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So, having seen the rest of the Saber Marionette franchise, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Mediocre animation, bad jokes, cartoonish villains, a campy yet surprisingly poignant storyline and cast, and heaps of “love will save the world” sentiment. In other words, a good kids show. Boy was I *completely* wrong about that. Instead, what we have is a dark and haunting hollywoodesque thriller with superb camerawork and animation, which in addition to “love vs hate” overlays the theme of innocence vs sexual depravity. The fights are way more intense than the fights in the cousins to this OVA; unlike in J, J again, or J to X, each fight is a fight to the death, desperate and gripping. Due to the way the characters are animated, a simple thing like a punch to the stomach actually looks really painful, inflicted wounds are something that causes the viewer to wince. In general, I couldn't get enough of the artwork, the animation, the body movements, even the facial expressions. The way this was paced also adds a sense of urgency to the affair. There is not a wasted second in this OVA.
With all this to brag about, there is one fatal flaw to the whole affair. It is, in the big picture, utterly generic. It has nothing all that interesting to say in terms of plot. Going with my hollywood comparison, it favors style over substance. And quite frankly, that has to be the fault of the original story, those who worked on this adaption are not at fault. As far as adaptations go, I would say this adaption is a 9/10 adaption of 6/10 material. Thus, we have a high 7/10, halfway between good and great. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a mature and quality take on the Saber Marionette concept.
