HK: Forbidden Superhero

RED = SPOILERS 

In what is possibly one of the greatest accidental finds ever, I came across a movie called HK: Forbidden Superhero. Originally released in Japan as Hentai Kamen. Roughly translated, it means “pervert mask”. For the sake of the movie, it means “Panty Man”, the titular name of the hero. And quite the hero he is. The more perverted he is, the more powerful he gets. He changes from an ordinary high school student INTO Panty-Man by putting USED girl’s panties on his face. He sheds his clothes because he has no need for them. He compresses his crotch to “power up”. Powering up is a staple of any Japanese media. Whether it’s a cartoon or show or even a soap commercial. But the point is, he’s a pervert. And he does it to save the day…  

What’s it about? Kyosuke is an average high school boy in Japan. His father, a dead cop. His mother, a dominatrix. He has a high moral compass like his father, for justice. But he is very weak and cannot help others when he tries. Until one fateful day, a new girl starts in school, Aiko. She sits next to him and makes him nervous. And one day, while trying to save Aiko from a hostage situation, he mistakenly puts a pair of panties on his head instead of a wrestling mask. The panties fuse to his face and turn him into… PANTY-MAN!! Nothing but hilarity ensues as he fights numerous villains to save the day for numerous reasons.  

What’s good? It’s all more of an ironic “good”. It’s a comedy, so I think it’s supposed to be like it is. But it’s fun. It’s a good time, if that counts. It’s definitely fun to watch, that’s for sure. And it’s also in Japanese with English subtitles, so there may be a little lost in translation. But as far as I know about the Japanese language, it’s probably spot on… 

What’s bad? I guess, “technically”, you could call it a “B” movie. But I wouldn’t. It’s just Japanese. It’s still pretty fun to watch. Whether or not you want to compare it to American blockbusters.  

The acting? Everybody’s speaking Japanese. And I don’t speak Japanese. So, I’m not really the best judge of how good the acting is. If you want to just go by their facial expressions and whatnot, I’d give them the thumbs up… 

The effects? It’s not exactly Star Wars. I mean, the guy who I think is supposed to be a robot has his jaw literally painted on. I don’t know if that was a joke or if it was just a low budget thing, or what… 

Semi-comic book. It’s essentially a live action comic book. And I don’t mean movies made from comic characters. It’s live action, exaggerated in a manga style and written almost like an anime. It’s one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever seen. 

Pokemon in a movie. Everybody he fought seemed like a gym battle in Pokemon, where they had their own location and theme. It was a series of mini bosses before he got to the main boss battle. Like, it really was an anime. 

Painted jaws. For some reason, a bunch of the villains had their bottom jaws painted like robots, but in different colors. I don’t exactly know what the purpose was. If they were supposed to be robots of some sort? Or, if it was just to signify that they were villains? Once again, maybe it’s a Japanese thing. I don’t know. I’m not Japanese… 

Couldn’t tell if he was supposed to be a machine or not. One of the villains with his bottom jaw painted was literally acting like a robot. Making robot noises while he walked. Moving in robot-like motions. Doing little clicking noises with his tongue while he was talking. I don’t know exactly what the purpose of that was supposed to be. But I’m still not sure if he was supposed to be a robot or not. Or if it was a joke. Or if this was just a really low budget movie. I just can’t tell, because once again, it’s a Japanese movie… 

Dick attacks. As a superhero, Hentai Kamen, or Panty-Man, as he’s known in English, primarily uses his dick as his main source of attack. He shoves people’s faces into his dick. He slaps their face back and forth with his dick. He can hypnotize people with his dick. He can slide down a rope, and break your nose, with his dick. Or he can mercifully let you go if you promise not to commit any more crimes. It’s up to you… 

Bizarro Panty-Man. Bizarro Panty-Man was the evil Panty-Man. He rubbed his nipples while he wasn’t doing anything, powering up in between all actions. He was in ecstasy from the humiliation. Bizarro Panty-Man was the true pervert… 

He couldn’t recognize his teacher through the eyeholes. Panty-Man’s teacher was Bizarro Panty-Man. And while you could easily recognize him through the panties on his face, apparently, Panty-Man couldn’t. You could literally see his face through the leg holes on the ladies’ underwear he had on his face. But Panty-Man was just like “Hmm… I wonder who this mysterious stranger is…” 

Literal dick battle. Eventually, Panty-Man has to fight Bizarro Panty-Man to save Aiko in what can only be described as a literal dick battle. When Bizarro Panty-Man attacks with his ultimate move, “The Fiery Dick Spin”, Panty-Man counters with his ultimate move. You guessed it: “The Fiery Dick Spin”. An actual “Reverse Fiery Dick Spin”. And now we have to see who has the more powerful “Fiery Dick Spin”. 

And here comes the giant robot. And just because it’s Japan, for no reason, and I do mean no reason; It literally comes out of nowhere. Panty-Man fights a giant robot… No reason whatsoever. Just because. Just because he can. Just because it’s there. Just because the Japanese love giant robots. And you know what? I’m not gonna argue. I love giant robots too… 

So, yeah. Watch “HK: Forbidden Superhero”. I can only imagine it will be the greatest Japanese comedy you’ve ever seen. I don’t know how many Japanese comedies you’ve seen, but try and compare this to the rest of them. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…