I just finished this after picking it up at a B&N sale. It is a gorgeous film, as reaky states, and I can see the WKW connections (heavy use of bright, neon colors and inner monologue, focus on a criminal underworld). But gorgeous photography aside, it's a very familiar story with the young Yoshie being roped into prostitution by her abusive boyfriend. I think the story's biggest strength is how unrelenting it is in depicting the absolute nightmare that Yoshie suffers - there are multiple instances of rape and physical abuse, with her only solace the occasional conversations she has with other sex workers and one customer intent on freeing her from her Yakuza boyfriend. Miyuko Kuwano gives an excellent performance - playing the bubbly bright-eyed teen at the beginning, but by the end of the film she appears to be completely drained of emotion and numb to everything around her.
I wasn't fully on board with the way it presented itself toward the end, as Yoshie's options fall within the binary of escape the life with her loving customer (who just seems to spend his time pandering to her about how bad her life is) or stay with the guy that got her caught up in the life and steals her money. However, I was caught off-guard when the film found a third option to end on, although one that doesn't do Yoshie any favors - she stabs her abusive boyfriend and wanders the streets, with the strong implication at the end that she's arrested for the murder.
As familiar as the plot was, I'm glad Radiance rescued this from oblivion as it's always nice to have another Japanese film from this time period available.
