Strait Jacket

::QUICK REVIEW::
Story: 6 (what do you expect from 3 episodes)
Art: 10 (Edge of your seat action sequencesl)
Sound: 8 (A lot of bodies ripping apart)
Character: 7 (Typical bad ass action buffs)
Enjoyment: 10 (I've seen it twice already)
Overall: 41/50 = 8.2 = ~8 (So much action in 60 minutes)


::FULL REVIEW::
Strait Jacket manages to put more action, violence, and drama in 3 episodes than some action drama series can put in 50+ episodes. If you are a complete action aficionado, this is one that you CANT MISS. Theres not much you can explain in terms of story but they manage to make a good beginning middle and end ... to this OVA. Basically magic technology is advancing civilization so much that everything requires magic. But overuse and misuse can have its drawbacks and thats where we start this show. An elite armed force unit hired to dispatch these anomalies.

The story is obviously second to the action because these fight scenes take up over half of each episode and thats perfectly fine with me. Just everything about the fight scenes screams completely over the top. From ripping people to shreds to using super powerful guns that rips holes through buildings. It all just screams edge of your seat action. Now I'm sure you're saying, "a lot of anime do the same thing what makes this one so special?" Details my friend, details.

First off, the monsters they cook up for this show is something only to be seen to be believed. Although for the most part they're pretty ridiculous, but they will still make you go "woah" when you see them. But the artwork, camera angles, and detail to everything is just amazing. You actually feel the sense of destruction and power when watching a show like this. For seasoned action freaks like me, thats very hard to do considering we are usually numbed by things like that.

Overall this show, was completely awesome for a 3-episode stint. The story had a pretty reasonable beginning, middle, and end with even a plot twist that even surprised me (but I think that was mostly because I was still amazed with the action). For being such a short series, I highly recommend this to anyone who likes action, violence, and amazing artwork. Although, those who doesn't like gratuitous violence you might want to watch this.

This anime reminds me a bit of Karas but even though Karas had a twisted plot with a number of holes it was still enjoyable. Strait Jacket clearly should have been longer to develop the characters just a bit more...it feels more like a preview to a possible 13 or 26 ep series which i would be interested in watching since i like this particular universe. If you want a nice quick slugfest and carnage mixed with magic then this is your show.

Sorcery was brought out of superstition and myth to be used in everyday life activities such as medicine, agriculture, and even the military. Society has grown quite fond of its use to the point were they have been completely dependant upon it. However, there's a penalty for constant use, which happens to be that the user would soon lose control of it, and transform into a blood thirsty monster murdering everyone in its path. Modern weapons are useless against the creatures, therefore to combat these creatures an organization named The Sorcery Management Bureau, deploys men clad in armor called Tactical Sorcerist. The armor is referred ... to as Mold, and it's equipped with heavy artillery supported by sorcery. Leiot Steinberg is a rogue sorcerist that takes up a job and finds himself working for the bureau; but his very presence aggravates another Mold user by the name of Isaac Hammond. -summary


Strait Jacket is supposedly the first part of a three episode OVA that was being released in 2007. Honestly, I don't know how true that is since things seemed pretty cleared up to me, and I haven't heard anything about a sequel or additional OVA's; but it's not like I actually care if this story continues anyway. In any case, this is pretty much another run o' the mill action anime title that is over-saturated with cliché characters, ie; main character searching for that "thing" to live for, chibi character who hardly ever strings together more than one complete sentence to maintain the mystery, all the way down to the predictable climax and the usual government conspiracies. I don't have a problem with the complete lack of originality as long as the story and plot is interesting. Unfortunately, outside of the visuals and brief action scenes, there is little to find interesting here.

We get to know quite a bit about the bland characters, and they do serve their purposes as plot devices but I really wasn't attached to any of them, and I couldn't care less where they were going either. Instead, I just couldn't wait for them to get there. I mean everyone was putting me to sleep. The plot really is very straight forward and easy to digest, but it's also predictable and badly written. It mainly follows Leiot either attempting to stop another rampage, tid bits on his past, or Isaac's development. There was a small attempt at mystery but it was completely wasted, because the writers decided to expose some of the facial hairs of the suspicious man hiding half way in the shadows, and there was only one person who looked like that. Great move.

One thing is for sure, and that is Strait Jacket is indeed pretty. There's some good attention to detail in the backgrounds concerning landscapes, and the camera work was pretty good. The animation is not as good as some fans are selling it though, but the 2D effects are very crisp with some really nice character designs of the mecha-like Mold units. There was also a few cool monster designs as well.

The demons do their fair share of slice and dice in nice detail, and they just so happen to provide the best action scenes. Sadly, the battles between them and the Mold were very boring to me. Yes, they did look nice with the pretty energy blasts that were made up of vibrant colors, but the lack of movement in a majority of the scenes, and overall poor choreography did nothing for me. I thought the soundtrack was good with a nice song at a few points, and I really didn't have a problem with the dub or sub; but I will point out Steven Blum's talents as a competent voice actor were wasted as Leiot. He completely lacked any type of range, which was obviously due to the stereotypical and bland character he was forced to handle.

Overall, this anime didn't impress me at all. I feel Strait Jacket will more than likely appeal to the very easy to please who love everything anime. After binging on so many action anime with far better fight scenes than this, I just can't recommend this to anyone serious about their anime. There are far better action titles out there to choose from.

Highs: Pretty much straight forward

Lows: Doesn't excel in any area