Midori The Camelia Girl (2016) by Torico

The film is based on the ero guro manga by Suehiro Maruo, which circulated in 1984 and was previously adapted in an anime film, in 1992, titled "Midori".

The film will screen at the 18th Japan-Filmfest Hamburg, that will be on 31.05-04.06.2017


The story revolves around 14-years-old Midori, an orphan who is picked by the Aka Neko circus troup. The other members include Kanabun, a seemigly cute transvestite who harbors a truly dark side, as he has no issue in killing two puppies with his heels in order to cook them for the troupe. Muchisute is a man with no arms filled with bandages, who is capable of doing everything with his legs, including shooting a bow. The rest of the members are a brute who swallows swords, a sultry woman named Kojiro Arashi and two utterly peculiar creatures of unknown origin. All of them seem to bully Midori, occasionally becoming violent towards her, even blaming her for the commercial failures the circus is experiencing. Everything changes however, when Wonder Masamitsu, a magician/hypnotist enters the troupe and takes a liking to Midori. At the beginning of his presence, everything seem to get better for all the members of the circus, but soon, Masamitsu shows his true self.

Torico presents a version of the original that entails much gore, but is less violent. The splatter and erotic/sadistic episodes are still here, fueled by the preposterous, both in appearance and behaviour, characters, but the element that dominates is definitely the peculiarity, instigated by the extreme colors that fill the screen constantly, creating an utterly kitsch world. In that aspect, both Takeshi Sone in the cinematography and Kumiko Takeda in the costume design department have done a wonderful job, presenting a visual extravaganza that fits the general aesthetics of the film perfectly, since most of the film takes place in a circus.