Fantasia Film Festival 2020 Screening – The son of a dominatrix and a fallen cop is bound to be something of a wild card. Poor Kyosuke (Ryohei Suzuki) is nothing like either of his parents – he’s bookish and quiet. Now that his dad is gone he’s constantly reminded what a disappointment he is to his mom – he doesn’t date, he doesn’t fool around, there’s nothing “perverted” about him. That is, until a hostage situation, some vigilante justice, and his major crush on his schoolmate Aiko (Fumika Shimizu), leads to Kyosuke accidentally putting a pair of panties over his face like a mask. Suddenly, in spite of his embarrassment, something wells up inside him. A power takes over – turning Kyosuke into HENTAI KAMEN. A perverted, bizarre superhero. Clad in only fishnets, a thong, and the panties on his face, Hentai Kamen is able to disturb and overpower the criminals, and create a name for himself as the perverted superhero.

“In the 21st century, perversion is justice!” This is the battle cry of Hentai Kamen. Meanwhile, Aiko has developed a crush on her savior Hentai Kamen, and is ignoring Kyosuke. Meanwhile he tries to reconcile who he really is with his perverted alter ego. Thankfully, bizarre super-nemeses start crawling out of the woodwork, and Hentai Kamen is very busy protecting the school and the city. When a new substitute teacher arrives at the school, Kyosuke knows right away something isn’t right. Mr. Towatari (Ken Yasuda) is strange, and takes a quick liking to Aiko. He convinces her to take “private lessons” to help her with her failing grades. Meanwhile, a fake Hentai Kamen is running around the streets flipping girls’ skirts. Kyosuke is mortified and decides to take down his nemesis. Faced with a real pervert, Kyosuke is defeated, and vows to put Hentai Kamen’s panties on the shelf forever. However, new threats to the school, and Aiko, will make him go back on his promise – and learn exactly how perverted he is on the inside.

Straight from the pages of Japanese Hentai comics, HK: FORBIDDEN SUPERHERO is a nonstop surge of wild colors, jump cuts, and crazy sound effects. Somewhere between a kung fu movie and a cartoon, HK: FORBIDDEN SUPERHERO is fast paced and as fun as it is completely bizarre. Nothing about this movie takes itself seriously, and that’s part of the raucous fun of it. The supremely Japanese humor might be lost on some American audiences, but can be equally enlightening if the viewer opens their mind. There’s nothing overt – the extreme opposite of American films which basically allow pornography – but the subtext and jokes are much more… well… perverted. The concept alone – that putting a pair of worn panties on his face is the way to awaken a superhero inside – is so perverse and very much out of our American wheelhouse. 

If I could tell each and every viewer one thing about this movie, it would be to turn off their stuffy, politically correct point of view. Yes, this movie has moments of sexism, but I promise you every single group – women, gays, etc – are all targeted equally and with equal good spirit. It may not be “normal” to see Japanese school girls, men wearing women’s panties, or shibari ropework (for some…) but it’s the entire foundation of this movie. Quite simply, this is a film that could only be made in Japan. Even with all of this in mind, I encourage anyone who chooses to go on this wild ride to take every turn as it comes and enjoy it. HK: FORBIDDEN SUPERHERO is flat out, crazy fun.

8/10 stars