Top Knot Detective (2017)

"Brilliantly Funny"

One of my top ten films of 2017 (and one of my all-time favourite mockumentaries) finally gets a dual format DVD & Blu-ray UK release courtesy of Third Window Films.

Whatever happened to 1990s top rated period Japanese detective adventure show Ronin Suiri Tantai (aka Deductive Reasoning Ronin)? How did it end up being shown in other countries under the title Top Knot Detective? Why has almost all of the footage shot been destroyed? Was it because the series was such an insane train wreck of a show, featuring robot ninjas, giant penis monsters and enormous pregnant badgers belching forth tiny badger babies bent on turning the world communist? 

Or is there a more sinister side? What about its insane writer / director / editor and star, the frankly uncontrollable Takashi Takamoto? Or the rivalry between him and co-star Haruto Koike, who played the series' chief villain? Or did the show disappear because of what happened to the CEO of its Japanese conglomerate financier (and Haruto's father)? All is revealed in this Australian film. Through interviews with cast, crew, and interested parties, we learn that TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is still a major cult item even today.

A mockumentary to rival the best of them, TOP KNOT DETECTIVE starts off hilariously funny ("He was like the Japanese Ed Wood, & I mean that as a compliment") and then manages to deliciously wrong foot you in its final act as events become rather more serious. You may still be open mouthed from the hilarious and outrageous antics of what has preceded it but then that's what the Blu-ray is for - this is a film that benefits from repeat viewings. 

The extras on Third Window Films' disc include a commentary from writer-directors Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce, the original 9 minute promotional film, a making of, a featurette on the fights, and a trailer.

TOP KNOT DETECTIVE very much feels like the THIS IS SPINAL TAP of insane Japanese television, pop music and culture in general. If that sounds appealing then grab this now - you'll be chuckling for weeks. And you'll wish that more of Deductive Reasoning Ronin had escaped the ashes.

Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce's TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is out on dual format DVD & Blu-ray from Third Window Films on Monday 18th March 2019