The Ultimate Anime Horror Collection?

BIO HUNTER

Introduction

Bio Hunter begins with a couple in the throes of ecstasy before the woman actually devours her lover. She is infected with the Demon Virus, which affects human DNA, causing them to skip parts of the evolutionary process and become monsters.



One such monster is attacking women in Tokyo and eating their organs and it's up to a team of Bio Hunters, including university professors Komada and Koshigaya to stop it. Things get complicated when Komada is bitten by the monster in a fight to save a woman and he manages to stop the demon from taking over completely.



They find a clue in the shape of Sakaya, a young woman whose psychic grandfather may help them identify the killer, but Komada is struggling to keep his demonic side under control.

Video

This was made in 1995 and shows its age with some blurry edging and lack of definition. It's not all bad as the animation style suits the theme and is suitably gory.

Audio

I watched it with the 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital stereo track, which is fine though not as clear as a modern release. I also sampled the DD 5.1 English dub, which has the edge in terms of separation and will be the option of choice for most viewers.

Extra Features

Just some storyboards and a trailer - nothing to get excited about.

Conclusion

Bio Hunter is an interesting concept, but one that didn't feel fully developed. The running time of less than an hour didn't help matters, as it's not long enough to flesh out the characters, the disease nor the Ghostbuster-style Bio Hunters.

It's not a terrible film, nor a waste of time, but it left me feeling short-changed - it may have worked better as a short TV series.

TWILIGHT OF THE DARK MASTER

Introduction

The opening narration explains that:

In ancient times our great mother gave birth to many, many lives on this earth in the depth of time. When she created mankind she also created a demon race to be its arch-enemy in order to teach mankind how to fight fear. At the same time a tribe was created to protect mankind from demons. They were called the "Guardians". Demons and Guardians, although they came from one mother and one blood, deep in their inner hearts the flame of hatred sleeps. It is a flame that won't be extinguished until one of the tribes ceases to exist forever.




The scene is set for the ultimate battle between good and evil, with good represented by Shinjyo Tsunani who is fighting a demon corrupting humans from his base in a brothel.

Video

The fullscreen transfer is fine given the age of the material but the animation is stunning with a dark, noir look that reflects the subject material.

Audio

I watched it with the 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital stereo track, which is fine though not as clear as a modern release. I also sampled the DD 5.1 English dub, which has the edge in terms of separation and will be the option of choice for most viewers. The subtitles differ wildly from the English dub, particularly noticeable at the end when Tsunami takes on the Dark Master - the English subtitles portray him as a messianic figure whereas the dub has him more of a man wanting to gain revenge over the person who killed his lover.

Other than differing from the English dub, the subtitles are fine and error free although on one occasion they mention 'her fiancée', which jarred a little.

Extra Features

Creating the Cover Art by Hisashi Abe is a time lapse look at the artist drawing (or, more accurately, tracing) the cover art for the original DVD release - even though this is greatly sped up, it is still really boring and I scanned through it.

There is an Art Gallery consisting of three drawings - sketched, shaded and completed - of each the seven main characters; there are also trailers for other MVM titles under the heading 'Propaganda'.

Conclusion

Despite the short running time (46 minutes), this is a very interesting and watchable anime. However, I feel that had the film been twice the length, the characters and plots would have been more satisfactorily expanded upon but, as it is, the film feels underdeveloped and rushed.

I enjoyed Twilight of the Dark Master but it left me unfulfilled - the anime equivalent of eating a meringue.

PSYCHO DIVER

Introduction

The title conjures images of a murderous frogman, but this Psycho Diver is a man who can delve into your subconscious and try to defeat whatever mental demons harbour there. In this a young singer, Yuki, has lost her ability to sing and already one psycho diver has died trying to find out what the problem is. Another diver, Kuroiwa, takes on the case and finds her to be a girl with serious issues that he will put his life at risk to solve.

Kuroiwa undertakes his task like a detective from a film noir, even down to the voiceover narrative and Yuki as a femme fatale.

Video

The fullscreen transfer is perfectly acceptable but shows its age (13 years) as it lacks the clarity and definition of more recent anime releases. The animation style is very pleasant, with noir traits underlining the narrative style.

Audio

There is only the option of Dolby Digital 2.0 English, with no subtitles; the dialogue is pretty clear, but there is a distinct lack of definition for the ambient sounds. The lack of a soundtrack in the native tongue is a black mark against the DVD but the dub is fine as it suits the noir elements rather well.

Extra Features

There are trailers for this and other MVM releases plus an image gallery of 10 stills from the movie which have to be manually navigated.

Conclusion

At just over three quarters of an hour, this has the potential to be so much more, maybe a two part pilot for a short TV series or a abridged version of a more complete and satisfactory film. As it is, Psycho Diver is perfectly watchable but doesn't have the depth or character development that you would find in a feature length film. It works but I felt that the character of Kuroiwa had more to offer and could have been further utilised in a spin off television show.

Overall Opinion

Calling this The Ultimate Anime Horror Collection is a big boast and it's a cheque that the package simply can't cash. Two of the three aren't even horror films - more sci-fi and noir and the brief running times only allow for interesting premises which aren't satisfactorily developed.

The discs are fairly vanilla in nature and it's a shame that MVM haven't put any effort in to sourcing more extra material or a Japanese language track for Psycho Diver; this is a box set of previously released discs that many would argue aren't the best anime films in the horror genre (Urotsukidoji and Vampire Hunter D are better than anything here) but these are probably the best to which MVM have the rights.



The hefty RRP of £24.99 is way more than I'd expect something like this but is relatively cheap given the combined retail prices of the individual titles. It's available for less and is still overpriced - die hard anime fans will likely own at least one of these titles - so it's hard to see at what market MVM are aiming. The titles are worth a rental but a purchase is hard to recommend.