Underground: Battles Without Honor and Humanity OST

Yo Ho, WeRCatz here!

In this edition of Underground, we’ll take a look at some pieces from the original pentalogy of the yakuza movie series Battles Without Honor and Humanity (BWHH) released in 1973 and 1974. Here are the titles of the pentalogy: BWHH, BWHH: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima, BWHH: Proxy War, BWHH: Police Tactics, and BWHH: Final Episode.

For now, let’s focus on the first movie Battles Without Honor and Humanity from 1973. Note: I don’t know the proper titles to the tracks so please bear with me.

The opening theme opens this pentalogy with suspicion, coolness, darkness, and shock. Composer Toshiaki Tsushima cemented his legacy by creating unapologetic musical cues to the violently true realities of post-WW2 Hiroshima.

The original 1973 trailer showcases Tsushima’s talents as well as the stark actions of rival gangs from real events.

The original trailer from Deadly Fight in Hiroshima showcases more of the gritty fights and murders between gangs. Musically, it continues the series’ themes precisely.

More music can be heard from the trailers of Proxy War, Police Tactics, and Final Episode.

The music of Battles Without Honor and Humanity has such an influence that because of Tsushima and director Kinji Fukasaku’s techniques made a new trilogy called New Battles Without Honor and Humanity. Quentin Tarantino and Takashi Miike have been influenced by these movie series.