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Sukiyaki Western Django is a Spaghetti Western by Takashi Miike starring almost entirely Japanese people, with almost exclusively English dialogue. There are two exceptions to both: one of each of them is Quentin Tarantino, who opens the film in a flashback where he tells the age-old tale about a war, a recurrence of which he takes part in much later in his life. He then throws an egg in the air, shoots 3 people whose blood splatters the backdrop, and then extends one hand to catch the egg to an accompanying slide whistle. It's that kind of movie.
The film takes its plot from the Spaghetti Western film genre - Django, among others, hence the name, although significant plot elements come from Yojimbo and its de facto remake A Fistful of Dollars: sukiyaki is a hot pot or "steamboat" dish often used as a generic label of "Japaneseness".
This film contains examples of:
- Anachronism Stew
- Arbitrary Gun Power: Sometimes, gun shots will blow you across the room, and some times they'll just be annoying.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Played straight, then subverted for laughs.
- Bittersweet Ending: The two rival clans are defeated and the hero gets (but walks away from) the gold, but nearly every single one of his allies is killed by the end.
- Blown Across the Room: The Mercy Kill on the guy who gets a sword 6 inches in his head blows him out of frame.
- Do Not Call Me Paul: the leader of the Reds insists on being called Henry, instead of his birth name of Kiyomori, after Henry VI, because "in Shakespeare's story, the Reds win".
- Eternal Recurrence: The Genpei War, apparently.
- Fake American: With two exceptions, every actor in this is Japanese, and with two exceptions, every line in this is in English.
- Faux Fluency: Filmed with English dialogue by Japanese actors, most of whom don't speak English all that well.
- Quentin Tarantino both has a line in Japanese and a line in English with a sudden dramatic Japanese accent.
- "QUUUUUEEEEAM GWWWWAAAAVVYYYYYY!!"
- Flat What:
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Quentin Tarantino/Ringo:"Akira! Oh, how that lonesome sound brings me back. At the end, I am an anime otaku at heart." |
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- Gatling Good: See the 5 o'clock position on the page image.
- Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: "Bloody Benten," also a Badass Grandma.
- Hey, It's That Guy: Of course the Whites are going to win. Their leader is Kazuo Kiriyama.
- Hollywood Atlas: More astute viewers may notice that Nevada is not in Japan.
- Immune to Bullets: Bloody Benten reacts to being shot in the back 3 times by turning around and looking annoyed.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Along with Barehanded Blade Block, the white's leader can deflect bullets with his katana.
- Instant Death Bullet: If you're not a main character. See Arbitrary Gun Power.
- Kill'Em All: Nearly every character to have appeared on screen is dead by the last scene.
- Knight Errant
- Lead the Target: Used by the leader of the whites, Yoichi, who shoots "Henry" from kilometers away by "boomeranging" the bullets with gravity into his path. Three times!
- Madness Mantra: During the final battle, Henry keeps stating that "This time, the Reds win!"
- Nothing Up My Sleeve: The final gunshot.
- Not So Harmless: It is the Sheriff that kills the legendary Bloody Benten at the end of the movie. And he is immediately killed by the old woman from the mountains with a grave marker.
- Purely Aesthetic Era: More than one with Anachronism Stew.
- Red Oni White Oni
- Serial Escalation: How much can we eschew substance in favor of style?
- Snow Means Death
- Theme Music Withholding: a cover of Franco Migliacci's Django theme appears in the final scene.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill
- The Sheriff:
- Throw-Away Guns: In one shot in the final battle, the protagonist throws an empty gun through a man.
- Together in Death: Ruriko and Toshiro
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The sukiyaki in the opening scene.
- Worthy Opponent: Yoichi claims to be searching for this his entire life and thinks he finds it in the protagonist.