That led to a movie climax that was split in four, and which failed to gel together as a whole. The first film was a case of too much going on in one film, it had a sight too many plot lines in motion, which left the story unfocused and meandering. Where Crows Zero II improves upon the original is in the storytelling. With Suzuran more divided than ever, they are easy pickings for Hosen. The trouble is as Genji learns, that you may be able to unify the school gangs with your fists, but you can't unite them that way, and you sure as hell can't lead them that way. Now Suzuran and Hosen are at war again, and Serizawa tells Genji to get his act together to lead the school in the forthcoming battle. It remains so until Genji blunders in, and shatters the peace. They pursue Noboru straight to Suzuran territory, where a tense stand-off ensues. But with the release of Noboru, the students of Hosen know that revenge is at hand. Rather than spill the blood, there's been a truce since then. That battle ended in a fatality that left Noboru in prison, and a whole heap of bad blood between the schools. Two years previously, he was leader of Suzuran, and he led them in a fight against rival school Hosen. It's when Noboru Kawanishi is released from prison that things begin to change. But this victory feels a little hollow to him, and instead of actually using his newly earned power, he instead spends his time trying futilely to beat the toughest kid in school, Rinda-man, and he's rapidly losing the respect of the other gangs in the school as a result. Genji Takiya thought that he could unify Suzuran High School through sheer power of his fists, and at the end of the last film, it looked as if he managed just that.

Crows zero 1