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| Images courtesy of Cleopatra Entertainment |
Lion-Girl (2023) starts provocatively, with various fully nude men and women posed artistically, glaring at the titular Lion-Girl (Lori Griffith). They transform into monsters, and it zooms in on Lion-Girl's back as an intricate tattoo begins to glow. Cue the cool synthesizer music! Immediately, the audience knows they aren't in for a regular superhero flick, and if they have any prior knowledge of Go Nagai's works, they won't be surprised. Nagai is most famous for Cutey Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z and was instrumental in the manga industry. Although Lion-Girl isn't based on a published manga, Nagai supplied the ideas and character design, so it has all of his usual proclivities--to include his love for boobies.
This is one wild ass film. It's probably one of the few that captures how surreal and over-the-top Go Nagai's work is. It's pulpy, teetering on exploitation (again, like Nagai's work), and some of the acting isn't the greatest, but it has a lot of heart and passion behind it. Western mainstream movies have shied away from casual nudity, but Lion-Girl seems to celebrate it, with much of it centered on Lion-Girl herself. It isn't shocking when one considers that one of Nagai's most popular works is Kekko Kamen, which features a female superhero who fights butt naked except for a pair of boots and a mask to hide her face. There is equal opportunity nudity as well, with both men and women letting it all hang out.
The main negative of Lion-Girl is that it's way too long and relies on heavy bouts of exposition dumping. This often happens in live-action manga and anime adaptations because they try to compress too much material into a comparatively shorter runtime. Although many exciting concepts are introduced, they eventually become too convoluted for their own good. Director Kurando Mitsutake inserts some light political commentary into the film, mainly with parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic, no doubt an influence from the era it was filmed.
Lion-Girl is a fun and trashy throwback to the V-Cinema era and would have found an enormous cult following in the late '90s. In the modern day, it feels like a relic of more carefree times.
Blu-Ray Special Features:
Introduction by Go Nagai
Directors Commentary
A conversation with Japanese Manga Legend Go Nagai
The Making of Lion-Girl
Q&A with Key Cast Members at the Hollywood Theatrical Premier of Lion-Girl
Trailer
Slideshow
Five Cleopatra Entertainment Preview Trailers
--Michelle Kisner