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This is what I get to watch when I have degenerates for friends and they start rubbing off on me. On a movie night set, we just do synchronized watch along via Discord or Zoom. We have one common interest and that's anime. But there's always this one friend among the group that's an odd ball. Their turn to make a movie recommendation and we just go along with it.
Hentai Kamen is a 2013 Japanese superhero action comedy film written and directed by Yūichi Fukuda, starring Ryohei Suzuki in the title role and based on the manga series Kyūkyoku!! Hentai Kamen created by Keishū Ando - Wikipedia Source
I suggest you watch the trailer as it tells you half of what you can expect from the show. The latter half involves gags only those with an acquired taste for weird Japan can follow.
Note: Images used here were screenshots taken when I was watching.
I know the trailer doesn't make much sense but this is weird Japan we're talking about and their sense of humor is at a different level. Surprisingly I found myself well adjusted to the climate as some of the running gags pulled are similar to what I can see from comedy anime. Kamen means mask, and Hentai is another way to describe pervert. Pervert Mask is the literal translation (or masked pervert).
Plot
The trailer above only tells the gist of the main plot but it has subplots within the movie. The best way to watch this type of humor is embracing the absurd and just letting the sense go. Sounds irrational, I know but bear with me on this one, the more you struggle to make sense the more you are just missing out on the humor. I'll try to explain the plot without giving too much of the spoilers.
Kyosuke is the son of a cop and a dominatrix that grew up normal despite how his mother remains in character even outside work. Kyosuke is known for being weak despite his intimidating face and body build. To compensate, he joins the martial arts club in the hopes that it would improve his self image. He eventually meets his crush Aiko, the new student in class. One afternoon after school, he walks along home passing by a hostage taking in place. Realizing Aiko is one of the hostages, he braves himself to save her and enters the building's backdoor. After taking out one of the hostage takers, he puts on their disguise but mistakes a used girl's underwear for a mask. This awakens his latent potential to be the Hentai Kamen we know.
How to Watch the Film
For those of you that aren't familiar with this type of comedy, Japanese humor is based on the core fundamentals of straight man (serious) and funny man routine. The straight man's job is to react and oppose whatever the absurdity the funny man throws at them. You would see this dynamic can be done interchangeably within the show as the roles can be reversed.
No matter how absurd the logic the show dishes out, we just have to accept that is how their universe operates. The sooner you take this into heart the faster you can appreciate their sense of comedy. It was never about being grounded too much on reality and let loose.
The Good and the Bad
I think their use of pop culture references made this film even better. There are a lot of references taken from Spider-man and the Matrix. Even the antagonist bears the Asian version of the Green Goblin without a suit. Hentai Kamen uses the same shape mask shape and acrobatics like Spiderman when traversing through the buildings during the CGI parts of the film.
This gross parody helps reorient the audience how the film should be taken, a joke. I got to give credit to the actors that kept maintaining a straight face while the skits filmed. It's hard to be a comedian trying to maintain a straight face given the absurdity they have to work with.
I find the characters just bland but I can't blame them as the story's nature and circumstances just favor not to take these characters seriously. I have read some of the manga from this show came from and it gives of a different vibe. This is the power of media used in story telling as reception changes depending on what visual media is used to convey a story, and comedy is no exception.
The introspective moments the protagonist takes at times did caught me off guard. I mean, they went as far as selling the character having internal conflicts on whether they are a pervert, it's their alter ego talking, and then love and hate relationship at the idea of being a pervert because of the circumstances he finds himself in.
If I suspend my disbelief and just took the story seriously, these moments are actually one of the necessities to fleshing out some believable characters. To doubt one's ability, to worry about how other people see them as a pervert, to discover one's self image, these are the themes that Hentai Kamen did attempt and can easily be underrated because we as the audience are predisposed to the whole show being a parody and that's fine.
Having been desensitized by Japanese humor, I felt some of the gags used have become redundant. I guess the viewing experience would be different if I was new into Japanese humor but nonetheless it just made me appreciate how far cultured I have become thanks to my degenerate pals.
I fell in love with the movie's sound track. It's the type of music I'd genuinely listen to without even knowing it was used on this film. Not minding the comedy and just focusing on the superhero themes, this music is really something I can vibe with. I'm more of a J-Pop fan. I recognized the band playing without reading more about the music in an instant. THE MAN WITH A MISSION has been producing some of the music I've been listening to from other anime.
Would I Recommend Watching It?
Not really. I mean this type of humor is best reserved if it's just you or with a group of friends that you can have fun watching with. Most of the fun times involved talking about the comedy with someone into these types of films rather than a random stranger who can't get behind the idea. I suppose you can watch it alone and have some good laughs but it's more fun sharing with a crowd you're comfy with.
. A Hobby Illustrator