Baby Assassins 2 is the 2023 follow-up to the 2022 Japanese action/comedy Baby Assassins. Young assassins/roommates Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) are back, and still having money problems. Their boss Mr. Susano (Tsubasa Tobinaga) calls to inform the girls that they never canceled their Assassin Guild gym membership, and now owe monthly dues for the past 5 years, as well as fees for their guild insurance plan for the past 2 years, which amounts to over $26K. This will completely wipe out their savings, and the girls only have until Friday at 3pm to get to the bank and pay off their outstanding balance, or face an even heftier late fee. Chisato and Mahiro aren’t really the most reliable people outside of their work, and in usual form, Friday rolls around and they realize neither one of them have paid the bill yet. So they rush to the bank just minutes before the deadline, but things go awry when the bank is hit by robbers, and the young assassins soon find themselves suspended for taking the matter into their own hands while off the clock. Until the suspension is lifted, they’ll have to find a new part-time job, working as mascots for a local shop. But the pay is nothing like what they’re used to.
Meanwhile, a couple of young male assassins, Makoto (Tatsuomi Hamada) and Yuri (Iwanaga Joey) have grown tired of being subcontractors and treated like part-timers by the Assassin Guild. They want to become full-time members of the Guild, but there are no openings. Their manager, Mr. Akagi (Junpei Hashino), suggests that if they want to climb higher they’ll need to make their own openings, by secretly killing some other assassins without the Guild finding out. And so he gives them the names of a highly skilled team of full-time assassins they could take out, handing them photos of Chisato and Mahiro.
As if they didn’t have enough to worry about, Chisato and Mahiro now find themselves the targets of these two slightly less experienced assassins, but they’re still barred from killing anyone while their Guild membership is suspended. As the guys suss out their targets, it looks like this is going to be an easy job, taking out two young women who don’t seem to take things very seriously. However, the guys soon discover that they have severely underestimated the competition.
Baby Assassins 2 is a thoroughly entertaining follow-up to the first film, finding a similar blend of action and humor. Though this time around, the focus seems to be a bit more on the characters. This second installment delves more into the friendship and partnership of roommates Chisato and Mahiro. In the first film, the girls were thrust together as part of their cover identities, but now they have truly become best friends/partners, who have formed a kind of shorthand with one another. They work like a well-oiled machine—even if they are in the middle of bickering about something, they can instantly switch into game mode to take down a threat. Sometimes the scenes between these two almost feels improvised, but the smiling and more natural dialogue helps make this friendship feel genuine, and the two actresses have great chemistry with one another. They also bring a lot of humor to the film, especially when their bickering turns into a full-on martial arts battle in animal costumes.
Baby Assassins 2 also brings back the girls’ bureaucratic boss Mr. Susano, who is constantly citing the official rule book as to what the girls are and are not allowed to do. Plus there’s the return of ever-frustrated, by-the-book, and overly-confident cleaner Mr. Tasaka (Atomu Mizuishi), whose role is slightly bigger time around. He is joined by new partner/trainee Miyauchi Mana (Tomo Nakai), who’s very eager to learn from her experienced colleague. There is this really fun dynamic between Tasaka and Miyauchi.
The two male assassins, Makoto and Yuri, have a friendship/partnership that’s not unlike the girls’. They have been best friends for a long time, and are constantly chanting their middle school basketball team’s fight song to pump themselves up. They may not be as experienced as some of the other assassins, but still manage to get the job done. Especially when they find themselves in unplanned situations (which is often, due to their part-time status). In the film’s opening scene, they show up to to take out a target who’s supposed to be alone, but end up finding a room full of five armed men. In addition to their struggle to move up to a full-time position, we also follow the guys during the more mundane aspects of their lives, as they get excited for free barbeque with their boss, or visit a local noodle shop where Makoto is too shy to talk to the waitress and ask her out. There are some really fun and awkward rom-com style scenes regarding the recurring visits to the restaurant. Yuri is constantly trying to help his friend come out of his shell, and is more of the driving force of this duo. If these two weren’t out to kill Chisato and Mahiro, I’d be rooting for them, as they are hilarious together.
In addition to the humor and character drama, the film also has some amazing fast-paced fight scenes. Whether it’s a pair of assassins taking down their targets or trying to stop some bank robbers, the girls fighting each other, or the two teams facing off, everything is well choreographed and exciting. The kicks and punches are fast and furious. And when the two teams of assassins ultimately do face off against one another, things feel pretty evenly matched.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release only includes the original Japanese audio, but the English subtitles are well-written and easy to follow. The audio track does a nice job of putting the viewer into the action, whether it’s the gunshots echoing across the room, or the thud of every kick and punch landing on their targets. While the first film had more of a washed out look, here the colors look more natural. No matter how fast the action, the picture remains clean and clear, with a solid level of detail throughout.
The Blu-ray release is pretty much barebones, only including the film’s trailer, along with some previews for three other Well Go releases. The disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase, and doesn’t include a digital copy. Our review copy included a glossy, embossed slipcover.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:41:30)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Japanese Stereo
- Subtitles: English
Extras:
- Trailer (2:10)
- Previews
- Monster (2:28)
- One-Percent Warrior (2:01)
- The Childe (1:26)
Final Thoughts:
Baby Assassins 2 is a thoroughly entertaining sequel, bringing back several of the characters that made the first film so enjoyable while also introducing some fun new characters. It finds the perfect blend of humor, character development, and really exciting fast-paced action/fight sequences. Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but is unfortunately once again devoid of any bonus material. Fans of the first film will definitely want to check out this second installment. I hope we continue to see more from this franchise!
Baby Assassins 2 Blu-ray
50% Off $29.98 $14.99 (as of April 26, 2024 04:55 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Baby Assassins
35% Off $29.98 $18.16 (as of April 26, 2024 04:55 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Baby Assassins
44% Off $24.98 $9.72 (as of April 26, 2024 04:55 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Baby Assassins
$9.99 (as of April 26, 2024 04:55 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Baby Assassins
(as of April 26, 2024 04:55 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
