🎬 Subtitles and Bad Decisions Presents:
🫰 Because I have feelings, subtitles, and no self-control.
🎬 Crows Zero 2 (2009)
Format: Feature Film
Country: Japan
Release Date: April 11, 2009
Duration: 2 hr. 13 min.
Watched on: BiliBili
🍿 Okay, So What’s Going On Here?
Several months after the events of Crows Zero, things at Suzuran High are getting ugly again.
This time, the problem is Housen Academy, also known as the Army of Killers.
Sho Kawanishi, a former Suzuran student, has just been released from reform school after killing a Housen student two years earlier.
And Housen?
Yeah.
They haven't forgotten.
Now they're coming after Kawanishi, and that eventually brings the entire Suzuran student body into the conflict.
Meanwhile, Suzuran has its own problems brewing, because apparently the students there can't just put aside their differences long enough to deal with the giant army of angry dudes from another school coming to destroy them.
So now we've got Suzuran fighting among themselves while Housen is preparing for war.
Because apparently one giant school brawl wasn't enough.
📺 Where Did I Find This One?
I watched this one on BiliBili.
And at this point, I'm watching these because I've already gone down the rabbit hole.
After Crows Zero, I obviously had to see what happened next.
Especially once I realized that Housen Academy was involved.
Because if you've watched High&Low: The Worst, you already know that Housen is kind of a big deal.
So this was the point where I started seeing the connections a little more clearly.
Not enough to suddenly make Crows Zero part of the High&Low franchise.
But enough to make me go:
“Ohhhhh. Okay. THAT'S where Housen comes into this.”
🎭 Okay, But Who Are These People?
Takiya Genji – Oguri Shun
Genji is back, and he's still determined to establish himself as the strongest person at Suzuran.
After everything that happened in the first movie, he's no longer the complete newcomer trying to build his own army.
Now he's got something to lose.
And unfortunately for him, that means he's going to have to deal with Housen.
Serizawa Tamao – Yamada Takayuki
Serizawa is back, and thankfully, we get to see more of the relationship between him and the rest of the Suzuran crew.
At this point, he's established himself as one of the major figures at the school, even though Genji is now trying to prove himself as the top dog.
And yes, they're still basically two stubborn idiots surrounded by other stubborn idiots.
Narumi Taiga – Kaneko Nobuaki
One of the major figures at Housen Academy and one of the people standing on the other side of this increasingly massive school war.
Housen brings an entirely different energy to the conflict, and Narumi is one of the characters who helps establish just how serious they are about getting revenge.
Kawanishi Noboru – Abe Shinnosuke
Sho Kawanishi's older brother and one of the people caught up in the fallout surrounding the Housen conflict.
His connection to what happened years earlier is what helps set this entire mess into motion.
Urushibara Ryo – Ayano Go
Another Housen student and one of the faces of the threat Suzuran is dealing with.
And honestly, Housen has quite the collection of people who look like they woke up and decided violence was going to be their personality for the day.
Bitou Tatsuya – Miura Haruma
A Housen student and another important piece of the conflict.
His connection to the history between Suzuran and Housen adds another layer to the rivalry.
Katagiri Ken – Yabe Kyosuke
Still around and still trying to navigate the chaos surrounding Genji and Suzuran.
At this point, I'm starting to think Katagiri deserves hazard pay.
Rindaman – Fukami Motoki
Still lurking around Suzuran like some kind of final boss who hasn't decided whether he actually wants to participate.
And yes.
The reputation remains terrifying.
⭐ The Damage Report
Story: ⭐ 7/10
Acting/Cast: ⭐ 8.5/10
Music: ⭐ 7/10
Rewatch Value: ⭐ 7.5/10
Overall: ⭐ 7.5/10
📝 So... How Did I Feel About This One?
⚠️ WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage
Crows Zero 2 is where the connection between this world and The Worst becomes a little more obvious.
Not because the movies suddenly become part of the High&Low franchise.
They don't.
It's really because Housen Academy is involved this time.
And if you've watched High&Low: The Worst, you already know that Housen is a pretty important part of that world.
So watching this one after getting into High&Low was definitely interesting.
It was like finding another little piece of the puzzle.
But once again, that's pretty much where the connection begins and ends for me.
This is still very much Crows Zero.
Same general tone.
Same cast.
Same world.
And, unfortunately for me...
Same music problem.
The J-rock isn't bad.
But it still doesn't quite fit the way I want it to.
There are moments where the music should be making the scene feel bigger, more intense, more badass.
Instead, I'm sitting there thinking:
“Okay, this is a perfectly respectable song, but why does it feel like we're about to have an emotional breakup instead of a school-wide beatdown?”
Maybe that's just me.
But after experiencing the High&Low soundtracks, I definitely noticed the difference.
That said, I did enjoy this one more than the first movie in some respects.
The battles were better.
The Housen conflict gave the story a bigger sense of scale.
And having the two schools finally come together for a massive confrontation was definitely one of the more entertaining parts.
💕 Things I Loved
The biggest thing for me was getting to see Suzuran and Housen finally go at each other.
Because let's be honest.
That's what I came for.
These two schools have history, and putting them on opposite sides of a giant conflict gives the movie a much bigger feeling than the first one.
The battles were also noticeably better this time around.
There was more going on, the confrontations felt bigger, and the action had more weight behind it.
Still not quite High&Low levels of insanity for me, but definitely an improvement.
I also liked having the same cast return.
After the first movie, it would have been weird to suddenly lose half of these characters, and thankfully, we get to continue with the people we've already met.
There's something satisfying about watching the rivalry between Genji and Serizawa continue while a much bigger threat is closing in around them.
And finally, the Housen connection.
As someone who came to Crows Zero through High&Low, seeing Housen here made the whole thing much more interesting.
It really did make me understand why this school keeps showing up in conversations surrounding The Worst.
😭 Things That Hurt My Feelings
I still had questions.
And one of them involves the kid connected to the Housen student who was killed.
I'm sitting there trying to figure out exactly what his relevance is supposed to be.
Because honestly?
I wasn't entirely sure.
He felt like he should have been more important to the story than he actually was.
Instead, I was left wondering:
“Okay... so why are you here?”
And yes, he's pretty.
We can acknowledge that.
But pretty does not automatically equal plot relevance, sir.
I wanted more explanation about his role and why his presence mattered to the larger conflict.
It felt like there was supposed to be more there, and I just wasn't getting it.
🔥 And Then There Was THIS...
The fact that these two schools basically have generations of beef.
Suzuran.
Housen.
Years of grudges.
Dead students.
Revenge.
And somehow everyone still thinks the best way to resolve all of this is to assemble several hundred teenagers and let them beat the hell out of each other.
Which is apparently the educational philosophy of this entire universe.
I will say, though...
Watching Suzuran and Housen finally collide was worth it.
The battles in this movie were better than the first one, and the scale of the conflict made the action much more satisfying.
This was definitely the moment where I could see the DNA that eventually made Housen such an important part of The Worst.
🫠 Final Mood
Crows Zero 2 was an improvement for me over the first movie.
It had better battles, a bigger conflict, and the introduction of Housen into the story made it much more interesting, especially after watching High&Low: The Worst.
This is really where I started seeing how the different schools exist within the same larger world.
But again, I wouldn't really call it part of the High&Low franchise.
It's more like they're neighboring pieces of the same delinquent-movie universe.
And honestly, I'm okay with that.
The cast was good.
The story was decent.
The battles were better.
But the music still didn't quite work for me, and I still had questions about certain characters that the movie never really answered.
Overall, though?
I enjoyed it more than the first one.
And now that I've seen both Crows Zero movies, I can definitely appreciate the Housen connection to The Worst a little more.
But if I'm being completely honest...
If you gave me a choice between watching another Crows Zero movie or another High&Low installment?
I'm picking High&Low.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Started: Curious to see where the Crows Zero story went after the first movie.
Finished: Better than the first one, especially the battles, but still firmly in the “good, not great” category for me.
🏷️ The Hashtag Damage
#CrowsZero2
#CrowsZero
#HousenAcademy
#SuzuranHigh
#GenjiTakiya
#SerizawaArmy
#HighAndLow
#TheWorst
#JapaneseMovies
#JapaneseDelinquentDrama
#emotionaldamageapproved
#subtitlesandbaddecisions
