"Riki-Oh: Toukatsu Jigoku" covers the first arc of the manga, the "Prison Arc". The original manga which was published in 1989 is a relatively unknown diamond in the ruff. It is a brutally violent series riddled with scientific impossibilities, that being said, it's a great time killer!
Story - 8/10
This OVA covers most of the plot from the manga, with some minor changes. If the OVA had been around an hour long, it could've been much better.
Art - 7/10
Considering that this was released in 1989, it's art is pretty good. They pay very good attention to detail (especially in the faces), but there are some things that could look better. Some of the animation sequences could also be smoother, but for the most part they did a pretty good job.
Sound - 6/10
The sound is pretty decent for the most part, but there are somethings that make sounds that are not very realistic. For example, one of the key habits of Riki-oh is to play a tune on a blade of grass. It should have the sound of a light whistle, but instead has the sound of a deeper wind instrument. It sounds good, but it's just completely unrealistic. The music for the series is pretty good but who only get to hear a little of the ones with vocals and when they do play, the volume is very low.
Character - 9/10
Riki-oh is definitely the highlight of this series. He is the epitome of badass and has a well honed practice of killing people in the most outrageous ways (Despite being the hero). One instance from this OVA is a scene in which Riki-Oh literally punches a guy in the abdomen and all the contents of his torso explode out of his back! Even if you find yourself not liking the OVA or manga, you will still like Riki-Oh as a character!
Enjoyment - 7/10
I enjoyed being able to see the manga I enjoyed animated. I mean who wouldn't enjoy watching an over powered beast of a man with a scar of the Star of David kill people with his bare hands?
Overall - 7/10
Overall it was a good OVA that did the manga a fair amount of justice. I had wished that they had used for violence considering Riki-Oh is called the "Violence Hero". But for the time they really were able to produce something that stuck very close to the original manga. I highly recommend the manga itself, not for it's plot, but for it's sheer amounts of excessive science defying violence (seriously, it's laughable!)
