Kachou Ouji

Kachou Ouji or Legend of Black Heaven does stand out quite a bit. It's a slice of life that features a middle aged salary man with a mid life crisis as a protagonist (not very common in anime) who also happens to be a former rock star and misses his glory days. He has a wife and kid who don't understand his obsession with the past and the show itself plays out like a black comedy filled with sexual innuendos and features themes such as the difficulty of aging, nostalgia and the hope for a happy life despite losing your youth and glory.
Sounds like a ... great show right? Well, sadly it's hard for me to get on board with that even though I really wanted to.

Notice that this anime also has a 'sci fi' tag attached to it, and sadly this ends up being the show's biggest weakness in my view. Not only because the sci fi genre doesn't integrate that well in to a slice of life about a middle aged man who desires to relive his youth, but it also ends up forcing the protagonist in to situations, making the story often take bullshit turns and by extension hampering its themes. Spoilers ahead.

The first episode opens with a space battle which is used to establish this work as a science fiction series right away. But this scene doesn't do a very good job since it really doesn't become relevant until episode 2, it has metal music played over it and is followed by an opening sequence filled with interesting trippy visuals and a metal song accompanying that. So that scene could've easily been brushed off as some kind of visual metaphor.
But sadly that scene becomes center stage later even though the 1st episode (which was the show at its best) focuses solely on the protagonist's mid life crisis and how all the color was sucked out of his life as an aging salary man.

In episode 2 the protagonist meets a hot chick who encourages him to play the guitar and relive his glory days.
She later turns out to be an alien who's just taking advantage of his unexplained guitar playing powers that somehow helps her and her allies shoot stronger lasers at their faceless and motivation-less enemies in space.

What happens in between episode 2 and 5 is that his wife is getting annoyed by the fact that this alien woman is taking up a lot of his spare time with his family (and suspects he's cheating on her) and so hi-jinks and misunderstandings ensue.
Up until the end of episode 5 The protagonist does not realize he's being taken advantage of and when it is revealed he does not take this revelation kindly (despite the fact that she explains this to his face in episode 2) and he mistankingly believed that she genuinely wants to hear his music.. which is followed by a slow and meditative episode 6 made up of the protagonist just contemplating, thinking about where to go from there.

Episode 6 could've been a great turning point for our protagonist with him eventually realizing that he's better off living his boring but adequate life rather than living a lie or reliving your youth by becoming somebody's tool. But sadly the main character submits to his desires and becomes a tool for an alien war he knows nothing about.. Which would've been fine if he was punished for his actions eventually, but the show does NOT condemn him for it. In fact, he ends up rewarded for his behavior which included neglecting his wife and kid.
Thus for the rest of the series he keeps playing his guitar on the aliens' space ship assisting them in defeating their enemies

I should also mention that later in the series the protagonist tries to convince his old band members (who have families and moved on with their lives) to join him in playing music for this space war "to no avail"... only to magically appear on that space ship later with no explanation on how they got there.

The biggest insult for me is that near the end of the series earth is also at stake all of a sudden which leaves the band members no choice but to play more music and lend their powers which gives the characters even less agency. On top of that, the wife divorces the protagonist due to his neglect only to regret doing so a few minutes later (and also magically appears on the space ship somehow) when she realizes what's at stake.
To me, all of this reinforces what a lazy plot device this whole sci fi bullcrap was all along, it simply doesn't give the characters much of a choice and as a result of this, the protagonist receives no further development in the second half of the show. He just willingly becomes the aliens' tool and that's where his character arc ends. It makes it feel like nobody really learned anything and that there were no consequences to his actions.

Leaving all that aside, none of the characters stand out all that much but they're not bad either.
The protagonists' wife and kid are fleshed out decently and given enough screen time and comedic moments for you to care about them and understand their relationship with our protagonist. I even liked some of his old band members and the sexy alien lady. But aside from him, his wife and the alien lady, none of them really have much of a character arc to speak of and I personally feel that these three arcs are all kinda botched in the end.

Visually this show is pretty cheap looking. The animation is stiff, still frames are used fairly often and the characters look ugly and off model at times. On the other hand, the first episode had good cinematography with interesting camera angles and solid framing all around and so does the rest of the show but to a lesser extent. The character designs are distinct and seem to compliment their personalities pretty well.
I also liked the use of color, everything in the protagonist's mundane life seems to be washed out with dull colors to reinforce how the color was sucked out of his life, hell, he even wears a white suit. This contrasts nicely with a much more colorful pallet when he's reliving his glory days.

The music is very good but also a little disappointing since there really aren't that many songs. You have a fantastic metal opening theme that fits the series well and visually gives you a glimpse of the protagonist's former lifestyle but different versions of it are pretty overused throughout the show including when he himself plays the guitar.
The ending song is a weird pop song that you sorta get used to. Voice acting is fairly good for what is required and the voices do match each of the characters' personalities just fine.


Overall, this show isn't a complete waste of time, it does have its moments, the comedy wasn't too bad and it's somewhat recommendable for being unique. But I personally don't think it lived up to its promise all that much and it just let me down with the way it handled its themes and characters.

black heaven is one of those rare anime's that focus on music.
the story is threw you for a loop on a couple of points.
1:the main character is married. I felt that it hurt the over all because it ruins the whole rock and roll image. it's like watching a badass good guy for a while and latter you find out he is whiped by his wife. that is just lame.
2: the whole band quit and have lives of the own. not a bad thing , but it kind of hard for them to "sneak" out to play music.
3: the whole affair image was just ... filler. the whole office thought they did with good reason. i thought slowed down the story a bit. it was not need for it all. ether him single or have the alein layla be a guy. so there is no affair to slow the story. the art was good and the theme of it being a music anime was done great. giant space guitar was great:)
the sound was the best and saving grace of the series. i do like rock music. but i felt it was a great theme for space battle.
Character: Oji was made of awsome. he was smart and understanding with his band mates. he was not over the top nor a loser. a rare thing to be seen.
the only character i did not like was oji' wife yoshiko. she only nagged when he was around. this is a rock and roll sereies not a bad drama. the family felt like filler.
enjoyment: ok, the music and the art is what will keep most people watching. the story was a little hurt with the "filler family". some thing you do not see often but done badly here.
overall: it is a cheap series to pick up. so the price is right. just pretend the wife is not there and it comes together better.

This was a series that seemed to have so much going for it, and most of that potential ends up squandered. The plot sounded like something out of Heavy Metal, crossed with Interstella 5555, it featured some promo art gorgeous enough to hang on my wall (see the DVD cover if it's not on this site) and the opening theme was stunning in both audio and video. But as for the show itself... Well...

What I thought I'd be getting was a schlocky, pulpy, devil-may-care sci-fi story that lives up to the heavy metal lifestyle it seems to profess so much love for. Maybe my disappointment ... is my own fault for thinking the show was going to offer something that it wasn't prepared to offer. Instead, the bulk of the show is like a coming-of-middle-age slice of life... comedy? I feel compelled to use the question mark because most of the jokes or gags are just groan-worthy.

As I said, I was in love with the opening sequence. But then if you watch the ending sequence, it looks nothing like the rebellious heavy metal love letter from the opening, and instead makes the show look like a soulless pop-appeal throwaway entry in the moe slice-of-life genre. In a sense, the show finds itself caught in a war between these incompatible ideologies, and I saw the latter side winning more often than not.

The portions of the show where that metal ideology shines through approach the territory of "pretty good series." But even then, there are problems. The space battles use some very dated CGI, and while John Sykes' musical contribution to the series was its highest point of quality, it's obvious he gave them one track and nothing more, because the instrumental version of the OP is used ad nauseam in nearly every musical sequence. I can't exactly say I got tired of it, since I still listen to the song long after having finished the series, but a greater variety could have helped the story.

Overall, the story didn't build up to a climax that I particularly cared about, nor did it pack the kind of punch that I really want in a sci-fi work, particularly one where rock or heavy metal music are touted as themes or influences. There's a plot development near the end where the enemy space fleet finds their own musician to fight back against the main character, but again, nothing too powerful comes out of that subplot. The greatest item of value in the series, outside of John Sykes' Cautionary Warning, is a scene that went somewhat viral under names like "worst black guy in a Japanese dub." It was a funny scene, but not really for the reason the creators intended.

It might be enjoyable if you're looking for a lighthearted family comedy first and foremost, if this gels with your sense of humor. But if you're seeing the promotional material I've seen, read the synopses I read, and saw the opening sequence I saw, and you want something like that, I'd direct you to something like Interstella or Heavy Metal before I'd ever direct you to this. It was not (as I'd hoped) anything like a cross between those two.

It's slow and annoying, until about halfway where it gains some momentum, and the ending was a blast. That being said if you get too bored with episode 1, jump to episode 7 and watch to the ending then go back if you want to pick up the loose ends.

The music is IMO really good; shedding guitars, thumping bass, grooving drums, and keys straight from the 80's.

The art style especially on the sci-fi scenes really fits, but the best visual on the show is the psychedelic moments hands down. The everyday scenes I find less noteworthy.

Some of the characters really annoy me with just plain ... stupidity probably added for humor or something.

Overall had it not been for the extremely sluggish start it would have been quite good.

Kachou Oji is a pretty old anime, but its story is original. You may think rock music and a space battle have nothing in common. Well, you are quite right, but it somehow works in this anime. A middle-aged ex-musician never lost his passion for rock music even though he has wife and a kid now. He decide to save an entire universe with his song. He is a very likeable character even though he is an average joe. I like how his relationship with his wife was presented. Music is nice, but there is just one or two songs which is devastating. Art isn't ... much to look at and characters look off model most of the time. Also this isn't an anime I normally enjoy so I gave it a 6. It is a definition of a fine anime. Nothing great nor bad.

Kachou Ouji is a fun romp from 1999 with an engaging premise and fun execution, limited both by the resources available to it at the time and by shortcomings well within their control to fix. The idea of Ouji being a regular salaryman, thrust into the limelight of a galactic war to save the earth centering around his passion for music is pure gold, but at the end of the day the execution fails to live up to its premise. The story as a whole is fun and cool, but also nonsensical, and not in a way the bones of ... the show feel ready to support. There are too many problems for the show to be taken seriously, but the show itself isn't stunningly cool or wacky enough to forgive those problems. Perhaps the biggest problem with this somewhat generic storyline with a twist is the fact that I had trouble suspending my disbelief while I watched it. It wasn't consistent enough to fix those problems, and it wasn't quite good enough to forget about those problems, so the whole time I was very aware I was watching an anime.

As for the art, it is on-par for a late 90s anime, though the 2D often feels flat in the middle of the season, which shows in their faces and their inability to express emotion. They also reuse shots over and over again, and 100 percent of the 3D is atrocious, but again it was the 90s so while its unsightly, I can't in good faith fault the show for those things. The character design and background concepts were really well done, and the conceptual nature of these aspects were communicated with a great deal of skill.

The sound is where this anime really shined. The musical compositions made for this anime really did rock, and though they repeated pieces fairly often, they mixed it up often enough to keep things fresh too. Beyond all the hard hitting music, the sounds of the world also held up really well, like the sound of a file against a nail, or the varying sounds of footsteps depending on the footwear of certain characters.

Speaking of characters, I feel like that was a definite weak spot for this anime. Ouji and his whole schtick is funny and connects with the viewer well, but his motivations are oftentimes incomprehensible, and his reasoning often lacking. Same goes for his wife Yoshiko, who often seems to be flying off the handle of one extreme or the other for no reason at all. The rest of the characters were alright, and added a lot of depth to the show itself, especially the alien trio and Ouji's old bandmates, but except the alien major guy who was written like he was animated- with a stick up his ass. At the end of the day I had a fun time watching Kachou Ouji, but it didn't blow me away, which a show like this needs to do if it is going to work. Look at Gurren Lagann for a good example of something like that at play. Now the finale, THAT blew me away, but it ended abruptly and even itself didn't necessarily feel earned. It almost felt like this show was filler between episodes 1 and 13, thrown together to justify episodes 1 and 13. If the rest of the show showed the level of dedication and quality that episode 13 did, this show would probably rank closer to a 7, but alas, it did not. At the end of the day it was still fun, I do not regret watching it, and I certainly do not regret listening to it.