[GEO9875] Tenshi no Uppercut (1986) HDTV 01-13 Complete Series

Synopsis:

Keiko, a rebellious transfer student, confronts the strict school system and the enigmatic delinquent organization "Benibara Group" at her new Tokyo high school, while grappling with the shocking revelation of a long-lost sister.

Here you have Tenshi no Uppercut, another 80s classic J-Drama from Daiei, now with English subtitles! This one's a bit more under the radar, which gives me greater pleasure to make it more accesible. I first ran into this show after I stumbled across the banging opening track Talk to Me by Naomi Matsui online, it's a cover of a Quarterflash song, and once I realized it came from a Daiei drama, it went into my radar. The story itself grabbed me too, dealing with school institutions, delinquency, and family drama, which are all things I dig, and quite typical of Daiei. It even reminded me of other Sukeban-style shows like Sailor Suit Rebel Alliance, but with a bit of a twist. Fun fact, Mio Ezaki from Rebel Alliance directed a few episodes here, and one of the regular actors also appeared in the first couple of episodes of Rebel Alliance. So if you enjoyed those shows, you'll probably find something to like in this one too.

Like I mentioned before, this was a more low-profile Daiei drama that didn't become as popular as shows like Stewardess Monogatari or Janus no Kagami, and it didn't run for as many episodes. It never even got a DVD release in Japan, so I had to source a recording from TBS Channel 2 for this project. (That's why the video quality isn't as good as some of the other Daiei projects I've done, but it's all I had to work with.) A show this obscure would probably have stayed unsubbed forever otherwise, and that's even with the most popular Daiei dramas in Japan still being pretty unknown in the west. But that's exactly why I enjoy picking these shows up, and in the end, it ended up becoming one of my favorite Daiei dramas, which makes it a shame it didn't do better in the ratings, oh well. Enjoy all 13 episodes!