Sixteen films in the Akymyo series (sometimes transliterated Akunyo) were inspired by a gangster novel by Toko Kon (1898-1977). The series, starring Shintaro Katsu, has been known in English as the Bad Reputation series, or the Tough Guy series, though not well known by any name outside of Japan. Yet in Japan it was just about equal to the success of Katsushin's Zatoichi series.

The directors for the lion's share of these films were Kazuo Mori (aka Issei Mori) & Tokuzo Tanaka, who also directed Zatoichi features.

After years of trundling along as a successful but scarsely an A-list actor in over eighty films (roles big & small), Katsushin had his first real break-through with the earliest of the Akumyo films.

He continued to make new feature episodes about the perenially popular Tough Guy, alongside Zatoichi films, up until he moved to television productions in the 1970s, when at long last he dropped the Akumyo films.

Katsushin's singing career parallelled his acting career from the start, & he seems the theme song "Akumyo" right from film 1 in 1961, accompanied by the Kawauchi Chorus.

His co-star throughout the series was Jiro Tamiya, likewise a tough guy figure of the cinema, who played Kojiri Sasaki (Miyamoto Musashi's most famous opponent) in the Sword of Fury (1973), but was best known for the role of Seiji opposite Katsushin.


Most if not all of these films have been released in limited edition boxed sets of five films per set, but without subtitles, & not distributed in the west. Some of the episodes were subtitled & shipped to the United States in the 1960s to be shown in ethnic theaters for second & third generation Japanese Americans.

When these theaters began to vanish in the 1970s, collections of subtitled 35 mm prints began to be sold off to private collectors, or were ill-stored & became damaged. A few ended up at the University Art Museum in Berkley.

The final episode, at the very least, was at some point pirated, with its on-screen subtitles, & shows up on the grey market from time to time.

That ast of the "Bad Reputation" films has been known as Akumyo: Notrious Dragon; or as Turf Wars; or most awkwardly as Bad Name's Breaking of Territories (Akumyo: Shima Arashi, 1974). Asakichi (Katsu) has been disowned by his father for involving himself in yakuza (gangster) activities. He becomes a successful cockfighter & falls in love with a good-hearted prostitute.

In keeping with the slow pacing of ninkyo-eiga or chivalrous gambler films which had been the rage primarily in the 1960s, the film moves slowly & requires involvement with the lives of the characters & understanding of their emotional states & the growing imbalance of duty & humanity that motivates the hero, erupting ultimately in extreme violence.

LIST OF THE AKUMYO SERIES WITH PRIMARY CAST:

1. AKUMYO
(AKUMEI; ala, BAD NAME;
or TOUGH GUY) 1961
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Sada
Tamao Nakamura as Okinu
Yasuko Nakata as Ochiyo
Yoshie Mizutani as Kotoito
Michiko Ai as Oshige
Mayumi Kurata as Otatsu
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
YŁko Wakasugi as Shiroito
Toyoko Takahashi as the fisherman's wife
Chieko Naniwa as Ito Aso
Kyu Sazanka as Yoshioka

2. ZOKU AKUMYO
(TOUGH GUY PART II) 1961
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Tamao Nakamura as Okinu
Yoshie Mizutani as Kotoito
YŁko Uraji as Yugao
Michiko Ono aka Toshiko Hasegawa as Cherry
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
Ganjiro Nakamura as Boss of Matsushima
Chieko Naniwa as Ito Aso
Kyu Sazanka as Yamaoka
Kichijiro Ueda as Genpach

3. SHIN AKUMYO
(NEW BAD REPUTATION) 1962
Director: Kazuo Mori
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Tamao Nakamura as Okinu
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
Yuko Hamada as Tsukie
Masayo Banri as Oyuki
Fujio Suga as Masaru
Sonosuke Sawamura as Kaneko
Toyoko Takechi as Ofuku

4. ZOKU SHIN AKUMYO
(NEW BAD REPUTATION CONTINUES) 1962
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Yoshie Mizutani as Kotoito
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
Michiko Ai as Oshige
Mieko Kondo as Junko Satsuki
Chocho Miyako as Omasa
Yasushi Nagata as the Boss Silk Hut

5. DAISAN NO AKUMYO
(TOUGH GUY'S INSTRUCTION) 1963
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Reiko Fujiwara ass Oteru
Hiroyuki Nagato as Osamu
Yumeji Tsukioka as Otsuma
KŁ Nishimura as Boss of Matsushima
YŁko Wakasugi as Osumi
IchirŁ Sugai as Hisaemon Kosugi

6. AKUMYO ICHIBA
(TOUGH GUY OF THE MARKETPLACE) 1963
Director: Kazuo Mori
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Michiko Saga as Sakie
Minoru Shiraki as Minoru
Gannosuke Ashiya as Ichiro
Kogan Ashiya as Jiro
Haruo Tanaka as Kakimoto
Makoto Fujita as the man who imitates Seiji

7. AKUMYO HATOBA
(TOUGH GUY ON THE DOCKS) 1963
Director: Kazuo Mori
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Makoto Fujita as Saburo
Eiko Taki as Etsuko
Hiroshi Mizuwara as Sentaro
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
Yuka Konno as Otoshi
Keiko Yumi as Omitsu
Yoshio Yoshida as Onigawara no Kichi

8. AKUMYO ICHIBAN
(NUMBER ONE BAD MAN) 1963
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
KyŁko Enami as Keiko
Reiko Fujiwara as Oteru
Keiko Yukishiro as Taeko
Taro Marui as Ryota
Gannosuke Ashiya as Ichiro
Kogan Ashiya as Jiro

9. AKUMYO DAIKO
(AKUMYO'S DRUM) 1964
Director: Kazuo Mori
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Yukiji Asaoka as Hiroko
Yuko Hamada as Kyoko
Kazuko Wakamatsu as Otoku
BontarŁ Miyake as Kikuzawa
Gannosuke Ashiya as Ichiro
Kogan Ashiya as Jiro

10. AKUMYO NOBORI
(TOUGH GUY'S UPWARD FLIGHT) 1965
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Yoshie Mizutani as Oyone
Chocho Miyako as Omasa
Kei Sato as Endo
Ryuzo Shimada as Nakatsu
Asao Uchida as Shotaro
Jotaro Senba as Naojiro

11. AKUMYO MUTEKI
(INVINCIBLE TOUGH GUY) 1965
Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Kaoru Yachigusa as Akemi
Shiho Fujimura as Yuriko
Takuya Fujioka as Isobe
Jotaro Senba as Tsuneko
Hirohisa Toda as Yokokawa

12. AKUMYO ZAKURA
(TOUGH GUY'S FLOWERS) 1966 Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Etsuko Ichihara as Kikue
Takuya Fujioka as Inui
Fujio Suga as Goto
Sadako Sawamura as Fusae
Manabu Morita as Masa
Jun Tatara as Sawamura

13. AKUMYO ICHIDAI
(TOUGH GUY'S OPPORTUNITY) 1967
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Mitsuko Mori as Osumi
Yuko Hamada as Tsutae
Asao Koike
Isamu Nagato as Silk Hut II
Mikiko Tsubouchi as Omits

14. AKUMYO JUHACHI-BAN
(TOUGH GUY'S EIGHTEEN TURNS) 1968
Director: Kazuo Mori
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Jiro Tamiya as Seiji
Mitsuko Mori as Osome
Michiyo Ookusu as Suzuko (as Michiyo Yasuda)
Ko Nishimura as Nakazawa
Makoto Fujita as Sataro
Ryunosuke Kaneda as Murakami
Kogan Ashiya as Inazuma
Utako Kyo as Oshin

15. AKUMYO ICHIBAN SHOBU
(TOUGH GUY'S OPPORTUNE VICTORY) 1969
Director: Masahiro Makino
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Kyoko Enami as Orin
Takahiro Tamura as Masakichi
Michiyo Ookusa aka Michiyo Yasuda as Ohama
Masahiko Tsugawa as Senji
Mayumi Ogawa as Otae
Gaku Yamamoto as Hanashima
Ryutaro tatsumi as Kawatoka
Michitaro Mizushima as Shiraishi

16. AKUMYO: SHIMA ARASHI
(AKUMYO: NOTORIOUS DRAGON;
aka, TURF WARS; or,
BAD NAME'S BREAKING OF TERRITORIES) 1974
Director: Yasuzo Masumura
Shintaro Katsu as Asakichi
Joji Ai as Kapone
Hiroko Isayama as Cherry
Kirin Kiki aka Chiho Yuki as Oshige
Kinya Kitaoji as Sada
Mariko Mochizuki as Okinu
Ganjiro Nakamura as Motojime
Hediji Otalki as Silk Hut
Haruko Sugimura as Itoy
Kiwako Taichi as Otero

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