Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode (1974) on Netflix

NR19741h 40mAction Crime Drama

Shozo Hirono is in prison on a seven-year sentence as his rival Akira Takeda unites the Hiroshima families into the Tensei Coalition, a political party whose two executives want more power.

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Netflix3.7/5
IMDb7.3/101,439 votes
Rotten TomatoesNot available

Plot summary

Shozo Hirono is serving a seven-year prison term while Akira Takeda, released on a technicality, brings the families of the Hiroshima region together and turns their organization into the Tensei Coalition, a political party. By 1965 Takeda holds the chairmanship, with Katsutoshi Otomo as vice chairman, Tamotsu Matsumura as managing director, Hideo Hayakawa as secretary general and Shoichi Eda as a director. A fight breaks out between Hirono's men and low-ranking coalition members. Otomo and Hayakawa want the men at fault to atone with yubitsume, but a vote leaves discipline to Matsumura, since the coalition would rather not carry yakuza rituals into its public image.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode (1974)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

The character played by Kinya Kitaoji in Final Episode was based on Hisashi Yamada of the Kyosei-kai, a real yakuza boss screenwriter Koji Takada met in Hiroshima. Kazuo Kasahara advised against using him, but the real yakuza saw the film and caused problems with the studio.
Kōzō Minō, the former yakuza whose journals the series was adapted from, met screenwriter Koji Takada several times and told him he disliked the first four films. He then showed Takada a manuscript for a film he had written himself.
Finding the yakuza sake-exchange ritual in the earlier films ridiculous, screenwriter Koji Takada had the characters played by Joe Shishido and Hiroki Matsukata exchange whiskey instead, and he created those two roles to change the series' relationships.