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

ADDITION: Third Window Blu-ray (February 2027): Third Window have transferred five films by Takashi Ishii to Blu-ray entitled The Angel Guts Collection. The films are Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979), Angel Guts: Nami (1981), Angel Guts: Red Porno (1981), Angel Guts: Red Vertigo (1988) and Angel Guts: Red Flash (1994.)

NOTE: Third Window Films' release of Angel Guts: Red Flash in their Angel Guts Collection Blu-ray boxset utilizes the exact same disc as the one included in their earlier "Takashi Ishii: 4 Tales of Nami" package, featuring identical 1080P video transfer, a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track in the original Japanese language, and extras including Jasper Sharp's audio commentary, Matthew Carter's video essay on the Nami archetype, and a 1/2 hour archival interview with director Takashi Ishii - making it a seamless reuse for collectors already owning the prior set.

Notably this set excludes the inaugural film, Angel Guts: High School Co-ed (1978), directed by Chūsei Sone and focusing on a gang of delinquent youths whose violent exploits target high school girls, marking a raw, exploitative entry that sets the tone for the manga's adaptation into pinku eiga. The omission stems from the lead actress, Machiko Ohtani (who plays one of the central victims), reportedly refusing to grant permission for any re-releases or home video distributions, a decision that has prevented the film from being included in modern collections worldwide, as confirmed by Third Window and echoed in collector discussions, likely due to the sensitive and graphic nature of its content involving underage themes and sexual violence. This disrupts the full chronological experience of Takashi Ishii's manga adaptations, though the set still provides a robust representation of the series' evolution from Nikkatsu's Roman Porno era to Ishii's directorial works, prioritizing the Nami-centric narratives that define much of the franchise's psychological depth and controversy.

Third Window Films' new HD masters for the Angel Guts series deliver a consistent, filmic presentation across the five entries. The earlier Nikkatsu-era films like Red Classroom, Nami, and Red Porno are presented in 1080i. This is likely due to the format of the HD masters sourced from Nikkatsu, which appear to have been digitized or transferred in an interlaced video style common to some Japanese restorations of Roman Porno titles from that era, possibly for historical compatibility with broadcast standards or older telecine processes, despite being originally shot on 35mm film; these were not TV-first productions but theatrical. I saw no interlacing in my viewing. They still showcase true colors, textured grain, and improved detail over prior DVD editions, though softer contrast and limited shadow delineation in nocturnal scenes evoke their melancholic urban hues effectively, while Red Vertigo and Red Flash are in 1080P with sharper clarity in their suspenseful compositions and a similar organic look with occasional print inconsistencies devoid, making the set an agreeable and restored viewing experience for these provocative pinku classics. Although Angel Guts: Nami may be the best looking of the five films - kudos to cinematographer Masaru Mori (Assault! Jack the Ripper, The Naked Seven, Female Doctor: Flesh Slave, Female Ninja Magic: 100 Trampled Flowers.)

NOTE: We have added 185 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-rays, Third Window offers each film equipped with DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel Japanese tracks delivering clear and functional audio that prioritizes dialogue and ambient subtlety to complement Ishii's intimate narratives, with no major distortions but occasional minor issues in higher frequencies. The scores for the five Angel Guts films were composed by a diverse group of Japanese musicians, each bringing unique stylistic influences to the series' atmospheric and often unsettling narratives of eroticism and psychological turmoil. For Angel Guts: Red Classroom, the composer was Tsutomu Izumi (only film credit,) a pioneering figure in Japanese progressive rock known for his work as a keyboardist, vocalist, and Moog synthesizer player in the band Cosmos Factory, which blended psychedelic, jazz-rock, and electronic elements in albums like An Old Castle of Transylvania (1976); his sparse, reflective score for the film enhances its arthouse detachment and urban isolation through minimalist electronic tones and ambient textures, marking one of his rare forays into cinema amid a career focused on experimental rock compositions. The score for Angel Guts: Nami was handled by Abirisu, an obscure pseudonym or collective credit possibly linked to Japanese film music circles of the era, with limited biographical details available beyond associations with other pinku eiga like Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women (1978); the music features energetic, visceral undertones with minimalist jazz elements that amplify the film's sensory assault and themes of obsession, including contributions from singer Junko Yagami on songs, though Abirisu's identity remains enigmatic, suggesting it may be an alias for a session musician or group avoiding mainstream recognition in exploitation cinema. Hachirô Kai (Top Stripper) composed the music for Angel Guts: Red Porno, a relatively underdocumented film composer active in the early 1980s; his atmospheric sleaze-infused soundtrack employs sensual, neon-shadowed synths and echoing effects to underscore the film's explicit eroticism and urban solitude, reflecting a career in low-budget genre films that prioritized mood over complexity, though biographical specifics are sparse beyond his contributions to Nikkatsu's Roman Porno output. For Angel Guts: Red Vertigo, Fujio Satou provided the original music, an elusive composer with credits primarily in Japanese cinema of the 1980s, including sound work that evokes Goblin-esque synth-rock pulses and ominous electronic dread; his score heightens the film's noir suspense and surreal dream sequences through moody, hazy instrumentation, though detailed personal history is limited, positioning him as a behind-the-scenes contributor to cult films emphasizing emotional freefall and vulnerability. Finally, Gorô Yasukawa (Flower and Snake, Gonin 2,) scored Angel Guts: Red Flash, a prolific contemporary Japanese composer born in 1965, in Aichi Prefecture, who studied music composition at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music before dropping out to pursue film and soundtrack work; known for modern thrillers like The Devil's Path (2013) and video game scores, his giallo-inspired synth-driven music for the film builds creepy, foreboding tension during disturbing scenes, blending erotic suspense with auditory dread in a career spanning over 30 albums and collaborations in drama, horror, and anime genres. The lossless transfers provide a decently engaging soundstage across all films that complements their psychological and erotic narratives without overwhelming the source material's inherent restraint. Third Window offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-rays.

Third Window's limited edition (2000 copies) Blu-ray set is richly supplemented across its four discs, beginning with Blu-ray 1's Red Classroom features: a new audio commentary by Jasper Sharp ("Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema," and "The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film") that delves into the film's arthouse influences, production anecdotes, and thematic ties to Takashi Ishii's manga origins; a 1/4 hour video essay by Frankie Balboa examining the intersection of exploitation and empathy in pink cinema; two archival interviews with Ishii (10 + 17 minuets respectively) discussing script adaptations and visual motifs; and the original trailer highlighting its provocative tone. Blu-ray 2 for Nami includes Sharp's commentary on Noboru Tanaka's (The Oldest Profession, Night of the Felines, Watcher in the Attic,) directorial flair and the series' peak artistic elements; a 17 minute video essay by James Balmont (see his contribution on V-Cinema Essentials Blu-ray set by Arrow) analyzing media voyeurism and psychological descent; a lengthy 40-minute archival interview with Tanaka reflecting on his career and the film's intense pacing; plus the trailer. Blu-ray 3, covering Red Porno and Red Vertigo, offers Samm Deighan's (The Legacy of World War II in European Arthouse Cinema,) commentary on Red Porno's sleazy aesthetics and Toshiharu Ikeda's style, Tom Mes' track for Red Vertigo exploring Ishii's directorial debut and noir shifts; archival interviews with Ikeda (36 minutes) on erotic challenges and Ishii (over 1/2 hour) on thematic evolution; and trailers for both. Finally, Blu-ray 4's Red Flash has Sharp's commentary on the series' giallo-infused finale; a 1/4 hour video essay by Matthew Carter  (Myth of the Western: New Perspectives on Hollywood’s Frontier Narrative) on trauma cycles and retribution; and another 1/2 hour Ishii interview providing closure on his vision - all complemented by a booklet from Midori Suiren (see contribution on Radiance Films' Elegant Beast Blu-ray) offering essays, stills, and contextual history, making this a comprehensive package for cult film enthusiasts.

The Angel Guts Collection series embodies a visceral fusion of eroticism, psychological horror, and social critique, adapting Takashi Ishii's manga to dissect the commodification of female trauma in Japan's urban underbelly, where protagonists named Nami recurrently embody resilience amid cycles of violation and obsession, often intersecting with male figures like Muraki whose voyeuristic desires mirror broader societal pathologies. Across these films, Ishii's scripting (and later direction) inverts exploitation tropes by centering Nami's internal fragmentation: in Red Classroom, directed by Chusei Sone, Nami (Yūki Mizuhara) copes with a genuine on-screen rape by depersonalizing intimacy, her encounters draining the obsessive Muraki (Keizō Kanie - Tattooed Flower Vase) of vitality, a motif echoed in Nami where Eri Kanuma's (Yokohama BJ Blues) reporter awakens her own suppressed urges through victim interviews, leading to a shared descent into alienation and suicidal ideation that critiques media's exploitative gaze, much like the pornographic voyeurism in Red Porno where Jun Izumi's clerk faces workplace ostracism after an S&M shoot, highlighting how erotic self-expression invites societal retribution. This thematic continuity evolves in Ishii's directorial efforts, with Red Vertigo transforming Nami (Mayako Katsuragi) from a violated nurse into a defiant captive in a Stockholm-like bond with her abductor Muraki (Naoto Takenaka - Night in Nude: Salvation,) blending noir suspense with surreal dream sequences to explore vulnerability and revenge, paralleling the trauma reactivation in Red Flash where Maiko Kawakami's photographer confronts repressed memories on a porn set, intertwining personal horror with a murder mystery that culminates in retributive violence, underscoring the series' persistent blurring of fantasy and reality. Nami's (the female lead character's name in all films) iterations serve as a multifaceted archetype: a porn actress in Red Classroom whose self-loathing manifests in casual detachment, a callous journalist in Nami whose investigations infect her psyche, a reluctant model in Red Porno enduring harassment as consequence, a nurse in Red Vertigo navigating infidelity and captivity toward empowerment, and a photographer in Red Flash whose professional voyeurism resurrects past assaults - collectively portraying women not as passive victims but as agents reclaiming agency amid patriarchal entrapment, critiquing how media perpetuates trauma cycles while subverting pinku eiga expectations. Third Window Films has assembled an essential Blu-ray collection for the Angel Guts series, bringing these boundary-pushing pinku classics to high-definition with respectful restorations that honor their raw, atmospheric origins while providing a treasure trove of contextual extras that illuminate Takashi Ishii's dark explorations of desire, trauma, and urban alienation; though the films' graphic content may challenge casual viewers, this limited set stands as a definitive archive for fans of Japanese cult cinema, offering improved visuals, solid audio fidelity, and insightful supplements that elevate the package beyond mere exploitation to a thoughtful celebration of provocative artistry - highly recommended for those drawn to the shadows of Roman Porno. Once again sharing DNA, although more refined and artistic, with V-cinema I found these very entertaining - more so than the 4 Tales of Nami set which I found were also strong entries.) Absolutely recommended. 

Gary Tooze