Maniac Hero is a film in search of an identity. This Japanese vigilante film has a literal title of Hero Mania: Life, but it’s translated anew for each country it’s introduced to … and all for the sake (saké?) of a poor man’s Kick-Ass.
Nakatsu (Masahiro Higashide) is a 7-11 employee who dreams of being a vigilante. Picture a Japanese version of hapless Dante from Clerks with a violent streak and you’re half-way there. One day, he “acts out” his vigilantism at the store. This entails a fantasy action and a real life strong staring-at. Don’t make me stare at you a second time. The one dude paying attention back, however, is the magazine loiterer, Toshida (Masataka Kubota). Unlike Nakatsu, Toshida actually has some skills … and he likes to thieve panties. This, of course, attracts the girl who doesn’t want her drawers absconded, Kaori (Nana Komatsu), and all three of them soon find the vigilante scene, currently thriving under the hammer-wielding heroism of old man Kusaki (Tsurutarô Kataoka). What is it with Asian Hammertime?
You thought Kick-Ass had no skills? Wait until you get a load of Nakatsu – he makes Aaron Taylor-Johnson look like Dwayne Johnson. But Toshida has some cool toys – yo-yos and grappling hook like applications, anything with a long string and a surprise at the end—and Kusaki has hammers. So, vigilantes they become. The foursome follow the standard superhero birth format: indecision, win a small battle, celebrate, get uniforms, find a hook, get in over their heads. The first five stages happen with such alacrity that we don’t even bother asking what Nakatsu and Kaori actually do. At least she can fight a little, I suppose. Nakatsu, the leader, is quickly used as bait for roaming gangs of toughs.
Do they actually have roaming gangs of toughs in Japan? How about thugs? Goons? Rapscallions? Ne’er-do-wells? Anyway, 
together, the four dodgy, mismatched Superfriends take to stringing villains up and decorating walls and bridges with them like eaves at Christmas time. This yields the nickname “Phantom Hangers,” which sounds like a QVC gadget to aid in closet organization.
I suppose Hîrô mania: Seikatsu, or Maniac Hero as I like to call it, is fun for certain audiences. But like Kick-Ass, it got too heavy from the initial tone and unlike Kick-Ass, Maniac Hero wasn’t fun for very long. At least Kick-Ass allowed us to enjoy the bubble for a while. These Phantom Hangers meet an ethical dilemma the second they incorporate. My thought is if you need to see this kind of film, stick with Kick-Ass or Mystery Men or some other vigilante movie where the bubble won’t burst quite so soon.
♪Imagine me and you, we two
Attacking gangsters day and night, well … mostly night
I think about the streets we walk, to make them right
We’re smashy together
Oh, there are four of us, I guess that’s fine
And we all want to be a team, our force combine
Wait. Even more want in? It’s asinine
So smashy together
I can’t figure out who is good anymore
For all my life
Everytime I turn around there are more
In all this strife♫
Not Rated, 109 Minutes
D: Keisuke Toyoshima
W: Jun Tsugita
Genre: Comic street justice
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Mock-vigilantes
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Mock-gangs
♪ Parody inspired by “Happy Together”
