Baoh Raihousha

Only a few minutes into this OVA and there is already a scene where dogs are brutally murdered... yup this is without a doubt a story written by Hirohiko Araki! If you're a fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, you may already know Baoh from JJBA Allstar Battle, because he was a DLC character in this game.

The plot is pretty straightforward and without many twists: this anime is about a young man who has the so-called Baoh parasite in his body. This allows him to transform into some sort of monster that looks like it's straight from Thundercats. He escapes from a facility and meets a ... girl with physic powers on his way. They encounter a lot of bad guys that Baoh has to slaughter and in end, he fights a strong enemy, so they bring some shounen elements into the mix too.

This OVA is pretty gory, so if you like to see a monster killing people and melting their faces, then Baoh Raihouska might be for you. Like I said the plot isn't really all that special and since this anime is only 47 minutes long, there isn't much character development. The action was good and the art style was nice to look at (it doesn't really resemble JoJo's Bizarre Adventure though). Some things bothered me though: the girl's physic power really didn't add anything to the plot at all. Why did she even have a special power in the first place? It felt really random. Also, the ending was kind of weird too. Overall Baoh Raihousha is no masterpiece, but for what it is, it's definately pretty enjoyable.

Story 6/10
Ikuro Hashiwaza was turned into a weapon by the Doress Laboratory. He escapes with Sumire, a girl who possesses psychic abilities. Join them as they try to escape the clutches of the Doress Laboratory.

Man, this story had many things going for it. It just...fell flat. I wanted to see more. I really don't know how to describe it.

Art 7/10
I had animation issues here. Like, in some scenes, when they talked, their "mouth movement" weren't in sync. I mean, it is a 80s anime, so I can understand why there was some issues, but it still bothered me nonetheless (I guess you can say it ... really bothered me).

Sound 6/10
The music choice isn't all great. I-I just don't know what to say.

Character 6/10
The only characters we pretty much get development are Ikuro and Sumire. Their interactions are great, but then when it comes to the villains, it's so one-dimensional. Like, I wanted them to explore Dorress's past more. Like, why are they doing this? What are their motives for creating a weapon? It really wasn't made clear. I wish they explored more of that.

Enjoyment 6/10
I honestly cannot say this was a good experience, but I can't say it was the worse either. I mean, the action is cool and it had something going when it came to the story, I just think it didn't quite came together well.

Overall 6/10
Personally, I wouldn't recommend this anime. But, if you're curious to know what it's about and all of that, then give it a try. If you only care about action, then you won't mind this.

Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts on this review and any feedback you may have for me. Until next time!

Rate:5
English Dubbed
genres:scifi., action

*note:'_' is intended to not give out spoilers

Story
Bland and simple. An experiment that rises up when the chance presents itself. Story has some logic failures. Such as if the ____ works on brain eventually it will run out of brain. So how can you say a prolonged life?

Art
... Nicely drawn. Animations are done well. Art is different then what the cover picture shows(depending which picture you are looking at here). Works well with the story.

Sound
Subtitles don't work well with English dubbed. The actors either use different words or the time is off. Better off keeping the subtitles off. Some, i would say about 1 percent of the spoken language is muffled. Which means makes sure to use the subtitles when needed to figure out what was said.

Character
Is mostly driven on the main male character. As for the main female character her bio is moderate. For example her origin is iffy.

Enjoyment
Mad scientist lovers would likely like this.

So, I read the baoh manga a couple months before watching this, and overall, I found it kinda average. Nothing really special, but I certainly wouldn't call it bad. I decided to forget about and, until I found this. And... I'm a bit disappointed. Baoh is still really awesome, and I'd say if there's any reason to watch this, It'd be to just watch him be awesome. But it was also really short. I mean, the manga was pretty short too, but the ova just cut so much out, the whole thing went by too quickly. I'd give it a higher score if I got ... to see more of Baoh, but I'd say just read the manga if you're interested.

TL;DR
only watch BAOH if you want an action-packed 80s anime with little focus on story/characters.

BAOH is one of Araki's first ever works and it shows. it's clear that Araki was still getting the hand of writing stories and characters but at the same time, you can tell Araki really knew how to make a good action scene, hell I'd say that some action scenes here are better than some in JoJo given how the action scenes in BAOH are a lot more fast-paced and flashy.

I'd recommend the anime over the manga, the anime does skip some scenes which would be a problem but like I ... said the story isn't really what you should be looking for in this anime.

Despite everything I've said I think BAOH has a good concept, sure the idea of the main character having a parasite that he can't fully control has been done before, but I'd like to see modern Araki try something with that concept, or Araki should let another author try and write a revival/continuation for BAOH, like what he did with Cool Shock Old B.T

I will start this review off with a simple statement:
You should only watch Baoh if you're interested in other things.
Its influence on other media, its place in Araki's career, its standing as an adaptation of an existing manga...
Curiosity about these are all valid reasons to dive into it, but it's not a work that stands on its own; it veers between its various identity crises without really landing on anything concrete. It gets watered down even more in the jump to OVA format, and only brief flashes of Araki's unique flair are present.
A key issue with the presentation of the story is that it ... moves quite fast, hitting all its 'necessary beats' in a mechanical fashion with little attention paid to depth or mood. A story that 1:1 works in manga is not going to work if adapted with no consideration for the change in media- Baoh is a huge victim of this. The story feels rushed, meandering, and more like just "things happening". There's no room for emotional investment and it brings very little to the table.
That said, the saving grace of the OVA is its art- it's incredibly well animated and smooth. My partner referred to it as we watched as 'a stereotypical over-produced 80s OVA' and he was right. This has tons of money poured into tons of detail and barely ever lets up on quality. The cinematography, sfx, and fight choreography are all incredible. It's very technically beautiful and stunning to look at.
The music on the other hand is very stereotypically 80s in a way that I think many may find dated/unpalatable, though I tend to like 80s action scores; it's not anything special, though.
As I mentioned in the story section, the writing in this is cardboard flat and the characters suffer majorly as a result. They feel like desk lamps having plot points thrown at them. Sumire (the female lead) also, in my opinion, suffers majorly from being what I can charitably describe only as a 'classic loli', which is definitely not a coincidence; this was 1987, knees deep in the 80s lolicon boom, after all. Some people may like that...... I definitely did not, and I found the romantic aspect between a ten year old and seventeen year old extremely unnerving and repulsive. There's almost nothing to write about Ikuro, either, really, besides that he's a guy and he does things. I couldn't describe a personality for him if I tried. There's also a weird racist bit about a Native American villain that's hard to describe as anything but some sort of bizarre fetishization. I suppose if you don't care about racial issues that that part might float by unnoticed but it's still... not good, writing-wise.
Overall this made for a very midtier evening watch and I have difficulty recommending it outside of that capacity. It's nothing to write home about and your time is better spent on better things.

“Baoh Raihousha” is an over-the-top, silly gore-fest that is surprisingly watchable and better than expected. This one-episode OVA is about a guy named Ikuro who was kidnapped by a secret organization and implanted with a parasite that causes him to have superhuman abilities. He escapes the organization with Sumire, a young psychic girl (and her pet squirrel) who is also being held by them. The organization sends all sorts of people out to kill Ikuro, including an assassin, an army, an android and a telekinetic Native American. The greater part of this OVA consists of Ikuro graphically killing his and Sumire’s assailants using his newly-acquired ... powers.

The whole thing is over the top, but it does have a cohesive, if somewhat unoriginal, story with a distinct beginning, middle and end. However, the way the plot plays out is not without significant issues. For instance, sometimes the villains are about to finish Ikuro off, but conveniently pause long enough for him to get away or to kill them. There are some confusing parts, such as a scene in which one of the antagonists just starts killing his allies. Also, Ikuro hardly speaks, so I felt like it was hard to relate to him since we don’t know what he’s thinking or feeling. Needless to say, the 46-minute runtime does not offer much opportunity for character development, but the protagonists are still likable. The voice cast is decent for the most part, although I thought that the person voicing Sumire sounded a little too mature for a 9-year-old. The dialogue is okay, but nothing spectacular, and it feels redundant at times. The OVA has an open ending, but it’s conclusive and satisfying enough.

Regarding other technical aspects, the animation is fluid, and the character designs look good. The background music is generic synth stuff that isn’t memorable. The ending theme is okay, but it doesn’t leave much of an impression.

As for objectionable content, the gore in this OVA is prevalent, but not realistic enough to be off-putting. There are lots of melting heads and eyeballs popping out of skulls, for instance. Rather than being gross, it just looks silly. Other than the gore and violence, there isn’t much that could be objectionable, except there is a scene in which a dog dies.

Overall, “Baoh” has a lot of flaws, but its violent cheesiness combined with its decently structured plot and nice animation make this OVA an enjoyable watch.