Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City is set in 2025. Zebraman is captured and put in a giant centrifuge splitting him to 2 seperate entities, meanwhile evil forces have taken over Tokyo and turned it into Zebra City, featuring their own Zebra laws and everything. Basically, there’s a daily 5-minute window where all crime is justified and you cannot be prosecuted for killing, raping and doing other nasty things. Zebra City thrives, but Zebraman is slowly regaining memory of his former duties. If that sounds a little weird and all, don’t worry, it’s supposed to.
Story-wise it’s a pretty straight-forward sequel, firmly set in the same realm as the first movie and expanding on the original story. But the feel of Zebraman 2 is completely different. Sho Aikawa has returned from the first movie featuring bleached hair for the occasion. He’s a great actor who appears a lot in Miike’s movies with a rare talent to bring humour to a straight-faced performance. It’s a unique combination that makes him quite perfect for his role. Naka Riisa does a pretty good job of opposing Zebraman as the Zebra Queen, bringing a lot of attitude and power to the table. The songs she sings are quite catchy too. They both hold up extremely well amongst all the silliness.
Zebraman 2 is not all that easy to recommend. Depending on what you expect or demand from a sequel, it’s either a missed opportunity or a definite improvement over the first movie. It’s doesn’t follow the same path as the first Zebraman so people expecting to return to the same atmosphere will be a little disappointed. I still found it very amusing.
Sadako’s Rating: 3 stars out of 5
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