The subject of big-screen adaptations of manga and anime has become contentious over the years. Several Hollywood productions have famously ruined their source material, but non-American attempts have generally fared better. People make certain assumptions about the aesthetic of genres like manga and Hong Kong action. Luckily, many of those trappings find harmony in the right story. Look at Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, an instant cult classic.
The 90s were a good decade for American fans of Japanese media. The hugely unpleasant term "Japanimation" fell out of fashion to be replaced by anime in the early 90s. Companies like Saban and Funimation brought dubbed anime to the States, immediately capturing a substantial fanbase. An obscure name like Riki-Oh took a few years to hit the US, but it was welcomed with open arms once it arrived.
What Is Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky About?
Set in the dystopian near-future of 2001, Ricky Ho is an impossibly strong martial artist who is serving a 10-year prison sentence. In a distressing bit of foresight, the film depicts the horror of life in a fully privatized prison. Ricky earned his incarceration by killing the local crimelord who killed his girlfriend. The battle got Ricky shot multiple times, but he's physiologically bulletproof. He's so powerful that he keeps the lead in his flesh as souvenirs from his quest for revenge. Now that he's behind bars, Ricky spends his time helping the innocent and destroying the guilty.
Ricky swiftly becomes a target. The mightiest prisoners run the place, and the warden uses violence to keep them in line. Ricky is a wild new element in the yard, and his strength invites challenge. Ricky earns the ire of the Gang of Four, a group of murderers who have created a profitable opium business while inside. He's attacked at every turn. Ricky isn't exactly a superhero, but he's powerful enough to deliver impossible violence to every prisoner who approaches him. The warden grows to fear Ricky, bringing the might of the institution upon the martial artist. With the world against him, Ricky will have to rely on his wits and his strength to survive.
What Is Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky Based On?
Riki-Oh was a short-lived manga series created by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari. It ran for 12 volumes from 1989 to 1990. It is a shameless rip-off of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's landmark 1983 manga series Fist of the North Star. Like the film, it's set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Saiga Riki-Oh is placed in a maximum security prison for murdering a crimelord. Riki is a taciturn loner blessed with superhuman strength and mastery of an unusual martial art. He also possesses several bullet wounds on his chest and a trademark star-shaped mark on his hand. The story wasn't subtle with its inspirations.
The manga has a lot more going on than the film. Riki's motivation is finding his long-lost little brother, who isn't mentioned in the live-action adaptation. The manga also goes into greater detail on how Riki got his powers. He's a master of a Chinese martial art called Qigong. It's a strange choice since it's better known for meditation than for punching and kicking. Riki learned this skillset from a former bodyguard of Chinese politician Chiang Kai-shek. Riki faces far stranger villains in the manga. There's an 80-year-old man who relies on constant transfusions to survive, a cyborg who swiftly joins Riki's team, and a mighty dictator who would later inspire Street Fighter's M. Bison. Riki-Oh was famed for its graphic violence. That element remained consistent in the live-action adaptation.
What Makes Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky So Good?
Imagine the kind of film that the creators of Mortal Kombat credit as a key piece of inspiration. That's Riki-Oh. It's a classic Hong Kong martial arts movie with the added fun of a splatter film. Ricky is barely a character, though future Ip Man star Fan Siou-wong (AKA Louis Fan) does a great job with the role. He's a stoic unstoppable monster in the vague shape of a man. The film's obscene violence and absurd gore make it simultaneously grotesque and hilarious. There's not much out there like Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. There should be more.
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is more than just a great adaptation. It's a solid piece of genre-blending action fun. It's a film in which martial artists attempt to wield their own internal organs as weapons. A film in which the protagonist can deflect a bullet with a backhand and retaliate by punching the air so hard it creates a projectile weapon. It's a silly, absurd, violent, thrill ride that never backs away from its core themes. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is a cult classic that deserves more attention. The next time fans of anime, Hong Kong action, or Mortal Kombat are looking for a new film, Ricky should be the one to set them free.