Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin OVA

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin has been one of the real hidden gems of 2019, a well-written and interesting mix of fantasy and police mystery. Anime does seem to be overrun with that shows using that basic template at the moment and most get far more attention than Mayonaka,

The subject this time around is vampires, after a corpse turns up in Shinjuku drained of all its blood with a neck wound only those with the sight can see without help. Theo as it turns out is a vampire expert specifically, so the detectives assigned to the case from “Unit Zero“, the ones who ... get the cases that don’t make sense to muggles turn to him for help.
Theo has already planned to drag Arata with him to Senda’s place for New Year’s because of an Another he’s been observing there for 15 years that he’s been dying to communicate with and it turns out that Another is Japan’s last surviving vampire.
That vampire is the perp as it turns out but not by choice. Someone from Theo’s past named Saejima is using him as a means to strike out at Theo, who he apparently loathes for reasons that at first are not entirely clear.
As we’ve seen before in Mayonaka, when too many parties get involved things tend to get much messier between the humans and Anothers. And in this case that means not just Unit Zero but a sort of Another hitman named Tamao, whose job it is to take out Anothers who are targeting humans.

There’s a lot of interesting background in this story stuff like the special tattoo Saejima uses to prevent Anothers from seeing him. As it happens he’s more or less a psychopath with a special grudge against Theo, And the unfortunate vampire, whose name is Sakura as it turns out, is just a pawn in Saejima’s revenge scheme.

All in all this would rank as one of Mayonaka’s better serials, I’d say. The second episode especially is superb, full of the pathos that characterizes this sort of material at its best

For those who have watched the actual show for this series (which you should do before you watch this OVA, or you may end up somewhat confused), I'm glad Theo was the main character of this OVA. I say this because of the lack of real character development he had in the main show, he was always just... there; as the main brain/researcher of the team, which is great and all, but it left very little to love about his character (other than the fact that he's comedically pretty). In this OVA, we get to see his main love for Anothers, and where his love ... for them possibly stemmed from. We get to see so much more emotion out of him compared to the main show, and when I say emotion, I mean EMOTION. Really, this OVA WILL make you cry, and will make you absolutely fall in love with Theo's character.
I guess my only complaint would be though, that there isn't enough Kohaku, at all. Sorry, I needed to see my pretty boy.
I also loved that the OVA was centered around vampires, a much appreciated surprise after finishing the main show. Although, I'd like to complain and ask why this OVA isn't tagged with the 'vampires' genre? It literally has vampire in the name...
Anyway, watch the main show! It's only twelve episodes long and is a pretty chill and well paced anime to watch! You'll have to get passed the clearly budgeted art style, but it's really a good show otherwise!

Quick take: Nothing breathtaking of note, but if you like occult, cryptids and the like, you'll find enjoyment in Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin.

The story line is fairly straight forward and follows a new recruit in to the Nocturnal Relations Division of the police. Together with his co-workers and friends, he solves problems related to Anothers, or cryptids, which the average human cannot see. The overall theme of "understanding" is a little overplayed in media today, but if you don't mind that aspect, then you'll find the story line is very good.

Art is really lackluster and is down right bad at times. Motions are mostly fluid, ... but at times the head or bodies of characters can seem slightly distorted when they move.

Sound is great in my opinion, with a jazzy BGM and good opening and closing songs. Acting (English) is well done and on par of most anime. The BGM errs by using some of the original scores' worse pieces and at some points can be distracting.

Characters are well developed and thought out. I do think there is a lack of use in the overall story though. In other words, Huehuecoyotl and Yuki are both funny and energetic characters that seem to be under utilized within the story line. In my opinion, it's just a missed opportunity.

Overall, if you enjoy the occult and cryptids, don't mind a bit of an overplayed theme and can look past the mediocre art, you'll find awesome BGM, great character interaction, good character development and an overall enjoyable piece of work, especially if you liked the main series.