HK: Forbidden Super Hero [Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Manga Entertainment Ltd
Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (6th September 2014).
The Film

***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.***

With great pants, comes great responsibility.

His father was a lawman. His mother was a bondage queen. His destiny was to put knickers on his head and fight for justice. Teenage martial artist Kyosuke Shikijo wants to be a hero. But when the chance comes to foil a bank robbery and win the heart of the girl he adores, the only way to conceal his identity is to put lady's knickers on his head. This triggers his transformation into Hentai Kamen, the Pervert Mask, with the discovery that female underwear brings him undreamed-of superpowers. Get ready for in-your-face superheroism from a man with pants for a mask.

Based on the manga (of course it was based on a manga, what else would it be based on?) by Keishu Ando in Weekly Shonen Jump, HK: Forbidden Superhero is the weirdest crime-fighter in history, not joining the Avengers any time soon.

Video

Independent British distributor Manga Entertainment UK have released the Japanese super hero parody "HK: Forbidden Super Hero" onto Blu-ray using an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is 1080p and uses an MPEG-4 AVC encode. It looks pretty good, but does include some small irritations.

One of the first noticeable flaws in the transfer, is the minor edge enhancement / sharpening and ringing. This tends to be more noticeable in the opening scenes than anywhere else, but is frequent, even if mild. Next up, I did notice a couple of infrequent small spots of aliasing, usually along window ledges in the backgrounds, or on door frames. In some scenes, we get glaring light coming through the windows. This light does have a tendency to bloom just a little, though never seems to get to the stage where it could be deemed problematic. Blacks are sometimes not quite as dark as they could be, but the lighter colours - especially the clothing of our hero's mother and the whites of the school uniform - really pop and help to add depth to the transfer. Skin tones are accurate, though the lighting choices used in some scenes can deceive you into thinking they are perhaps slightly warm. Details in some of the blacks can lack a little clarity at times, but overall, details are strong throughout, especially during facial close-ups where every skin blemish and out of place hair is seen. As a whole, the picture quality here is rather good, and the problems are minor in appearance - never poor enough to whinge about in depth.

The feature in uncut, and runs 105:27.

Audio

There are two audio options available:
- Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Japanese LPCM 2.0 Stereo

For my viewing I opted for the Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which was a solid experience. The score makes full use of the surrounds, whilst the LFE also bumps up as and when required. In scenes where the action heats up, the surrounds are also well utilised for various effects including general chatter, footsteps, and gun shots. One of the opening scenes features some criminals shooting at our hero when he first discovers he has powers, and this scene shows good use of direction and separation. Dialogue is clear at all times, and volume levels are consistent. I noticed no signs of damage to the track such as drop outs or scratches, and I detected no background hiss.

Optional English subtitles have been included.

Extras

Just a theatrical trailer (1:24).

Overall

This is like nothing you have seen before. If you like your Japanese films as zany as possible, this will be right up your street.

The Film: B- Video: B- Audio: B- Extras: E Overall: B-

 


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