Momoko Ikeda

The success of Truck Yaro (1975-1979) initiated a whole load of movies that put "Yaro" in their title, including this semi-bonkers sports comedy/drama. Sonny Chiba's brother Jiro Chiba stars as a Rugby player whose team must find a way to beat the opponent. It's a standard storyline without any major surprises, but works surprisingly well. Training scenes are relatively nuts; much better than the actual matches actually, which tend to go on forever. There is no sex, nudity or graphic violence, making this a family friendly affair. Sonny Chiba appears for about 7 minutes during the last third as a truck driver who comes to Jiro's rescue.

Based on the life of artist Yumeji Takehisa, who is most famous today as the definitive artist of "Taisho Romanticism" and for his melancholic paintings of beautiful women (bijinga). His early career was deeply intertwined with Japan's socialist and anarchist movements.

Based on the novel of the same name by Ayako Sono

Part of the Young Guy [若大将] series.