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Rapeman is either the strangest superhero movie I’ve ever seen or the greatest porno ever made. Imagine, if you will, a Batman who as opposed to beating up thugs, rapes helpless women instead. For money. And yes, he’s a hero.

Originally a poorly-received hentai comic featuring a Japanese superhero who is naked from the waist down and wears a penis helmet, it was turned into a feature-length black comedy that spawned six successful sequels. I have only seen the first of the Rapeman movies, but if the other six can sustain the sheer madness I saw in Rapeman, then there is always room for more rape in my life.

This is the premise: mild-mannered high school teacher Keisuke doubles at night as a masked avenger who hires himself out to people seeking revenge on certain ladies. This might sound like an awful thing for a superhero to do, but he has three great moral compass: 1) He requires his clients to provide a good motive for the rape, since Rapeman would only rape women who had it coming (like, say, a cheating wife). 2) He donates most of his earnings to a struggling orphanage, where he grew up. 3) All of his victims seem to enjoy the sex, lusting for more after the assault is over.

In the plot of the first movie, a yakuza wench tricks Keisuke into raping a political candidate’s wife, creating a scandal to affect an upcoming election. Not only is Rapeman now linked to the yakuza, but he also has to overcome the guilt of raping an innocent woman. What you’ll find most surprising when watching Rapeman is that the story is legitimately entertaining. With its conspiracy plot, the film could’ve been a small, passable comedy-thriller even without the addition of a costumed rapist. Though of course, it’s just that very thing that makes Rapeman unique. You try making this movie in America without some organization raising a stink. It is pretty impressive though to see somebody creative enough to concoct a story where the hero basically destroys a yakuza clan and bring down a dirty politician by dragging their women into a dark room, chaining them to a chair and stick it where it belongs.

Even the directing and the acting are a lot of fun, with some truly funny scenes. Hiroyuki Okita has the charm to pull off the dual role of bumbling goof Keisuke and the menacing sex machine Rapeman. He makes you want to root for him big time—Necessary, given his gimmick. Looking very polished and professional, the film has the right feel of an edgy superhero movie. Only in this one, a heartfelt moment between the hero and his wise elderly uncle doesn’t revolve around great responsibility, but rather their motto “Righting wrongs through penetration” and inspirational speeches like “Keep your penis strong!”

Rapeman doesn’t have an official release in the US yet (and I doubt it ever will, but you never know with some of these smaller foreign movie distributors), so it might be a little hard to track down—and this is, of course, assuming that you are perfectly fine with the idea of hunting for a movie called Rapeman—but imported (and subtitled) VHS copies are available. If you live in the Bay Area, Le Video is where you want to go.

Watch Out! is a feature on JustPressPlay where Arya Ponto showcases lesser-known, lesser-appreciated and often bizarre small films that are cool and deserve to get some attention.

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