Welcome to another post - Day 4, already!
And in exactly the same format, I'm kicking off with a brief overview on the OVA form itself, before jumping into the actual review (and will use this structure for each of the seven posts) - meaning, you can skip this if you need 😀
Hope you enjoy this batch also, and as I often mention, I'm keen to hear any suggestions you might have for future OVA-weeks 🙂
- An animated film or series made for release on video, rather than for broadcast/theatrical screening
- Generally, high budgets that can mean visual qualities are better than a typical television series
- No fixed length, nor broadcast time-constraints when it comes to storytelling
- To some extent, created outside regulation – and so they have a reputation for 'anything goes' when it comes to restricted content
- Often (but certainly not always) based on original scripts, rather than being adaptations
- Long wait times between episodes/installments for some OVAs
- First OVA to be described as such was 1983's Dallos from Mamoru Oshii
- The ONA (Original Net Animation) is an obvious more modern equivalent
Devil Hunter Yohko (Mamono Hantā Yōko) 1990
This time it's one from the supernatural genre, with demon-hunting by a plucky, school-aged heroine.
And while a lot of Devil Hunter Yohko plays out like regular shounen stuff, with a few magical girl touches too, there were a lot of things that kept me wondering. Not in terms of the battles or their outcomes, but the characters themselves.
On the note of character, there was a nice inter-generational aspect that was, I feel, under-utilised.
Because while Yohko's grandmother is her mentor, it relegates Yohko's mother to the sidelines, and she probably could have had a bigger role in terms of both conflict and support – feels like a missed opportunity.
Of course, fan-service's twin prongs - action and nudity - take centre stage instead.
One interesting aspect there actually, was that Yohko is portrayed as upfront about wanting to 'finally' have sex, not unlike the way some male shounen protagonist can be shown. The series treated this desire as normal, just a regular part of growing up. Yohko's mother was even suggesting safe sex at one point.
(Of course, the whole thing is often presented in a fairly juvenile manner, but it was still something I certainly hadn't seen a lot of in other action-based anime).
The anime also fits in a fair bit comedy, and aside from sight-gags and hyperbole, I did wonder about another thing, whether the manner in which the show simply breezes past all of Yohko's dead love interests, was part-satire of the genre overall?
I can see why Devil Hunter Yohko got a reissue – there's some exciting action sequences from Madhouse, and some clever humour at times, and even if the demons are somehow a little flat, Yohko's doubts add a nice touch of realism to her character.
And with her grandmother providing some over-the-top comic relief (played by Yūji Mitsuya), I guess it could all add up to something that best described as a 'cult classic/hidden gem' etc.
In notable contrast, and dragging the score down, the two examples of sexual assault in episode one, with both Yohko and a male classmate being targets in separate incidents, are not onscreen for character development.
I obviously understood the role in the plot, but in the end it just feels like exploitation of minors.
Five episodes span half the 1990s here, and the OVA series includes a filler 'music episode' in the middle.
2 stars
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