Body Jack: Tanoshii Yutai Ridatsu

Body Jack feels so much like the plethora of perverted school comedies that came out in the 80s. Perverted teenagers get strange powers or mysterious machines that allow them to fulfill all their naughty fantasies with the girls of their dreams. Much like those films now; this one feels dated, silly, and not all that funny. The story is in a word; lame. Asagaya a teenage boy with the kinds of thoughts I imagine they have at that age regarding the cute girls at his school. In an extremely silly turn of events he is given a machine by a mad scientistwho will allow him to have out of body experiences and basically take control of the body he enters. He wastes little time using the machine and immediately stalks his way to a classmates house Komaba, who he has fantasies about. He takes control of her body and creepily uses her to leer at her naked body and then have lesbian sex with his childhood friend Nakano. Yes, it is just as disturbing as it sounds. The plot plays out predictably and isn’t all that good. The sex was about the only reason to watch it and some of that was surprisingly good. This anime is basically hentai. There is, particularly over the last half of the anime nothing but masturbation and fornication going on. Though the sex scenes are pretty tame and I guess considered censored. Typical of what one would call "soft-core porn". Since the sex scenes are such a big part of the show, it’s worth noting that they are mostly pretty good and manage to be somewhat erotic and sexy. Asagaya as a human being is pretty despicable. I feel very sorry for Nakano who crushes on him pretty hard and is tricked unwittingly by Asagaya into admitting all her feelings for him while he was possessing Komaba. The fact that he himself doesn’t seem to have a decent bone only seems to find this information as amusing and perhaps as an opening for him to have more sex with her after returning to his own body. He has the mentality of a 14 year old and the events of the story do little to change his character. Typical for his age but he’s not at all interesting as a love interest. Nakano and Komaba come across more as victims than anything else. Especially Komaba who is so horrible used and abused that it is really very sickening. The events at the end of the story are very disgusting. I guess the only saving grace would be that her consciousness is unaware what is happening to her. Nakano, as a tsundere type atleast gets a bit of physical revenge back though I did feel for her for the reasons mentioned earlier. Visually, Body Jack is mixed. The art and animation is typical of the 80s and I am unsure how much my dissatisfaction was due to the poor quality of the source. The colors are drab and washed out looking but the character designs, and the sex scenes are quite well done. One thing older anime typically does better than their modern counterpart is drawing realistically dimensioned female bodies. The music track is dated and boring. From the dull closing song to the background and incidental score which screams cheese. The acting is also not that inspired. Overall this is a very ordinary and below average show. Though you might feel a bit of nostalgia for the days of perverted teen comedies. If you absolutely must see every anime out there with sex in it then that’s about the only thing to recommend.