Violence Jack

Well, this show really did not work. It is as if the screenwriter got totally stoned, got high on something really potent, and wrote this "hidden gem" while inspired by watching the Mad Max movies. He then decided to mix it up with some hentai. The post-apocalyptic setting is relatively attractive; however, because the narrative is told in such a moronic way that it seems like it is just jumping around all over the place without any context, it lets this OVA down. Instead of telling the story, it just dryly states that a comet has arrived, the Kanto region is falling apart, and there is this guy, the Slum King, the ultimate bad guy. There is also this guy called Violence Jack, who is a hardcore dude who dug himself out of a pile of bones to give all the bad guys a beating. So then there is a killing spree. Also, some of the dialogues were really terrible, and the lines about Jack being a "wild beast with hidden wisdom" and that Jack was responsible for this and that, well, what a treat. As for the narrative itself, it actually was not that bad, so I would not rate it as BOO!, although at times I wondered WTF I was watching and SPOILER ALERT when the helicopter landed in the middle of the building, I actually found it entertaining. When Jack took the Harlem Bomber down (again) using the helicopter, I really enjoyed it. I almost thought that the only thing missing was a line like "Do you want to go for a ride?". END OF SPOILERS. If I was stoned or under the influence of alcohol, it might have been a real discovery. If the screenwriters had added more daring scenes, it might have been a slightly above-average hentai. However, as it is, it is just a very poor mildly erotic action movie with a moronic set design. So I am rating this 2/10, and out of curiosity, I will probably watch the follow-up because it surely could not get any worse. (21.11.2021)

Well, when I was watching the first episode, I was amused by the stupidity of some of the scenes. However, I did not laugh too much watching this OVA, except perhaps at Jack's original "kicking”." Rather, it was a bit too much for me, and especially the "love" scene between the mad Saurus and the dead Blue disgusted me in a way that probably only the legendary Pupa has managed to do in the past. Otherwise, it is quite brave to try and keep up the standards of the first OVA, it is just a bit longer, and there are more sex and action scenes, although the standard is more or less the same. 1.5/10. (27.08.2015)

So I ended up watching the final Violence Jack OVA. Well, I have to say that this episode helped me quite a bit in understanding the story because it connects the second OVA with the first one, so ultimately the first one does not seem as confusing as it did after I saw it. Perhaps if the anime's creators had gone chronologically and not started from the end, I would not have given the first one such a lousy rating. However, back to Violence Jack: Hell's Wind. Unlike its predecessors, this one is much more restrained in depicting the post-apocalyptic world's rawness than the previous two. In practice, this means that we see far fewer severed heads, disemboweled intestines, and frantic raping scenes. They are far more subtle, which I, for one, consider a positive thing because this OVA is a bit easier to watch. Otherwise, though it is another classic, the narrative is told in a way that I found chaotic, unpolished, and at times very nonsensical. The dialogue is very strange in places. Then again, a few scenes leave me speechless, although once again, I had a few laughs. 3/10. (27.08.2015)