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YMMV / Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

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  • Anti-Climax Boss: Reginald Stuart. The monkey did not ride the jaguar, therefore the prophecy is left incomplete and, rather than gaining infinite power, he just explodes after just grappling with Kabukiman. According to Lloyd Kaufman there was supposed to be a big fight scene between Kabukiman and The Evil One, but the costume for the evil one was so immobile to move in, they could only have him and Kabukiman grapple each other in the fight scene in the climax.
  • Awesome Music: The theme song.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: After Harry transforms entirely into Kabukiman, the faux-Japanese superhero briefly sings like an Italian Opera singing woman. This is a reference to the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly (a work which the theme song is based off of)... but there is no setup for it in the film, meaning it comes out of left field.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: This is really par for the course for a Troma flick.
  • Cult Classic: While Troma and Lloyd Kaufman are known for generating these en-masse, the film did not do as well as expected. Its plans for an animated spin-off was scrapped and its sequel has been stuck in Development Hell ever since. However, the character made enough of an impact to not only appear in a subsequent Troma film (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV), but was seen in Moby's "We Are All Made of Stars" music video. The character was also revived by Troma for a series of videos centering around him making Japanese-themed cocktails on the site's YouTube channel.
  • Designated Hero: Even to an antihero without mercy to criminals, many of Kabukiman's punishments seem disproportionate, such as turning a prostitute and a pimp into three sushi rolls. This is more-or-less invoked in the character's subsequent appearance in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, where Kabukiman has been reduced to The Alcoholic, who somehow still garners a great deal of respect from the citizens of Tromaville (he gets a personal introduction from the city's Mayor during a press conference) despite the fact that he repeatedly attempts to assault women (one on live TV, no less).
  • Jerkass Woobie: Lotus is disproportionately mean and pushy towards Harry, preferring to take out her frustrations on Harry when he doesn't buy into her frankly absurd Chosen One narrative with no real evidence. Of course this is after enduring a lifetime of cultural sexism and seeing her grandfather die in front of her, only to be forced to coddle a Chosen One who has no real business being the Chosen One with The End of the World as We Know It being the only alternative. She eventually mellows out when Harry starts getting in the swing of becoming the Kabukiman and does more to help him.
  • Special Effect Failure: While the wire effect used when Kabukiman realizes that he can fly is impressive, the rest of the time it is very obvious that he is being elevated by a mobile lift hidden under his cape.
  • Values Dissonance: The premise of the Kabukiman itself is about a character that embodies every Japanese stereotype you could think of and the current iteration is a white guy. Considering this is set in the extended Troma Universe, being filmed in the late eighties, and being released in 1990, no one really bats an eye at it.


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