Steineded How sad is this?

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Uriah43 Born because her Japanese mother was raped by an American soldier, "Rica" (Rika Aoki) endures a harsh childhood and gradually forms an all-girl gang who fear nothing. However, when they tangle with the Yakuza "Tachibana Gang" things don't go well for them as Rica is carted off by the police for murder while the rest of the women are brutally raped and then sold into sex slavery in Vietnam. Vowing to get even with the Tachibana Gang she escapes from the detention facility but not before earning the enmity of the leader of the female prisoners named "Reiko" (Kazuko Nagamoto). Alone and always out-numbered Rica does the best that she can as she faces countless new obstacles that stand in the way of obtaining her revenge. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film suffered from a couple of flaws which repeated themselves throughout the movie. For example, the fight scenes were rather clumsy and could have used more attention to detail. Likewise, some of the special effects were almost laughable and in need of improvement as well. Even so, the movie wasn't too bad overall and managed to keep my attention for the most part. For that reason I rate it as about average.

zetes Honestly, a pretty bad movie, but it's an extremely enjoyable bad movie, reaching a B-movie glory that you don't get to see too often. Rika Aoki, playing a character of the same name (Americanized on the DVD to "Rica"), stars as the leader of a delinquent girl gang so popular in these pinky movies of the late '60s and '70s. After accidentally killing a yakuza, she gets sent to juvie. Her gang gets kidnapped and sold into sex slavery for American soldiers in Vietnam. Rica also has to deal with a yakuza chick rival in the clink. The plot of this thing flies in every direction. It's insane just how much stuff happens. It never stops to take a breath, just rushing madly toward its insane climax. Aoki isn't especially attractive (if she was, I wouldn't hesitate to call this one of my favorite pinky flicks), but you get used to her after a while and she's kind of cute. She's pretty awesome even if she's not a supermodel. For what it is, Rica is a pretty great experience. Ko Nakahira formerly directed the youth picture Crazed Fruit. Auteurists seeking similar should be warned against this one.

ejenkinsumc I consider this comparable to Truck Turner in the blaxploitation genre. Not the best example of pinky violence, but one of the most entertaining. There's enough 'plot' here to fill 5 movies though it's rather episodic in nature. Lots of exploitative scenes (nudity, violence, catfights, etc.), also some anti-USA sentiment.I just saw Rica 2 Lonely Wanderer yesterday. Not quite the exploitation showcase as the first, and with more conventional and less frantic pacing. No reform schools here, and no nudity from the star (Rika), though it does have some anti-USA bias. It's still a quite good followup and perhaps more believable than the original (which may actually detract from the entertainment value). Judging from the trailer, looks like the third installment is less sedate and more of a roller coaster ride like the first one.

jmaruyama "Konketsuji Rika" was Toho studio's attempt to compete and trump rival Toei's "Pinky Violence" 70s exploitation films like "Sukeban Bancho" (1973), "Sukeban Guerilla" (1972), "The Zubeko Bancho" series(1970-1974) and "The Sukeban Blues" series (1971-1973).The plot of "Rika" shares many similar themes with the Toei movies which it tried to emulate...you have the noble "sukeban" (bad girl)heroine who seemed to always make the wrong decisions in life, and who try as she might could not escape the bitter life of crime and revenge.All the elements of a typical Pinky Violence film were present: the bitter rivalries between beautiful gang leaders, the skimpy 70s fashions and go-go boots, the tragic love romance between the heroine and a strong but equally noble male Yakuza, the obligatory rape scenes and cat fights and the unapologetic and often gratuitous scenes of grim violence and over-the-top action.Star Aoki Rika isn't pretty like other Sukeban heroines such as Ike Reiko, Sugimoto Rika and Oshida Reiko. She doesn't have the stunt woman background of Shihomi Etsuko and is not as graceful or alluring as Kaji Meiko. What makes her unique is that she is a "half" (Caucasian/Asian "hapa" mix) and is tall (she often stands considerably taller than her opponents both male and female). She is more of a tough brawler and she fights almost like a man with a lot of punching, kicking and wrestling involved. She is Tamara Dobson's "Cleopatra Jones" to Pam Grier's "Coffy".There are parts were it is obvious that Rika is being doubled for a male stuntman especially in the end where we see her riding a motorcycle. I can't tell if her fights are also like that but it could be as Rika looks very "mannish" in some of her fight scenes.The acting is bad but it is basically on the same level as other Pinky Violence movies. Aoki Rika "lip syncs" a lot of her singing in the movie and I wonder how much of her dialog is also dubbed (sometimes it seems like the voice track doesn't quite match her lips).I was hoping that more focus would be placed on her unique ethnic, mixed background as Toho did in the similar but much better "Noraneko Rock: Sex Hunter" but unfortunately very little mention was made regarding this. Rika did have an interesting friend in fellow mixed cell-mate Hanako (Souda Masumi playing a mixed "hapa" Black/Asian), who is in love with a G.I. trying to avoid the Vietnam War.I kind of wish that the producers had gotten someone like Yamamoto Linda, Komaki Risa or Mitchie Love to play the heroine but then again maybe Aoki Rika's rough look is keeping with the tone of the movie.In the end "Konketsuji Rika" is a good attempt by Toho to match Toei's Pinky Violence films but is neither one of the best nor one or the worst of the genre. It is an interesting if but flawed piece of Japanese sexploitation and 70s violence cinema that is more of curiosity piece and will appeal to die hard fans of the genre.