OVA Week 2: Day 5 – Explorer Woman Ray

ashleycapes

May 31

Here we go again!

Once more, I'm starting with a brief overview on the OVA form itself, before leaping into the actual review (and will use this structure for the remaining posts) - meaning, you can skip this 😀

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

Explorer Woman Ray (1989)

Plenty of Indiana Jones references here!

Obviously, those references come via the general premise itself but via specific examples too, and I guess you could say that Ray is an interesting pre-cursor to Lara Croft.

Having mentioned Indy, I definitely enjoyed the Explorer Woman Ray OVA with or without the various allusions; it's got plenty of action, fun characters and also settings that feature ancient civilisations.

But I do want to quickly write a little about those specifics I mentioned earlier, since they're part of the fun, for me.

In the first OVA, I noted the introduction to Ray mirrored Indy's introduction a little, with camera angels not quite revealing Ray's face at first.

Throughout both stories, there's villain Reig who channels Belloq in his white suit and hat, along with a 'big guy' thug, in the form of Johnson – perhaps a little nod to the awesome Pat Roach.

I guess you could also say that the twins bring Short Round to mind too, but ultimately, the anime draws on the same tropes that the Indiana Jones films utilise, so there's definitely going to be overlap.

One thing these two episodes did a nice job of, was getting me curious about Takeshi Okazaki's manga.

The main studio is AIC and designs and animation seem to sit between broadcast and OVA detail, with particular attention paid to the collapsing of stone. (But that opening chase sequence in the first OVA is a real highlight).

Having said that, as you can see, my copy is a little 'dim' when it comes to colours, and so the anime is probably in need of the Discotek treatment - not that I expect it's high on the list of priorities.