# The Blood of Wolves (孤狼の血)
**The Blood of Wolves** (孤狼の血, *Korō no Chi*) is a 2018 Japanese yakuza thriller directed by Kazuya Shiraishi, based on Yuko Yuzuki's award-winning police novel of the same title, starring Koji Yakusho as a veteran detective suspected of colluding with gangsters in 1988 [Hiroshima](https://www.edgepedia.org/hiroshima).[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/7954) • [2](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/09/films/film-reviews/blood-wolves-old-school-yakuza-thrills-back/) Produced and distributed by Toei, the studio behind Kinji Fukasaku's *Battles Without Honor and Humanity* series, the film runs 126 minutes and was rated R15+ in Japan.[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 12, 2018, nationwide Toei release; 126 minutes; R15+ rating[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) |
| Director / writer | Kazuya Shiraishi (born 1974, Hokkaido); screenplay by Junya Ikegami from Yuko Yuzuki's novel[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/7954) • [4](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a) |
| Setting | Showa 63 (1988), the fictional city of Gohara in Hiroshima, just before the anti-organized crime law (bōtaihō) took effect[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) |
| Lead cast | Koji Yakusho as Ogami Shogo, Tori Matsuzaka as Hioka Shuichi, Yoko Maki as Takagi Rikako[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/7954) |
| Source novel | Won the 69th Mystery Writers of Japan Award; 3rd in *Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!* 2016; nominated for the 154th Naoki Prize[5](https://kinofilms.jp/movies/korou/) |
| Awards | 12 categories at the 42nd Japan Academy Prizes (2019), including Best Actor (Yakusho) and Best Supporting Actor (Matsuzaka)[6](https://eiga.com/movie/86671/) |
| Sequel | *The Blood of Wolves LEVEL2*, announced May 25, 2018 and released in 2021[7](https://www.korou.jp/1/) • [8](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/374783) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and setting
The story is set in 1988, shortly before Japan's anti-organized crime law came into force, in the fictional city of Gohara in Hiroshima Prefecture, where yakuza organizations still hold territory.[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) Tensions smolder between the Kakomura-gumi, an affiliate of the huge Itsuko-kai syndicate newly expanding into the city, and the local Otani-gumi.[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) When an employee of a finance company linked to the Kakomura-gumi disappears, the veteran organized-crime detective Ogami Shogo (Koji Yakusho) and the rookie Hioka Shuichi (Tori Matsuzaka), newly assigned to the local precinct, investigate what Ogami treats as a murder.[6](https://eiga.com/movie/86671/) • [9](https://s.cinemacafe.net/movies/27758/)
As the gang war escalates, the investigation pulls in police maneuvering, dark suspicions directed at Ogami himself, and the ambitions of gangsters and women fighting to survive.[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) As the pair work to put pressure on the yakuza, the seasoned detective who partners with Hioka, a rookie from the elite ranks, teaches him the tricks of deception and urban savvy.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_blood_of_wolves) Doubts soon arise about which side of the law Ogami is actually on.[4](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a)
### Sequel
A sequel was announced on May 25, 2018, thirteen days after the theatrical release.[7](https://www.korou.jp/1/) *The Blood of Wolves LEVEL2* (孤狼の血 LEVEL2) opened in 2021, again directed by Shiraishi and adapted from Yuzuki's follow-up novel, with Matsuzaka's Hioka now carrying the series after Ogami's death, and Ryōhei Suzuki joining as the villainous Kamiyama.[8](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/374783) • [14](https://www.korou.jp/)
## Cast and production
Yakusho, known internationally for *[Tampopo](https://www.edgepedia.org/tampopo)* and *Memoirs of a Geisha*, plays the hard-boiled Ogami, a cop who could easily be mistaken for a gangster.[4](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a) • [11](https://weknowmelbourne.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jff-film-notes-2018.pdf) The supporting cast includes Yoko Maki, Shido Nakamura, Yutaka Takenouchi, Kenichi Takito, Pierre Taki, Renji Ishibashi, and Gosuke Eguchi as the Otani-gumi's young head.[3](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html) • [6](https://eiga.com/movie/86671/) Junya Ikegami wrote the screenplay, Takahiro Haibara shot the film, Tsutomu Imamura designed the production, and Goro Yasukawa composed the music.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/7954)
Director Kazuya Shiraishi, born in Hokkaido Prefecture in 1974, worked as an assistant director to Koji Wakamatsu, Isao Yukisada, and Isshin Inudo before debuting with *Lost Paradise in Tokyo* (2010); his earlier films *Kyōaku* (The Devil's Path) and *Japan's Longest Day*-era crime works had already established him in hard-boiled territory.[4](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a) • [12](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0022595) Filming took place in [Kure, Hiroshima](https://www.edgepedia.org/kure-hiroshima), the model for the fictional Gohara.[5](https://kinofilms.jp/movies/korou/)
## The novel and its lineage
Yuko Yuzuki's source novel was published in 2015 and quickly became a bestseller. It won the 69th Mystery Writers of Japan Award, placed second in *Hon no Zasshi*'s 2015 best-ten and third in *Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!* 2016, and was nominated for the 154th [Naoki Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/naoki-prize).[5](https://kinofilms.jp/movies/korou/) Critics described the book as "police novel × *Battles Without Honor and Humanity*" (警察小説×『仁義なき戦い』), a label the film's marketing adopted.[5](https://kinofilms.jp/movies/korou/) Yuzuki herself said the novel "would never have been born without *Battles Without Honor and Humanity*", Fukasaku's seminal 1973–74 five-part series tracing a real 20-year gang war in Hiroshima and nearby Kure.[13](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/113871) • [2](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/09/films/film-reviews/blood-wolves-old-school-yakuza-thrills-back/)
The Japan Times critic Mark Schilling read the film as more homage than revamp, noting that its story of a dirty cop who is "the last of his species" has the air of a last hurrah for the old-school yakuza movie, while its beatings and bloodletting are staged with visceral realism.[2](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/09/films/film-reviews/blood-wolves-old-school-yakuza-thrills-back/) The Nippon Connection festival program called it "an uncompromising and bloody homage that lives up to the legacy of the original".[4](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a)
## Reception and awards
On Rotten Tomatoes the film held a 100% Tomatometer from 9 professional reviews and a 94% audience score.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_blood_of_wolves) Reviewers highlighted Yakusho's performance as the dirty cop walking the tightrope between police and criminal, and several framed the film as evidence of new life in a genre that had clung to the margins of the Japanese film industry.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_blood_of_wolves) • [2](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/09/films/film-reviews/blood-wolves-old-school-yakuza-thrills-back/)
At the 42nd Japan Academy Prizes (2019), the film received awards in 12 categories, the most of any film that year according to its official site: Outstanding Picture, Outstanding Director (Shiraishi), Outstanding Screenplay (Ikegami), Best Actor (Yakusho), Best Supporting Actor (Matsuzaka), Outstanding Supporting Actress (Maki), Outstanding Music (Yasukawa), Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Lighting, Best Art Direction (Imamura), Best Sound Recording, and Outstanding Editing.[6](https://eiga.com/movie/86671/) • [7](https://www.korou.jp/1/)
## References
1. [THE BLOOD OF WOLVES (孤狼の血), Japanese Film Database (JFDB)](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/7954)
2. [Mark Schilling, "'The Blood of Wolves': Old-school yakuza thrills are back", The Japan Times, May 9, 2018](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/09/films/film-reviews/blood-wolves-old-school-yakuza-thrills-back/)
3. [孤狼の血, Nikkatsu movie page](https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/33122.html)
4. [孤狼の血 / The Blood of Wolves, Nippon Connection film database](https://db.nipponconnection.com/ja/film/3/n-a)
5. [孤狼の血, Kino Films official page](https://kinofilms.jp/movies/korou/)
6. [孤狼の血 作品情報・受賞歴, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/86671/)
7. [映画『孤狼の血』公式サイト (news archive)](https://www.korou.jp/1/)
8. [孤狼の血 LEVEL2, allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/374783)
9. [『孤狼の血』作品情報, cinemacafe.net](https://s.cinemacafe.net/movies/27758/)
10. [The Blood of Wolves, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_blood_of_wolves)
11. [Japanese Film Festival 2018 film notes, We Know Melbourne (PDF)](https://weknowmelbourne.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jff-film-notes-2018.pdf)
12. [孤狼の血 (2018), Cinema Today](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0022595)
13. [孤狼の血, WOWOW Online](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/113871)
14. [映画『孤狼の血 LEVEL2』公式サイト](https://www.korou.jp/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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