Sugarless (2012)

"Every time like a soldier."

Directed by Takashi Kubota and written by Hiroyuki Yatsu and Kei Watanabe, Sugarless is a Japanese yanki/delinquent series based on the manga of the same name written by Masami Hosokawa.  Sugarless follows Gaku Shiiba, a freshman at Kushima High School AKA "The Windmill" - named after the windmill which sets atop the main building, but also a symbol of greatness as the strongest fighter of the school displays his name across the windmill signifying themselves as the TOP of Kushima. The current TOP of Windmill is a well-known senior revered by all - the man they call Shake. Shake conquered Kushima in only his first year and has been the TOP of Windmill ever since. While many have tried to overtake him no one has ever come close. Gaku Shiiba enters Kushima and vows to be the first student to defeat Shake and take the TOP for himself. To do so he'll have to contend with powerful rivals such as the leader of Hydra Osamu Urabe, the undefeated first year Shiro Mukai, and the monstrous Taiji Marumo. Shiiba may aim for the TOP of Kushima, but the question is whether or not he'll even survive the journey to get there.

 

"Anytime like a fighter."

If you've read my reviews on Crows Zero, Bad Boys J, or Kamen Teacher then you know I'm a big fan of the yanki/delinquent genre where high schools operate via survival of the fittest and students compete to be the manliest of manly men. These works tend to be filled with BADASS fight scenes and characters often overcoming adversity through strength. When that's the genre in a nutshell you have to ask "how does Sugarless stand out from the pack?" The uniqueness of this series lay in its characters.

A wild dog appears.

Played by Alan Shirahama, Gaku Shiiba is a character who is best summed up in a quote from Mark Twain: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." From the opening scene Shiiba is in way over his head. He's far from being the strongest freshman, he doesn't know the pecking order of the school and quite frankly he doesn't care. In Shiiba's mind he's going to be the TOP of Kushima and he won't stop fighting until he achieves his goal. His determination sets him apart from many of the other characters and serves him well throughout the series as it makes up for his most dire flaw: he can't fight. Unlike his manga counterpart who is a total badass, this take on Gaku Shiiba is a hilariously terrible fighter. Even so, regardless of how many times he's beaten he's never defeated because he never gives up. I found Shiiba's "flavor" of determination to be not only inspiring but humorously underhanded because Shiiba claims he's undefeated. Despite losing pretty much every fight, Shiiba believes he's never been beaten because he's never given up. He makes up for his dearth of physical strength with his strength of character and he inspires many of the students around him. Even Shake comes to view Shiiba as a threat because of his charisma. Shirahama's portrayal of Shiiba paints a much kinder and in some ways more admirable character than his manga counterpart and he humanizes the other characters.

Hail Hydra

Keita Machida plays Osamu Urabe, the leader of Hydra and one of my favorite characters in the series. Urabe is a complex character. Once one of the most powerful fighters, he lost his old gang as well as a his pride. Believing that victory or defeat is decided by numbers, Urabe resolved to make it to the top his way. Rather than relying on his own strength he monopolizes the power of others and overwhelms his enemies with sheer numbers. In only a single month he has amassed the largest gang in Kushima and nearly all of the first year students give him a wide berth. He's an excellent foil to Shiiba because they have different beliefs not only in how a person should fight, but how a person should live.

The Beast

Nobuyuki Suzuki plays Taiji Marumo, the sleeping monster of Kushima. When Shiiba first meets Marumo, Marumo is essentially just meandering without any real purpose. He doesn't aim for the TOP and doesn't really have anything in his life outside of his routine. Of course Taiji Marumo is carrying a huge weight on his shoulders that none of the other characters can really understand and he appears to have good reason for removing himself from the battle against Shake. That is until he meets Shiiba who points out that in hiding his power, Marumo is actually hiding his true self from the world. Shiiba inspires Marumo to live up to his full potential not just in fighting to claim Shake's position, but to be all that he can be. He proves himself to be a fierce fighter and the vanguard of Shiiba's own ever-growing army. Despite being a nice guy his raw power makes him a devastating fighter.

The Undefeated First Year

Reo Sano plays Shiro Mukai the strongest first year at Kushima who currently stands undefeated. Shiro is at odds Shiiba, Marumo, and even Urabe all for different reasons. Contrary to Urabe who believes strength in numbers holds the key to taking the TOP, Shiro believes power can only flourish in solitude. Perhaps even more so than Marumo, Shiro walks the path of a lone wolf and he believes he doesn't need anyone or anything to succeed. When compared to Shiiba, the two are as different as night and day. Shiiba is more hot blooded, tending to act on his emotions and will go out of his way to help others. Shiro is cold, calculating and he would sooner step over someone than help them on his way to the top of Kushima. He sees his goal and nothing else in between and lays waste to his competition with merciless efficiency.

The man they call "SHAKE".

SHOKICHI of the Japanese supergroup EXILE plays Shake, the ruler of Kushima. I feel he was a perfect choice for this role because much like SHOKICHI himself, Shake has a unique allure and is quite charismatic even though he's rarely seen. The students of Kushima both admire and fear Shake and whether they bow to him or challenge him, everyone is drawn to him. He radiates an aura of power and even the toughest students make a path for him when he goes for a walk - assuming they're not paralyzed with fear. Interestingly enough Shake doesn't control the school with an iron fist. Despite being the TOP of Kushima he's easy-going and seems more bored of the students' antics than anything else, but when Shiiba's arrival at Kushima shakes up the status quo (no pun intended), Shake takes a keen interest in him.

Shiro vs Marumo

Any yanki title worth its name has to have badass fight scenes and Sugarless has that in spades. These fights are easily on par with, if not better than the fights in Bad Boys J. These are some fierce knock-down, drag-out fights and even the fights themselves have personality. The battle between Marumo and Shiro stands out because it's not only a fight between the strongest first years, but their personalities could not be anymore different and this can be seen in their attacks. Shiro almost seems dead-set on not only beating Marumo but injuring him as well because to Shiro anything less than a complete victory is unacceptable, while Marumo only wishes to end the battle quickly before Shiro forces him to cut loose. After all Marumo may seem like a gentle giant, but if pushed too far no one can stop him.

Rest in peace K. You are missed.

As you can tell from the fight scenes the music goes a long way in giving each fight a life of its own. Alternative rock group Pay Money to My Pain provides the soundtrack for Sugarless and I felt these tracks really added an emotional weight to almost every scene. I was really impressed by these songs and how well they were used which says a lot because I'm not a fan of alternative rock.

Brave It Out

Of course the series has its flaws. Fans of the manga may take issue with the show as most (if not all) of the events in the drama are different. Shiiba's antics may irritate some viewers and the show does suffer from a mild case of Naruto syndrome - every character is cool but the main one essentially. Some of the episodes do require quite the suspension of disbelief as some developments are absurd even for this genre. For example, Shiiba's friends almost always being in the right place at the right time to bail him out of a jam - even if they were clear across town and had no idea where he was. These flaws aside I found Sugarless to be quite fun to watch and a really BADASS show every action fan should watch.