_**That reminds me, when's my birthday?**_
Yugo Sakamoto is fucking insane, and i can't really decide if im jealous of his dedication and work or to idolize him.
The guy is just 28 YEARS OLD. It's truly insane how good this guy is and words alone do not give justice to this man's skill. Constant fucking improvement is seen in every sequel, and the films have a clear overarching narrative that satisfyingly culminates all it's built up themes into one epic final film. Madness.
Kensuke Sonomura is another obvious praise here. Like Yugo, the man continuously innovates and improves his action setpieces with his awesome full uncooperative madness, and his ability to combine usual movie fight finesse with grounded streams of consciousness.
Izawa and Takaishi also deserve heavy praise. With Izawa going from pure stunt person to now full fledged actor, and Takaishi went from being an actor with no stunt experience, to heavily involving herself in the action, and now even starring in a lead role in Sonomura's Ghost Killer.
The social commentary is also still very much prevalent here, now highlighted with Sosuke Ikematsu's Kaede Fuyumura, who represents the grind mindset. A perfectionist hitman who constantly beats himself up over minor mistakes and not caring for the actual result and the satisfaction of the client.
Sosuke as an action actor also shows insane improvement here. From struggling to do a roundhouse kick in Shin Kamen Rider, to now looking like a fucking killer in his fights. (His first fight with Saori Izawa is one of the best fight scenes i have ever seen)
His comedy is also severely underrated, with his comedic scenes acting as great relief to all his killing acts, showing that he is indeed still human.
Kaede also pairs well with Iruka, who acts as a midpoint between Mahiro and Kaede's work/gig lives. With Mahiro having friendship, Kaede having nothing but his work, and Mahiro who wants to have friendship, but hides in a mask to be mysterious, "cool" and more efficent in work. Shoutout as well to the brilliance of Iruka's apology scene which basically summarized the entirety of Baby Assasins 1.
All in all the movie is just fucking pure cinematic madness. And it's all capped with an amazing final fight that finishes and showcases the 3 main character's story arcs and personalities, and fully contextualizing all the built up themes and concepts through movement, violence, and action. From Chisato finally realizing the importance of her friendship with Mahiro, Mahiro's constant improvement in her fights. and Kaede choosing work over life.
