Manzai comedian, actor, TV presenter, writer and one of the most distinctive of modern filmmakers, Takeshi Kitano's first six films as director were last year gathered together by Second Sight and released as The Takeshi Kitano Collection. Now all six films have been announced for individual DVD releases in May, complete with the same features included in the box set.

Violent Cop (Sono otoko, kyōbō ni tsuki) is a deliriously and violent debut feature for Kitano the director that follows a rebellious, loose cannon police detective (played by Kitano) who finds his life threatened by a local Yakuza gang. He is forced to take the law into his own hands to deliver his own brand of justice. The disc includes a 68-minute documentary Takeshi Kitano – The Unpredictable, commentary by Chris D, author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film and 5.1 audio.

Boiling Point (3-4 x jūgatsu) is a gangster comedy which sees a local baseball player fall foul of a group of Yakuza and in an effort to stand up to the mob runs into a hardened criminal with a helping hand and scores to settle. Sometimes dismissed as a sketchpad work of half=formed ideas, for our money this is one of Kitano's, most exciting early works, an edgy and arresting piece in which Kitano himself plays probably his most unpleasant criminal character. Includes 5.1 audio.

A Scene At The Sea (Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi) is the film you show to people who claim that Kikujiro was his first tender and non-violent drama. It centres on a deaf refuse collector who finds a discarded surfboard and, with the help of his also deaf girlfriend, decides to learn to surf. Here is where Kitano's minimalist storytelling approach really started to take shape, while his decision to feature two lead characters who never have a word of dialogue still plays as a daring one.

Sonatine is widely regarded as one of Kitano's finest works, a bold and brilliant gangster drama that follows a Yakuza officer who is thrown into the midst of a complex and murderous struggle, leading to a second half in which drama, character comedy and surrealism combine as a group of gangsters hold up at a beach and look for ways to fight boredom. Includes a commentary by Chris D and 5.1 audio.

Getting Any? (Minnā-yatteruka!) is probably the the hardest of the director's early works for a western audience to connect with, a gleefully stupid tale about one man's attempt to get laid, one that loudly satirises Japanese culture amidst the daft jokes and pratfalls. One of Kitano's own personal favourites, it doesn't travel as well as you might hope.

Kids Return (Kizzu ritān) is a wistful, sometimes downbeat and autobiographical tale about a pair of high school bullies and the alternative paths they follow as they approach adulthood. One of Kitano's most sophisticated and perfectly realise dramas, and also one of his most touching.

Violent Cop, Boiling Point, Sonatine, Getting Any?, A Scene At The Sea and Kids Return will be released individually on DVD by Second Sight on 11 May 2009 at the RRP of £19.99 each.