series from the seventies, emphasizes the more playful tone to this to later Tsukamoto films which is its own virtue, still with its foot in a type of storytelling that would not really be found in his later work. Humour can still be found, but he became serious in a great way, leaving this a rare work with a more absurd tone.

Even more a low budget indie production next to Tetstuo, with a young Tsukamoto looking like a Visual Kei band member alongside regular lead actor Tomorô Taguchi, this however presents already the fascinating creativity in terms of visuals and sounds he explored. The use of manipulating the screen, where actors are “moved” in stop motion outside to show rapid speed, is used here for the chase sequences, whilst the home made quality of the props is found, especially with Adam Special as a strange melding of sexuality and body horror which feels like a prototype to later Tsukamoto. This, absolutely, has tonal choices which left his filmography, but are admirable in the vast contrast to before, such as the abrupt use of Japanese punk music, or how the end credits is animated illustration of electric rod people which feels like a weird experimental anime made by one person in its presence.

It also still tells a story, which a dramatic conclusion with pathos, which does feel closer to his later work, including the surprising changes that came where drama became more important to Tsukamoto as well as the prominence of female characters as important (and even central) figures in his work, already present here. It is an early work,  in the sense that his style would become more refined even in the later film, less likely to have the eccentricities here such as having the vampires living in an apartment (for budgetary reasons) covered on the walls in softcore erotic photos. It does however like the best early work, even the best ultra low budget work, have the creativity and unpredictability I have to admire immensely even if I did not appreciate the director already.