Hayou no Tsurugi: Shikkoku no Mashou

Before I begin, it's worth noting that I am the first to review this title on MAL. It is my belief that every anime deserves at least one proper review, deserves to have its content engaged and reckoned with. No matter how obscure it is, and no matter how long ago it was made, an anime still represents the creative passion of its creators, the hopes and dreams of the team that made it, and as such, I will give this one a fair and honest accounting here. There is a teeming vastness of 90s anime OVA, many of them chosen almost at random tobe given English subs for the budding yet insatiable anime market in the west, and, inevitably, a great many of them were destined to fall through the cracks for one reason or another, languishing in obscurity despite their ostensible artistic quality or creative merit. Hayou no Tsurugi is one such anime, and, having finally given this title a proper watch after finding a subbed version deep in a dusty corner of the internet, I can safely say that it is good, classic, action fantasy fun. Even if the story relies on certain generic tropes common to the format and genre at hand, it still brings a fair bit of originality to the title, certainly enough to make it stand out from the crowd in more ways than one. First, the worldbuilding is quite interesting, taking your standard fantasy world, filling it with demon sorcerers, and a floating fortress that houses supernatural warrior hitmen called Demon Breakers who take on contracts from the human kingdoms below to hunt and kill the demon sorcerers. Excellent setup, and honestly has a lot more story potential than a simple 2 episode run that lasts barely an hour. I feel like its biggest flaw is just that this badass concept feels wasted on such a short run, and should have been expanded into something much larger given how the concept naturally lends itself to episodic iteration. In any case, the cool worldbuilding and plot is bolstered by unusually strong character writing, with the dialogue between Lath and Anshu feeling distinctly natural, oscillating between playful romantic chemistry on the one hand, and tense dramatism on the other. Finally, what really puts this story over the top is how it adds a layer of supernatural potency, between Gurenki, the demon-hunting sword that chose Lath when she was young, and the otherworldly beasts whose blood the sword literally screams out for and subsequently drinks, there's no doubt that the story is the strongest aspect of this anime, as it is clearly something more than your typical throwaway OVA fare. A similar level of care is evident in the art as well. The animation boasts of solid character and monster designs, with a firm grasp on otherworldly evil and supernatural powers alike. Every time someone is consumed by flames, or assailed by magic crystals, or stabbed by Gurenki, their blood flowing into the thirsting blade, it's clear that the people behind this paid more attention to how the final product looks than you'd usually expect from such a title. However, despite all the color and powerful shot composition, there are some drawbacks that hold the art back. Namely, while the animation can be smooth and impressive, it cuts corners to make those moments possible, especially at certain points where it is abundantly clear that the characters are simply sliding around on an animation cell. Also, while it does blood well, it doesn't really have the strongest grasp on the mild gore it puts on display, with a loose grasp on bones and organs that makes it look a little silly, but thankfully these amateur anatomical moments are fleeting. There is less to say of the sound, but it was overall good, meeting the basic standards of quality for the time. One particularly notable aspect of the sound, however, is the music- the music is kind of all over the place. Most of the time, it settles on this inoffensive jazzy background track with prominent saxophone and drums, and while this fades into the background most of the time, at other, more serious moments, it kind of feels distinctly out of place. Also, there's an odd track in episode 2 that is completely acapella, layered with several voices, some even doing a kind of percussion, and it is very strange. It feels really unsettling and otherworldly, which I suppose makes sense for the context, but I figured I'd mention it here regardless. The characters are compelling and well-written, even with the limiting factor of this OVA's brief runtime, and of them, my favorites are our main duo, Lath and Anshu. As I said before, they're a good pair in terms of how their personalities contrast, but they're both also unique takes on their character types- Lath is a more complicated version of the chosen heroine, with a lot of traits and flaws that ensure she evades the Mary Sue pitfall, while Anshu is this witty trickster character that, while quite powerful, isn't all-powerful, also making him a more compelling version of his archetype. Overall, Hayou no Tsurugi is a very strong 90s fantasy OVA, and while it does harbor some of the flaws which are common to anime of this format, I still feel like it's a shame this was never officially picked up and given its time in the sun. All in all, this anime is definitely worth your time.