NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: 88 Films Blu-ray (March 2025): 88 Films have transferred Shōgorō Nishimura's Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon to Blu-ray. It is on a single-layered disc with the hour+ film having a max'ed out bitrate. The film adopts a jazzy, neo-noir style but infused with Nikkatsu's erotic mandate. Colors are bright with depth in this 1080P presentation. Freeze-frames capture the titular housewife's emotional state usually with narration. The camera work is fairly dynamic, with a mix of fluid tracking shots and deliberate static frames that may enhance the film's voyeuristic tones.

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On their Blu-ray, 88 Films use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original Japanese language. Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon has no demonstrative effects aside from a poorly-edited car crash. The soundtrack, composed by Naozumi Yamamoto (Black Tight Killers, Branded to Kill, Outlaw: Gangster VIP, Massacre Gun, Gate of Flesh and many of Yoji Yamada's Tora-San series) opens with a "groove-tastic" theme that sets a playful, seductive tone, blending jazz influences with 1970s pop. Known for his versatility and distinctive style, Yamamoto contributed to a wide range of genres, blending traditional Japanese influences with Western musical forms. Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon's score has a dynamic range that is limited by the film's mono sound design, but Yamamoto's compositions are praised for their ability to evoke mood without overwhelming the narrative, a balance that distinguishes early Roman Porno from cheaper pink films. The audio transfer is consistent in the uncompressed. 88 Films offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

The 88 Films Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Irene Gonzalez-Lopez (Tanaka Kinuyo: Nation, Stardom and Female Subjectivity,) a scholar specializing in Japanese cinema and gender studies - see our review of Yasuzô Masumura's Giants and Toys. She offers an in-depth exploration of the movie’s background, delving into gender dynamics and cultural importance discussing the film’s role as the first Roman Porno, launched by Nikkatsu in 1971 to combat financial struggles against television and Hollywood imports, and how it set the tone for the genre with its blend of eroticism and artistry. It is quite revealing. An Introduction to Roman Porno: Mio Hatokai on ‘Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon’ is a 1/4 hour featurette, presented by Mio Hatokai, who provides an introduction to the Roman Porno genre, focusing specifically on Nikkatsu’s pivot to adult films in the late 1960s, driven by the success of independent pink films. The 88 Films Blu-ray includes a stills gallery of production photos, promotional images, and behind-the-scenes shots. Also included is the original 35mm theatrical trailer, preserved from its 1971 release. A second disc DVD is included.  

Shōgorō Nishimura's Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon was shot in just one week. It explores themes of sexual dissatisfaction, societal repression, and the commodification of women's bodies, filtered through the lens of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno mandate to include frequent sex scenes while maintaining a veneer of artistic merit. The film centers on Ritsuko (Kazuko Shirakawa), a working-class housewife trapped in a sexually unfulfilling marriage with her overworked salaryman husband, played by Tatsuya Hamaguchi. Seeking satisfaction, Ritsuko embarks on extramarital affairs, but her escapades are discovered by a female brothel owner, Maki Nanjō (Makiko Tsunoda), who blackmails her into prostitution. The film's historical significance lies in its role as the progenitor of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno line, which ran from 1971 to 1988 and produced over a thousand films. It launched the "Apartment Wife" series and subgenre, which became a cultural touchstone in Japanese erotica, influencing later directors like Toshiki Satō (one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Pink" alongside Takahisa Zeze, Kazuhiro Sano, and Hisayasu Satō.) The titular Apartment Wife was played by Kazuko Shirakawa whose career spans over five decades. She gained fame as the first major star of Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno films earning the title of one of the "Nikkatsu Queens," (along with Junko Miyashita of Watcher in the Attic, and Naomi Tani - A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse) before successfully transitioning to mainstream cinema. She successfully blended eroticism with dramatic flair. Although defined as a sex symbol, she later reflected on the challenge of balancing sensuality with substance. The Blu-ray restoration enhances the film’s 1970s aesthetic, making this release a definitive presentation of the very first Roman Porno. The 88 Films Blu-ray offers an interesting commentary and introduction. Fans will want to indulge.

Gary Tooze