It is interesting to see this title got less points than its prequel. It should have been the opposite.First movie was not very Miike-like. It looked just a movie for children. However, the second title was very different, and it was very Miike-like. You don't need to watch the first one and don't do so if you don't have time to waste. But watching Zebraman 2 is really fun.Now, the reason I wanted to write a few things about this movie was Riisa Naka. There are a few roles that fit perfectly to its actor or actress. Or shall we say, there are few players who can carry a role perfectly and after watching, you can not think of anyone else acting that role. Riisa, playing Zebra Queen is one of those. Just like Brando as Godfather, Hopkins as Hannibal.Zebraman 2 can not be compared with these movies definitely. No way! You will not even miss anything by not watching this movie at all. However, you will be sorry to miss Riisa in her Zebra Queen role. Watch the movie and you will be disappointed if you are a Miike fan, but you will become a Riisa-fan.

Zebraman sequel is just as weird as the first, but you can tell it was made on a bigger budget than the first one. There're lot more CG scene, on this one.Tokyo has been renamed Zebra city. The world is an apocalyptic place where corruption and violence rules supreme. It's a dog eat dog world where its survival of the fittest. Zebraman gets put on a centrifuge machine to get his black and white parts separated. The result is good white Zebraman, and evil black Zebra Girl.The plot is still like something done by an elementary school kid, but there are lot more actors, and staged shots in this one compared to the first movie. I've seen other weird movies, but this one takes the cake. First Zebraman was cheese and you can easily dismiss it as just another campy movie, but this one has lot more resources behind it making it a seriously weird movie. I love Zebraman for its weirdness. If you're aboard with the first Zebraman, this one will entertain you too.

Sequels are often poorer when compared to the originals. Zebraman is an exception. The second movie builds an entire world around the Zebraman concept to the point that the color scheme is almost entirely black and white. Instead of weaving the superhero aspect into present day Japan Zebraman 2 takes place in a strange future with plenty of Orwellian vibes. Dystopia matched with oppression of the vaguely Fascist kind are brought to life with flashy visuals and fast paced scenes.The movie takes Zebraman and turns it into a mythology of sorts with a strong polarity between good and evil. The campy aspect of the franchise is upgraded to include a lot of sexiness and tight music videos spliced into the video and even connected with the plot. At points this sequel's main point seems to be to promote the music but strangely enough it works remarkably well.There is still plenty of corny humor but the overall tone is serious with even something like social critique with 'Zebra time', five minutes per day in which any violent act is permitted. The greatest innovation has got to be the new villain, a very attractive girl with black latex outfits worthy of any dominatrix worth her salt. She is also responsible for delivering the song around which so much of the story revolves. Her performance adds a flair of traditional comic book evilness and spices things up.Some points do not seem to jive all that well with the original, back is Asano, the little kid befriended by Zebraman, now all grownup but for some reason Zebraman's family is never of again nor does he even ask about it. The final battle is as epic as it to be expected but followed by an hilarious conclusion.Zebraman 2 is everything that the first one was and then much more. It is bigger, louder and maybe even crazier. Recommended for fans of the original but avoid the spin-off at all costs.

There's little doubt that Takashi Miike's films are always fun to watch and unconventional to be sure and his latest "Zebraman Zebra City No Gyakushu" (Zebraman - Attack on Zebra City) is no exception. "Zebraman 2" is an enjoyable and entertaining superhero adventure that definitely outshines the original.The original "Zebraman" (2004), which was adapted from Yamada Renji's popular "Gekka Spirit's" manga series, told the story of middle-aged school teacher, Ichikawa Shiinichi (Aikawa Sho) who dreams of becoming a costumed superhero similar to the ones he watched on TV as a youth. Creating a makeshift costume, Ichikawa soon becomes the hero "Zebraman" and desperately tries to impress his wife and win back his children's approval by fighting criminals and in the course of his adventures gains real super powers and inadvertently stops an impending invasion of slimy green invaders. Very much like Matthew Vaughn's recent "Kick-Ass", Miike's film was a tribute to American Comics and Japanese Tokusatsu TV (Live Action Sci-Fi TV) and combined the best elements of Superman, Batman, Ultraman and Kamen Rider to come up with a crowd-pleasing and surprisingly poignant superhero film."Zebraman - Zebra City No Gyakushu" (again adapted from Yamada Renji's manga series) takes place soon after the events in the first film. After defeating the alien invasion, Ichikawa becomes a media phenomena and is celebrated as a hero but the constant hounding by the news media has taken its toll and Ichikawa soon finds that the stress has caused him to lose the ability to turn into Zebraman. A renegade government scientist Aihara Shinzou (comedian "Garadunakanu" Taku)takes advantage of the situation to kidnap Ichikawa and subjects him to a series of torturous experiments to "extract" Zebraman's power from Ichikawa in an attempt to create an evil doppelgänger which he can control. After five years, he succeeds and a portion of Zebraman's power is extracted and gives birth to a teen-aged female life-form which Aihara adopts and names "Yui" (gorgeous fashion model Naka Lisa). Yui's powers aren't fully developed yet but Aihara hopes that in time she will become even more powerful than Zebraman. The experiments leave Ichikawa weakened and he soon loses all memory of his past identity. Ichikawa is left to die but is rescued by former student and now medical intern, Asano Shinpei (Kamen Rider Decade actor Inoe Masahiro). The year is now 2025 and Aihara Shinzou and his "daughter" have taken control of Tokyo (which they rechristened "Zebra Town"). At precisely 5 p.m. each evening (Zebra Hour), Aihara's armed battalion (the Zebra Army) go into town to slaughter and kill any resistance to their rule. Yui has also adopted the Lady GaGa like persona of "Zebra Queen" to taunt and lull the Tokyo citizenry with her hypnotic vocals. Asano brings the dazed Ichikawa to Shijou Junichi (Tanaka Naoki of the comedy group "Kokorico") who is the leader of a rebel resistance sworn to overthrow Aihara and who coincidently was the suit actor of the show "Zebraman" that first inspired Ichihara to become "Zebraman". Shijou has assembled a small army of rag-tag rebels to oppose the Zebra Army including a young girl named Sumire (cute Nakano Mei) who is the human host of one of the alien invaders from the first movie. Together they join forces to take back Tokyo and stop Aihara from expanding his forces across the globe.Like "Spider-Man 2" and "The Dark Knight", "Zebraman 2" is definitely a sequel that tops the original. Director Miike definitely knows how to please the fan-boys and he pulls out all the stops here with everything a movie geek could love - aliens, a beautiful femme fatale, a cool henchmen character, lots of mayhem and destruction and nice SFX visuals.I love all the visual gags that Miike includes in "Zebraman 2" and all the references to other cult shows. In one part of the movie, villain Aihara introduces us to his bodyguards, the "Mini-Skirt Zebra Police" who are parodies of the "Mini-Skirt Police" stars of the cult 90s TV series.Aikawa Sho again does good work at making Ichikawa/Zebraman an interesting hero character. Ichikawa is very much in the same vein as Peter Parker and Clark Kent, and Aikawa definitely succeeds at making Ichikawa a very human character to counterbalance the superhero alter ego of Zebraman.Stunning model turned actress Naka Lisa steals the show as the sinister villainess Yui/Zebra Queen. She definitely seems to be inspired by Lady Gaga in her outrageous look and reminded me of another model actress Anna Tsuchiya who Naka seems to also be channeling in her performance. While a bit over-the-top in her actions and behavior, Naka's performance brings an evil charm to Yui/Zebra Queen that is hard to resist and she makes for a very cool villain."Takeshi Gundan" member (Beat Takeshi collaborator) and Comedian "Garadunakanu" (Guadal Canal?) Taku AKA Iguchi Takahito AKA Taka-Chan) is hilarious as the villainous Aihara, self proclaimed mayor of "Zebra Town". Looking like a cross between Malcolm McDowell's iconic Alex character in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" and 70s Japanese androgynous singer Sawada Kenji, Taku is at his campy best.Abe Tsuyoshi (Hana Yori Dango 2; Rough) is great as Niimi, Yui/Zebra Queen's lead henchman and enforcer and has great charisma in his limited role. He makes for one cool bad guy.I was very surprised at how good the sequel was as the original "Zebraman" was good but not great. "Zebraman 2" is great entertainment and hopefully Miike will consider another sequel.