School is a trial by fire. I recently had to present a piece on Latency period of development. This is the infant school years until that time you become a teen. More appropriately it is actually the time from when you begin to realise what the world is and when puberty kicks in. Isao Yukisada film GO explores the late stages of the next period of Freudian psychosexual development theory, that being the genital phase. Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka) is the local misfit. He never fitted in at high school and the students, well they notice he has a Japanese mother (Shinobu Otake) and a North Korean father (Tsutomu Yamazaki). Add to this that he has changed school regularly. Work is tough for his father and it does not help much, that both are taunted by a different groups. There is of course a gift his father has given him. Boxing lessons. Jab, probe, bob and weave. This has some of his bullies on the run and others in fear they are next. When Sugihara falls for the popular Sakurai (Kou Shibasaki), well it seems unlikely. She however seems to reciprocate and suddenly, his life is about to change.

I liked GO for a bunch of very frank reasons. Its a survivors tale, its a story of school and life. Its funny, sometimes hard to watch and compelling. All good things. I can say thats enough. As it surely is. But then some of us want more buck for our bang…or something. Here Third Window havent given us that. The transfer is clean and runs at 1080p. The extras are middling and lack in-depth or heavy examination of the issues raised by the film. Such a great film deserves more and well, its underserved.

Making Of GO (40 mins)
• Portrait of GO (16 mins)
• Premiere Stage Greetings (17 mins)
• Yosuke Kubozuka and Isao Yukisada press launch (11 mins)
• Original Trailers

• Slipcase with artwork from Thomas Walker
• Reversible Sleeve featuring original Japanese artwork
• Slipcase edition limited to 1000 copies