Here’s a list of the best Japanese sex films available on DVD (with English subtitles). The collection “Female” is as good a place as any to start for someone wanting to test the waters—it is very “soft” and has quite a bit of humor, too. Of course, Toshiki Sato’s Empty Room can also be recommended to newcomers. Snake of June is a masterpiece of twisted erotic cinema, which I assume regular readers of Twitch have already seen. Likewise, Sato’s Love-Zero=Infinity, Zeze’s Raigyo and Sano’s Under the Carp Banner are some of the best pink films out on DVD. I’m not a fan of pinky violence, hence their exclusion. I assume that some of Koji Wakamatsu’s films will be added (English subs are available on the VOD versions), once I’ve had a chance to see them.
Tokyo Desire, Mamoru Watanabe
Female, omnibus featuring short films by Ryuichi Hiroki, Suzuki Matsuo, Miwa Nishikawa, Tetsuo Shinohara, and Shinya Tsukamoto
The Brutal Hopelessness of Love, Takashi Ishii (flawed story, sensational cinematography)
Star of David: Beautiful Girl Hunter, Norifumi Suzuki
Marquis de Sade’s Prosperities of Vice, Akio Jissoji (deliriously beautiful lensing)
Gate of Flesh, Suzuki Seijun (much better than the critically acclaimed Story of a Prostitute)
Dirty Maria, Takahisa Zeze
Raigyo, Takahisa Zeze (one of the most gut-wrenchingly powerful films I’ve seen, and superbly photographed)
The Lost Virgin, Toshiki Sato
Empty Room, Toshiki Sato
Bitter Sweet, Mitsuru Meike
Lunch Box, Shinji Imaoka
Ambiguous, Toshiya Ueno
Snake of June, Shinya Tsukamoto (can’t add much to what’s already been said)
Love-Zero=Infinity, Hisayasu Sato (if Godard had made a pink film, it might have looked something like this)
Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Chusei Sone (my very favorite roman porno)
Rampo Noir, omnibus (esp. Hisayasu Sato’s Caterpillar, but Akio Jissoji’s is worth seeing for the exquisite visuals alone)
School of the Holy Beast, Norifumi Suzuki (nunsploitation at its best)
New Tokyo Decadence: The Slave, Ryu Murakami
Under the Carp Banner (to the best of my knowledge, the only of Kazuhiro Sano’s films to be released on subtitled DVD)
Assault! Jack the Ripper, Yasuharu Hasebe
Additions:
The Japanese Wife Next Door, Part 1, Yutaka Ikejima
Le doux parfum d’eros, Toshiya Fujita (French subtitles only)
Additions (October 2011)
A Night in Nude: Salvation, Takashi Ishii. Superb cinematography. (no subtitles)
Alone in the Night, Takashi Ishii. Probably Ishii’s best film, with virtuoso camerawork. (no subtitles)