Fantasia Film Festival 2020 Screening – Panties! Perverts! Professors! Kyusoke (Ryohei Suzuki) is back, but where is Hentai Kamen? 

Shortly after the explosion that killed Tagao Ogane (Tsuyoshi Muro), and revealed Kyusoke as the rightful wearer of the face-panties, Kyusoke and Aiko (Fumika Shimizu) are trying to navigate what comes next in the lives of two young lovebirds. Aiko has her doubts about Hentai Kamen, and while she loves Hentai perverted, she loves Kyusoke just as he is. Kyosuke vows to put the panties back in the drawer to win back the heart of his unsure love. But soon the school is filled with shrieks, as girls’ panties are seemingly sucked into thin air from off of their bodies! Every single girl in the school loses their panties in moments! Kyusoke is torn – does he honor his promise to Aiko, or does he allow Hentai Kamen to return, and save the panties?

Meanwhile, Kyosuke has enemies of a lesser degree than the unknown panty-thief– a rival love interest, trying to claim the heart of Aiko, and a new biology professor doing her best to seduce him. His first year of university is going nothing like he planned, and with whispers of Tagao Ogane’s return, Kyosuke has to make a serious choice, with repercussions he isn’t yet ready to face.

HK2: THE ABNORMAL CRISIS continues in the silly, sexy footsteps of the original Hentai Kamen film, first released in 2013. Like many sequels before it, HK2 ups the ante – and gives us double the color, sexy poses, and crazy anime jump cuts and title screens. The hero’s journey with a surprising twist, there are moments reminiscent of many film greats – Empire Strikes Back comes to mind, as does the semi-controversial Kick Ass series. “Abnormal” is the titular adjective, but I probably would have gone with “Absurd”. Uproariously funny, ridiculously farcical, and in every way a brilliant satire on superheroes.

HK2: THE ABNORMAL CRISIS dives even deeper into the world of kink. No holds barred, but with tongues planted firmly in cheeks (Alright, alright…get your minds out of the gutter), the humor of HK2 is like a non-stop barrage of flying panties. And really, wait until you see the flying panties. Kaiju culture and superhero shenanigans create a wild blur of insanity from minute one until the very end – which is a remarkable feat considering the nearly two hour runtime. Some repetitive jokes, mostly involving crotch smashing and visual gags in that vein, take away from the simple humor of the film. It’s definitely what I call “teenage boy humor”, and I suppose that’s befitting of a film based on a manga series. However, if you’re a fan of Deadpool, and can accept his antics, you’ll fall in love with Hentai Kamen.

The visual effects budget was clearly blown out to the max on this film – and to great effect. Technically outstanding, if anything HK2 could have benefitted from another edit and a loss of maybe 15 minutes of runtime. Even so, the journey of HK2 is worthwhile, wild, and fun. In a direct juxtaposition to most superhero movies, HK2 is far from self-aggrandizing, in no way pompous, or in any way, shape, or form serious. Take two hours, grab some popcorn, send the kids to bed, and prepare yourself for the cleanest perversion you’ve ever witnessed – HK2: THE ABNORMAL CRISIS. 

7/10 stars