Code Between Brothers: All New

The Nakano Family is upended when its aging boss decides to step down and names a devoted lieutenant as his successor instead of his own son. Old loyalties fracture as siblings and lieutenants pick sides, turning private resentments into open conflict within the clan. While internal disputes escalate, a neighboring family that holds a long-running claim on Nakano land quietly manipulates events, pulling strings to turn the family against itself. The film follows the shifting alliances and everyday brutality of organized crime life, showing how ambition, honor, and pragmatism collide without revealing how the conflicts resolve.

Released in 1970, the film was directed by Kiyoshi Saeki and draws on material by Morimasa Owaku. The cast features Saburo Kitajima, Kenji Imai, Ryōji Hayama, Akiko Kudō, and Naruhiko Umechi, placing familiar faces from postwar Japanese cinema at the center of a traditional crime drama.

Critical responses have been mixed, reflected in a modest 6.0/10 user rating. Reviewers tended to praise the ensemble acting and the realistic depiction of intra-family tension, while some critics noted a slow pace and conventional plotting. The film leans on themes of loyalty, succession, and the corrosive effects of power, and it foregrounds character decisions over sensational action.

Within the context of 1970s yakuza cinema, the movie fits into a strand that emphasizes family codes and local disputes rather than mythic gangster glamour. It contributed to ongoing portrayals of land disputes and postwar social pressures in crime pictures, and it offers a textured snapshot of how midcentury Japanese filmmakers handled honor and pragmatism in organized crime stories.

There are no widely reported major awards or international prizes associated with this title, and archival information on festival play or nominations is limited. The film remains primarily of interest to fans of period Japanese crime dramas and students of genre continuity during that era.