Shuukaku no Yoru

DISCLAIMER: Hainuwele - Shuukaku no Yoru is an adult anime OVA featuring violence and sexual assault. These elements are primarily used for aiding the theme of decadence, delusion and loss of self-worth in the anime and do not put forward any ideological stances. Nevertheless, if you are uncomfortable with such depictions, you might not want to watch this anime.

Okay, having said that, I would like to introduce you, the potential viewer to Hainuwele: Shuukaku no Yoru. This anime is the brainchild of Katsuma Kanazawa along with the prolific Iijima Hiroya, who pioneered the exploration of violence and psychological themes in adult animation in the ... late 90's and early 2000's. As more visual novels started getting anime adaptations, especially adult ones that aired late night, his influence traveled to anime such as School Days which is infamous for its escapist MC who seeks comfort in sexual pleasure.

Shuukaku no Yoru is set in a city that's trapped in various vicious cycles of escapism and decadence. Although it's implicit, we come to know that the only way to leave this city is by crossing a certain bridge. The story begins on this bridge, on which Honoka, a white-haired seemingly innocent adolescent girl is sexually assaulted by some middle-aged man, presumably from the decadent part of the city. As she loses her strength and lets herself drown in the sound of the pouring rain and a passing train, she is rescued by Masato, who is later revealed to be her childhood friend. Masato essentially kills the man, throws him off the bridge.

Defloration, sex, blood and the trauma that ensues, is a central motif in the anime and also connects to the Indonesian myth of Hainuwele. Anyways, there's a time skip and we see that Masato now leads a small underground gang, which operates in the so called ura-machi, or the decadent city on the other side of the bridge. Both Masato and Honoka are seen to be trapped in this city in which numerous underground businesses, arm traders, brothels, and gangs thrive. Sexual pleasure is seen as a commodity that you can buy away. We never come to know what lies on the other side of the bridge. This is a world with precise boundaries. The anime proceeds to explore Honoka, her older sister Ryoko and the stoic Masato, who lives to protect Honoka. All three have lost hope. They no longer dare to leave the city.

The sex scenes in Shuukaku no Yoru are top notch. Sexy character designs, luscious women, scheming men, stoic men, insecure women, courageous women. Amidst scenes of rape and violence, we also have more tender erotic ones. Various motifs such as pubic hair, realistic proportions and realistic body movements during sex aid the themes I've mentioned.

Will you enjoy this? Will you be able to use this for your purposes? I can't say. Certainly if you're interested in exploring the themes I've mentioned, watching this ova is gonna be a good decision.

Shuukaku no Yoru is definitely not your average urban hentai, the story takes place in a decayed no-man-land where the sight of gangs feasting on each other blood with them knives and rapists enthralled by the dew of virginal blood are everyday doses.

These city hyenas compete for power and women, when 2 gangs confront, and a winner arises, the winner gang can dispose of the femmes in the rival band and of course, the leader gobbles the best slice: that's when the action comes out, you better expect lots of malevolent and sadist sex between these sexual scavengers.

Basically this synthesizes the ... plot involved in this series, my main problem is that the continues flashbacks tend to wear my mind and I end up confused, the argument need a lot of improvement (it doesn't matter if you see both chapters unadvisedly), the animation is average, the character most of them spoiled brats, so bottom line: didn't feel any satisfaction after seeing this so I recommend it if you're onto this kind of scene.

The Harvest Night is a very boring story that isn't told very well. It is an adult only anime from 2002 but be warned as it is very rape heavy. There are some consensual scenes but it is mostly for those into rape fantasy so you have been warned. That said the scenes are well animated and have good attention to detail however climax scenes are almost non existent. The ending is the only part of the story that may stick with you as it is quite sad, although the characters and unresolved plot lines take away most of the impact. Sad if you feel ... sorrow for most people, just a rushed run of the mill tragedy that most forget if you're the average person however.