"With the second film in the series – The Stairway to the Distant Past – it becomes clear that Hayashi is not content to ride on his past successes, is not willing to let his character stagnate. There are some major tonal shifts in this film that may surprise those who simply wanted more of what The Most Terrible Time served up, most notably the move away from black and white and into color photography and a general absence of the playful mood of the first. This one becomes much more serious in very short order. Gang tensions are again running high in Yokohama. Hama’s business is bad, his car has been repossessed and – most troubling – his long absent mother has returned to town, threatening to upset the life Hama has built for himself and the younger sister he has raised since they were abandoned in childhood. When a crooked cop leans on Hama to investigate a series of robberies on the riverfront – an area ruled with an iron fist by the mysterious Man In White – Hama has no choice but to cooperate and take on the dangerous job. After all, if the cops shut him down who will take care of his sister? And it’s not like he can afford to pay the bills with the lost pet jobs he’s been taking, anyway …" - Twitch Review
