One of the longest-running film series in the world, the Chikan Densha Groper Trainfilms have been steadily emerging from the Japanese underground since the mid-1980s and stand at around several hundred entries in the franchise. In one of the finest entries, Toshiro Enomoto offers lots of laughs alongside steamy sex and sleazy exploitation to appeal to fans of the genre in this entry available from Pink Eiga TV.
Dirty Scoundrels is available from Pink Eiga
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Following a rough day at work, businessman Yuji Saito (Yota Kawase) decides to engage in a thrill by groping Asuka Yoshimoto (Mayu Asada) a pretty young woman, on a busy Tokyo commuter train. Soon enough, he realizes that his wallet is missing which Asuka soon returns to him noting that they can work together to pick the pockets of similar perverts on the train or other people in the community. Forced to keep it a secret from his fiancee Yumiko (Hotaru Hazuki), the two begin to follow through on their plans only to find their feelings towards each other interfere with the scam. When they both decide not to act on their feelings, it draws a far different conclusion than they imagined.
There are plenty of aspects to like with Enomoto's movie. Given the series' proclivity towards emphasizing the exploitation elements, it's no surprise “Dirty Scoundrels” carries on the same way. The initial groping on the train to open the film is quite impressive, focusing on the cramped nature that brings Yuji and Asuka together in a near chest-to-chest fashion. As well, the scene also manages to include enough close-up shots of fingers caressing the underside of her panties that the sexual thrill is established. It's almost forgotten that all the wallets are being switched and the comedy starts with how Asuka gets away. The later scenes showing Yuji and Asuka going through their scams on the trains continue that sense of exploitation, showing tons of close-ups with fingers going under Asuka's skirt and making contact with her panties, rubbing away with an abandon that carries a sleazy atmosphere overall.
As well, “Dirty Scoundrels” also works with more traditional eroticism outside the train sequences. An enthusiastic and steamy sequence between Yuji and Yumiko is quite enticing, with the playful foreplay giving way to more “regular” sex between them. With Yuji and Yumiko engaging in several other erotic segments throughout, the film shows them to be a couple constantly screwing, regardless of the situation or how Yuji's situation with Asuka becomes. It all adds a fine erotic tone over the sleazier aspects established earlier in the film against the groping and panty-rubbing that constitutes the sensuality that enables this to stand as a fine entry in the series. This is especially due to the rather attractive presence of Mayu Asada
That said, “Dirty Scoundrels” does have some issues. One of the main problems here is writer Akira Kawamoto's rushed story, which tends to be quite scattershot in its approach. Tending to ignore common sense for a lot of the film, the story seems to expect us to accept there's a working agreement between Yuji and Asuka without ever seeing it become official or knowing the details. It comes across as if a crucial scene was missing to signal their arrangement. The inclusion of a subplot introducing Yuji to Asuka's ailing grandmother didn't really need to be included, featuring several scenes that either go on way too long or set up an uninteresting sidestory involving them pretending to be a couple. This leads into a rather underwhelming romantic comedy-centered conclusion that just comes out of nowhere and has no setup beforehand.
Filled with enough of the series' trademark sleaze and exploitation while adding a romantic/comedy storyline into the proceedings for better or worse, “Dirty Scoundrels” is entertaining enough to serve as a better-end entry in the franchise. Those who have an interest in the style or the previous entries in the series will have much to like here.
