[Note to readers. This review is in fact of OVA 2: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND in the UROTSUKIDOJI PERFECT COLLECTION series, *NOT* the film of the same name. The title heading OVA 2 is missing from the headers I can write under (although 1 and 3 are present) and the response to my ‘Suggest a product for eopinions’ request was a message saying ‘We aren’t taking suggestions at the present time’ (AFTER I’d spent quarter of an hour explaining the situation, sigh!) so I am putting the review under this heading and trusting everyone’s common sense.]

LIGHTNING crashing across a storm-strewn sky as the monstrous form of Nagumo wrought a reign of terror down upon a hospital was how the first episode of the UROTSUKIDOJI saga concluded. Amano Jyaku, a human-looking teen possessing supernatural powers, who had spent his life wondering just who it would be who would transform into the chosen one, clung to his sister, motioned to Nagumo and whispered “I guess you won the bet”. Rape, blood, horror, thunderous credit sequence rolled. One tumultuous question. What is going to happen next?

The answer is another rollercoaster ride through excesses, preceded by quite the most atmospheric anime introduction sequence ever seen. Shot in moody black and white (and completely missing from the film version nailed together from the first three episodes), we travel inside a tower in 1942 Japan. Believing a demon beast hides beneath the sea, a young man Shinkakaju calls up a terrible power to change the course of history and prevent the birth of the Overfiend, God of all Gods, destined to occur in the future. Amano Jyaku arrives too late to prevent great carnage and destruction but engages in a blazing battle sequence accompanied by blaring music and a title sequence burns into the background terraforming to colour, the present time and place.

With this compelling introduction begins episode two of the infamous hentai/violence Japanese animation, UROTSUKIDOJI. The main characters, Nagumo and his girlfriend Akemi, all-too-confused by the events which ensued in the previous episode, barely have time to come to terms with the fact Nagumo may be a superbeing (designed to harmonise the world of humans, the world of demons and the world of man-beasts) before Amano is whisking them away to see the ‘Old Master’; a sage sitting on a throne in an environment suspiciously similar to that of Horde Tower (in She-Ra, remember her?). Meanwhile, Shinkakaju and minions have invaded the human world in order to find a human capable of killing Nagumo before he can transform again. They find the angriest peer in Niki, in love with Akemi and now embittered with rage and jealousy.

The plot is suitably bizarre, taking in a fair measure of innocence towards the beginning with a fumbling kiss between the couple and a flight through clouds to see the demon world prophets suddenly descending into deep superviolence and malevolence in a showdown between Nagumo and Niki. At points, it bites socially - Niki’s parents are portrayed as violent abusers hence when they are despatched, the viewer feels no sympathy, and again the familiar adult cartoon-style anarchy is exhibited in the sex scenes; Akemi is at one point kidnapped through an open window while pleasuring boyfy and female half-beast Megumi’s orgasm has fatal results for her partner.

There actually is an extremely high level of sex throughout the entire episode, with every battle between the boys if not preceded by stimulation being succeeded by orgy or rape. As with part one, the PERFECT COLLECTION shows you all of those scenes the Classificatory Boards saw fit to snip plus extra scenes beside. What is strange on comparing the film versions with these episodic ones is that scenes occasionally come in a different order - and there even appear to have been a few cuts taken OUT of the PERFECT COLLECTION and RESTORED in the LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND movie. Watch the building site scene very carefully in both and you’ll see what I mean!

Obviously made on a big budget, the quality of artwork cannot really be berated. Some characters in backdrops seem unnervingly still, but the temptation to use the same animation sequence repeatedly during the sex scenes is resisted and the menacing Japanese voice-actors really carry the disturbing themes home. So much so, that the audience gets swept up in the action/erotica to the point that its sixty minutes duration flashes by in an instant.

And does that big question, Is Nagumo really the God of all Gods, get answered? Amongst all the other questions the episode throws up, the observant viewer will notice that it does. But when Amano is projected into the future, the Legend of the Overfiend begins to look awry and a terrible alternative translation of it begins to look increasingly more faithful. Raising more questions than it answers, the plot is once again developed and twisted to suit the formula which the saga does so well before the episode closes on a cliff-hanger.

UROTSUKIDOJI PERFECT COLLECTION (LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND) OVA 2 is in every respect as enthralling and shocking as the first. And it too will leave you asking what is going to happen next.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age