DVD Review: Salaryman Kintaro Volume 1

Genre director Tomoharu Katsumata brings 'Salaryman Kintaro' to anime life, based on the popular manga series by Motomiya Hiroshi.

Yajima Kintaro returns home with a baby in tow. Years ago he was the head of the largest and toughest gang in the city, but now donning shirt collar and tie he wants to make a new life for himself and his child. This isn’t Dilbert mixed with Babycart, but there is violence aplenty and in a way, the ethos of the samurai has been mixed in with the office environment. Kintaro has not forgotten his old ways and deals with the situations inside and outside the office with a fist, a kick or a handy 2 by 4, if a glance is not enough. Another macho anti-hero I hear you say, well pop culture is full of them, in the real world Kintaro who not last in the office place for more than a few moments and that’s what makes him such a guilty pleasure.

The first episode plays as an introduction to the main character. Joining the Yamato Construction Company, he is placed in the accounts department and becomes the Salaryman of the title. Avoided by his frightened male colleagues but lusted after by the females, he sits at his desk passing the time sharpening pencils. The company has hired him to stir things up and he even gets to save one of the bosses from a street brawl in bone crunching quickness. The police give him a warning wanting none of his old tricks, which only serves to fuel the fire within the workplace.

In episode 2, it’s payday and the guys are going out for a bit of fun. Hesitantly they invite Kintaro along too and the group get a little rowdy with added alcohol. This is too much for some local Yakuza, who decide to teach the guys a lesson. Head butting and bone crunching ensues and the guys realise that they have been living a very dull life for so long. This little hit of adrenalin has made them stand up for themselves and smell life again. The yakuzas however, want payback and march into their offices the next day. Kintaro of course, will not let this happen without more blood spliing. He then discovers that the yakuza boss happens to be his childhood friend Shiina. A shake of hands and old allegiances are made.

The main point of episode 3 is to give you the background story of how Kintaro got his job, his relationship with Akemi, his now deceased wife, and why the Chairman of the firm has such a liking for him. When you hear the roots of a hostile take over, inching its way to shunt the Chairman out, you know its only a matter of time before Kintaro’s methods are called in the save the day. It even shows you can get your jollies by fishing !

In episode 4 things at Yamato Construction are getting worse. The President of the company is getting all the directors together for a take over campaign to oust the Chairman out. Meanwhile Kintaro meets one of his old gang members but 'he' is somewhat different now; there with her group of drag queens and transsexuals 'she' recants how Kintaro changed her life and we find out that there is a heart underneath the rugged exterior.

The animation is basic and goes for the rough and tough approach rather than striving for the technical levels of the likes of ‘Innocence’, but this suits its proceedings.

What we have here is 'Volume 1', containing the first 4 episodes in a series of 20, around 25 minutes each, with original Japanese dialogue in Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 with clear optional English subtitles. And the first parts of two interviews, with the director and Toru Nakano, the producer, respectively. These interviews are basic in the format of captioned questions and then a full-on camera close up for the response, the audios on these are very poor and are too general to the point they feel superfluous.

This tale of comic book mayhem, a fantasy for all of those white-collar worker desk jockies out there, is huge in its native Japan. It has spawned a live action TV series, a Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer) movie adaptation, known in the US as ‘White-Collar Worker Kintaro’ starring rock singer Katsunori Takahashi as the eponymous hero, games and of course, the above 2001 anime series.