Crows Zero II (クローズZERO II)
Crows Zero II (クローズZERO II) is a 2009 Japanese action film directed by Takashi Miike and the sequel to Crows Zero (2007), adapting an original screenplay set in the world of Hiroshi Takahashi's delinquent manga Crows (クローズ)1. It was released in Japan on April 11, 2009, runs 133 minutes, was rated PG-12, and was distributed by Toho1. Shun Oguri, Takayuki Yamada, Kyosuke Yabe, and Meisa Kuroki reprise their roles from the first film, joined by RIZE drummer Nobuaki Kaneko and actor Haruma Miura as new antagonists from Hosen Academy2. The film earned about 3.02 billion yen at the Japanese box office3.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | April 11, 2009 (Japan), Toho; 133 minutes; PG-121 |
| Director / screenwriters | Takashi Miike; screenplay by Shogo Muto and Rikiya Mizushima4 |
| Source | Original story based on Hiroshi Takahashi's manga Crows (Akita Shoten, Young Champion Comics)2 |
| Lead cast | Shun Oguri (Genji Takiya), Takayuki Yamada (Serizawa Tamao), Kyosuke Yabe (Ken Katagiri), Meisa Kuroki (Ruka Aizawa)4 |
| New antagonists | Nobuaki Kaneko as Hosen Academy's Narumi Taiga; Haruma Miura as first-year Bitou Tatsuya2 |
| Japanese box office | About 3.02 billion yen, tenth among 2009 domestic releases as of October 20093 |
| Home video | DVD and Blu-ray released October 2, 2009 (TBS/Toho)5 |
Spoilers
Story
The film begins a few months after the events of Crows Zero, in which Genji Takiya (Shun Oguri) defeated Serizawa Tamao's faction at Suzuran High School and then lost his summit battle with the strongest fighter, Rinda-man (Motoki Fukami)6. Genji has still not united the school, and his G.P.S. alliance is close to falling apart while Serizawa's group stays silent and the first-year students act freely2.
The conflict turns outward when Hosen Academy, a rival school feared as the "Army of Killers," sends an assassin to Suzuran2. The two schools had been bound by a truce signed after a past "bloody war" in which Hosen's leader Mito was stabbed to death by Suzuran's then-top fighter Kawanishi; when Hosen ambushes Kawanishi and Genji loses control at the scene, the truce collapses7. Hosen's third-year leader Narumi Taiga declares war on Suzuran to avenge Mito, and Hosen's executives attack Suzuran's strongest fighters one after another7. Mito's younger brother Tatsuya, a first-year who has entered Hosen's leadership, watches from the sidelines7.
The climax is a battle between about 500 students of the two schools, described in promotional material as the largest brawl scene in film history2.
Cast and production
Oguri, Yamada, Yabe, and Kuroki lead the returning cast, with supporting roles played by Sosuke Takaoka, Kenta Kiritani, Motoki Fukami, Tsutomu Takahashi, Suzuki Matsuo, Kenichi Endo, and Goro Kishitani, among others2. Nobuaki Kaneko, drummer of the rock band RIZE, was cast as Narumi Taiga, and Haruma Miura, then known for Koizora, played Bitou Tatsuya2.
The crew largely carried over from the first film: producer Mataichiro Yamamoto, screenwriters Shogo Muto and Rikiya Mizushima, cinematographer Nobuyasu Kita, production designers Yuji Hayashida and Tsukuru Hashimoto, editors Shuichi Kakesu and Tomoki Nagasaka, and composer Naoki Otsubo4. The film was produced by the "Crows Zero II" Production Committee of TBS, Tristone Entertainment, Toho, MBS, Akita Shoten, CBC, Happinet, and SDP2. It was shot on 35mm in CinemaScope (1:2.35) with Dolby Digital sound4.
Box office and reception
Crows Zero II grossed about 3.02 billion yen in Japan, ranking tenth among 2009 domestic releases as of October 2009, just behind Yatterman and April Bride at 3.15 billion yen each3. TBS described the result as a 3-billion-yen hit, following the first film's 2.5 billion yen8. A compiled figure puts worldwide earnings at $29,893,6369.
The film also screened internationally during 2009, including in Singapore, Russia, and Hong Kong, and at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the United States on February 6, 20109. On Rotten Tomatoes it held a 77% Tomatometer from a single counted review, with critic Anton Bitel of Little White Lies calling it "a violent, often slyly funny vision of the endless male path to hierarchical supremacy"10.
The manga and the series
The film is the second prequel-style screen story derived from Takahashi's Crows manga, written originally for the screen rather than adapting manga chapters4. Published circulation figures for the manga differ by source and date: eiga.com cites over 42 million copies1, the official Tristone page over 45 million2, and a TBS press release from 2014 gives over 75 million for the series as a whole8.
Home video followed on October 2, 2009, in premium, standard, and rental editions with making-of features and a Takahashi–Yabe conversation5. A third film, Crows Explode (2014), directed by Toshiaki Toyoda with a largely new cast, continued the series' story after the Zero films11.
References
- クローズZERO II : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com
- クローズZERO II, Tristone Entertainment
- 資料1 2009年邦画作品別興収（10月末現在）, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- CROWS II (クローズZERO II), Japanese Film Database
- クローズ ZERO II DVD, TOHO-AMUSEMENT-PARK
- クローズZERO II (2009), Cinema Today
- クローズZERO story page, Happinet Pictures
- 映画「クローズZERO」「クローズZERO II」TBSオンデマンドにて配信中, TBS Television press release (PR Times, 2014)
- クローズZERO2, HiSoUR film data
- Crows Zero II, Rotten Tomatoes
- クローズEXPLODE, TBS Shopping
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released in the 2000s › Released 2005 to 2009
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
Your notes
© 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Developers: read Edgepedia by API or MCP. Embed a reference card.