Cops vs. Thugs

In the year 1963, in the fictional city of Kurashima, two yakuza gangs - the originally Osaka-based Kawade under Kasumi Kawade, who use political connections in local assemblyman and ex-yakuza boss Masaichi Tomoayasu to further their activities, and the Ohara, under acting boss Kenji Hirotani, who have an alliance with the local police - are battling for local supremacy.

After Ohara men raid one of Tomoyasu's bars for a hostess who worked for Hirotani before changing patrons and after helping in assigning the blame on a selected Ohara member, Detective Tokomatsu Kuno has a low-level Kawade soldier arrested on a blackmail charge. He also obtains information on an upcoming land deal involving the Kawade and Tomoyasu, which he reveals to Hirotani. The auction is put on hold, and Hirotani manages to gain control of it. Later, after a night spent at Hirotani's bar, Kuno and Hirotani reminisce on their first meeting: it is revealed that Kuno had shielded after Hirotani completed a successful hit on a rival crime boss seven years earlier. Elsewhere, Ohara members and their police friends get into a fight with a truck driver, who is revealed to have been working for Kawade, who uses this a pretext for an all-out gang war against Hirotani.

With the war in full swing, Kawade, Tomoyasu, and Kubo's influence with Police Commissioner Kikkuchi has crusading Lieutenant Shoichi Kaida is assigned to lead the crackdown against the Ohara family. Kaida sets about ordering the officers - Kuno included - to stop fraternizing with the yakuza, and makes his point by smashing bottles of sake Hirotani had sent to them one night. Yoshihura, one of the officers under Tomoyasu's payroll, gets into a fight with Kaida, resigns, and joins Tomoyasu's law office.

Boss Ohara is later released as his sentence as ended. Elsewhere, Hirotani is angered with Kuno when he and his men are no longer being tipped off on upcoming police raids. After a raid at Ohara family headquarters, Boss Ohara is taken in for questioning, and under the advice of Tomoyasu (his sworn brother from years before), agrees to retire permanently, disband his family, and surrender all his assets to Boss Kawade. Kuno meanwhile lets one of Hirotani's men (one had met at the film's beginning), go free. The man is arrested later however, and he believes Kuno had sold him out. Kuno gets into an argument with Kaida over how they should properly deal with the gangs and gets suspended after the two men fight. As a result of all this, Hirotani and his remaining men kidnap Yoshihura and hold him hostage just as Hirotani's arrest warrant arrives.

The police mobilize and attempt to besiege the hotel, but all attempts to convince Hirotani to surrender are unsuccessful. Kawamoto, a friend of Hirotani's right-hand man Tsukahara, is killed after unsuccessfully asking Tsukahara to negotiate in Hirotani's place. Kuno is then recalled to defuse the situation, and he manages to infiltrate the hotel, rescue Yoshihura, and subdue Hirotani after the hotel is tear-gassed. Kuno then arranges a deal with Kaida in exchange for Hirotani: the Kawade family will be disbanded, Hirotani and Tsukahara will be given light prison sentences, and Kaida will admit that Kuno's way to deal with the gangs was the right way. If he refuses, he will leave and threaten to expose the corrupt officers in the police force, himself included.

Kaida accepts the deal and Hirotani has his men surrender themselves and their weapons. As they give themselves up, Hirotani asks Kuno to remove his cuffs, and he obliges. After he is led out, Hirotani breaks free and attempts to take Kaida hostage with Tsukahara. After a tense standoff, Kuno pulls out his pistol and shoots Hirotani several times, killing him. An epilogue states that Kaida resigned from the force two years later and took up a position with Nikko Oil. Kuno meanwhile had been transferred to another city as a patrolman. One night after the end of his shift, he comes upon a crashed car at the exit of a tunnel whilst being followed by a truck. When the truck catches up with him and refuses to obey his signals, it runs over and kills him.

Tetsuya Watari was originally set to play Hirotani, but had to step down due to illness. The role then went to Hiroki Matsukata.[4]

• Cops vs. Thugs at IMDb