Youseiki Suikoden

A Rambo clone, a drag queen, a yakuza nun, a militaristic priest, a suit-wearing samurai, reincarnation, exploding heads, religious mysticism...you'll get all that and more in a mere 45 minutes with this early '90s OVA that just flies by with a brisk pace, well-done animation and a decently satisfying ending. I can't deny that this is the Chinese food equivalent of entertainment, something that you'll forget all about and leave you hungering for more very quickly, but it's fun while it lasts and fits the criteria nicely if you're looking for a quick fix of anime excess from the good 'ol days.

A lot of similarly themed anime fall into obscurity for a reason. An earthquake destroys the city, everything falls into chaos, and some group comes together to save the day. The thing that separates this from all the meh stuff is the interesting ish and somewhat unique characters. The art is pretty damn good for 1993, and the animation is mostly smooth and nice looking. I think the background music was decent, as it didn't distract from the film like a lot of those 90s soundtracks do. The English dub also isn't half bad. There's not really any nudity, and violence is minimal, but Iwas interested in something other than shock factor, which says a lot about how this is written. I didn't love it, but it left me wanting more, like maybe a mini series or something

Something that has always bothered me about old ova's is that they thrust us into a world of demons with no prior building to it. Of course this is a byproduct of the short time they have to display their ideas for a story. Suikoden has a very basic plot one that isn't too dissimilar from others released around the same time but it's a lot more grounded and thus enjoyable to watch. It's surprisingly well animated at times as well and with the pacing it doesn't feel like we move too fast or lag behind. It's a good way to kill some time ifyou have 45 minutes to spare!

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