Reviews

Story: This story starts like many of the same genre, with demons escaping from an Underworld and possessing people and objects alike to kill people and take over the human plane of existence. There is one main character, a man not from the human plane, on a mission to destroy these demons. The leader Enma is a red-headed man who is constantly draped in a black cape, a black hat that is similar to a witch's hat, and uses a staff that produces fire. Though he is considered the "main character", his other companions play big parts too. There is Enma's witch hat, Shapoji, who can talk and smell the evil auras demons give off. Kapaeru, the Japanese creature Kappa in a human-like form, is the information gatherer for the group. Last is Yukihime, another hunter like Enma, but uses the power of frost or ice. The first two episodes show how Enma's crew handles a couple situations where people are possessed and killings occur, but by the third episode, the show takes a complete 360 degree turn, showing five individuals placed within a house that kills them off individually, using each character's problematic past as the way to kill them. Only within the last five to ten minutes of the last episode does Enma show up and save the day...or does he?

I gave this OVA a 6 for story due to the lack of a cohesive story. The first half follows the beginnings of a decent plot, but the third episode had me scratching my head, wondering why these people were in a house being killed, followed by an even more confusing fourth and last episode. The reasons why these events were occurring were never explained, leaving the viewer to ponder the connection to the rest of the story. The last gripe I had was the extensive amounts of naked breasts being flashed throughout the four episodes. I do not mind nudity being used if it benefits the story in some way, but the usage here was for nothing more than looks.

A warning to those of a weak stomach, this anime is full of blood and gore of all sorts. With a demon baby being born and crawling from the victim’s private area, to a mother trying to stab her young daughter. It is very graphic in content.

Animation: The animations used were a little above average. The better animations were used for the blood, gore, and any other parts involved with the killings, while the rest was just plain. Even the main characters were done with minimal effort. If the production company had spent a little more time and effort on this project, it could have been very well done. These are the reasons I gave this a 5.

Sound: The sounds used were actually decent, in most cases, though as before, the best sounds were used during the most graphic parts, such as a knife cutting or a person being possessed by a demon. The rest of the anime's sound was very basic and could have used more work. These reasons are why I gave it a 5.

Characters: This was the worst part of the anime, for me, given these episodes are about 40 minutes each. While Enma and crew are very humorous through the majority of their time on screen, there is almost nothing known about these characters. No background on why they are killing demons, no background on where each character comes from, and no idea on their philosophy of the human race, just to name a few. All that is really known are the characters kill demons and Enma is a pervert. Their comedy was funny enough to warrant a 4 from me, but that is cutting it close.

Overall: This anime had the potential to tell a great story with excellent characters to develop. Being an adult anime, this OVA also had the potential to take this story to a whole new level of intensity, but did not capitalize on the opportunities. I would only recommend this anime to those hardcore fans of demon anime that enjoy highly graphic storytelling, but otherwise, ended up turning into no-man's land, which is where this anime belongs.