Story:
Speed Grapher is about a Former War Photographer turned Photojournalist with an odd photography fetish named Tatsumi Saiga, who gets involved in investigating an underground fetish club where he witness all the lewd and illegal activities going on, eventually stumbling upon a ritual where he ends up gaining to power to blow people up through a Camera, the show is then about him trying to free the Club's "Goddess" Kagura from the Club. It's follow a monster of the week style format in the early and the middle episodes as Saiga having to fight a club member that had been blessed by the Goddess known as a Euphoric.
Characters:
Saiga weirded me out at 1st with his photography kink early on, but ended up winning me over with how despite his jaded outlook in life, he still desires to do what's right despite his status, plus he's a hot Ossan with nice sideburns and goatee, which isn't exactly common protagonist material. So he stands out in my book.
Kagura Tennouzou, while I'll admit could favor for some character growth, is a Damsel in Distress done right as the show actually goes out of it's way to show her circumstances and how it affects her sheltered lifestyle, along with how Saiga goes out of his way to inspire her to live on and get her darn freedom, despite the rest of the cast getting in the way of that.
Chouji Suitengu, or as I like to nickname him "Pimpcoat Sephiroth" is the show's main villain, at 1st he seems like your standard hedonist mafia boss, but as the show goes on we eventually learn his origins and true agenda despite his reputation.
Hibari Ginza, Or as I like to nickname her the "Cop THOT". is easily my least favorite character in the show, her whole character is that she stalks and lusts after Saiga, wanting to get into his pants despite his lack of interest nor consent. And also becomes jelly of Kagura for having Saiga looking after her instead of giving Ginza the D. While the show does try to redeem her towards the end of the series, it's still wasn't much to excuse her BS.
Other Characters of note include Shinzen, Kagura's cruel b**** of a mother, Suitengu's lackies Tsujido, Niihari, and Makabe. Bob, Saiga's gay neighbor. Togashi, Saiga's Boss, and Ryougoku, a doctor who's well acquainted with Saiga since the war, as well as the various Euphorics Suitengu hires to try to kill Saiga and capture Kagura. Overall a pretty decent cast, even if alot of the characters are scummy hedonistic jerkfaces you want to see get their just desserts.
Visuals:
It's average GONZO fare with the occasional offmodeling GONZO is infamous for, but at least they hardly relied on CGI here which is a good thing. Backgrounds hold up pretty fine, though Character Models may seem rough by today's standards.
Sound:
Shinkichi Mitsumune of Yugioh and Utena fame composed the BGM here, and I will say this is one of his more underrated works, appropriately Gritty, Melancholic, and Jazzy, even upbeat at some points. The Original Opening for the Japanese Release is Duran Duran's Girls on Film which is great. Though because of licensing, the Funimation Release used one of the bgm "Shutter Speed" for the OP, which blends in with visuals just fine. The 2nd Ending Theme "Break the Cocoon" by Yorico is great, though the 1st ending theme "Hill of Poppy" feels rather out of place and jarring considering some of the earlier episodes end on a disturbing note.
Voice Acting:
The Japanese Cast stars Yuji Takada, a not so prolific VA in his only leading role as Saiga and Kei Shindo (who won the role from a contest of over 300 participants) making her VA debut as Kagura. They fair fine, if a little lacking at times in Takada's case. The Big Highlight of the Japanese version was without of doubt Toshiyuki Morikawa as Suitengu, especially considering he's Sephiroth himself, who does a nice job showcasing Suitengu's ruthlessness and angst. Other seiyuus to find include Takako Honda, Gara Takashima, Hiro Yuki, Hisao Egawa, Kenjiro Tsuda, Takehito Koyasu, Rikiya Koyama, and more. Though it does suffer from some really bad attempts of English speaking from Saiga and American characters later on in the show, so be prepared to LOL (or Cringe depending on how you react to Engrish).
The Funimation Dub is what intrigued me alot more, and I will say it's stands out alot more than the Japanese cast here. Christopher Sabat got to showcase a more jaded and weary performance as Saiga, which is a big contrast to the roles people usually know him for. It was also notably the 1st time he and Monica Rial (who plays Kagura) got to covoice together here long before the likes of DBZ Kai, One Piece, and Fairy Tail, and their vocal chemistry here holds up strong. Also of note is Christopher Ayres as Suitengu, who also does a great portraying Suitengu's ruthlessness and angst just as good as Morikawa, and makes the eventual rivalry between Saiga and Suitengu more amusing in hindsight since Ayres would eventually voice Frieza in the Kai dub of DBZ. As much as I hated Ginza, Clarine Harp knows how to steal the show whenever Ginza is on screen and does an amazing job showcasing Ginza's selfishness and how much of a ruthless psycho she can be. Other VAs to find include Mark Stoddard, Pam Dougherty, Greg Ayres, Bob Carter, Robert McCollum, Antimere Robinson, Kent Williams, and more.
Overall: One of GONZO's stranger original titles they made, yet It's a show I still remember fondly to an extent to this day, even if it's a show that will have you disgusted, but intrigued for what they were going for here.
