"Rape and Death of a Housewife" (1978), despite its sensationalistic title, is considered one of Tanaka's masterpieces, and was his major mainstream critical break-through. Kinema Jumpo gave the film their "Best Film" award for 1979, and Tanaka was nominated for Best Director at the second Japanese Academy of Films and Motion Pictures ceremony for this film and "Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women" (also 1978). "Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women" was praised for its sympathetic view to the women characters, somewhat unusual for a "Roman porno". Some critics have commented on the story's similarity to Ridley Scott's 1991 "Thelma & Louise".