Maryuu Senki

I've read some of the reviews on this little 80s OVA gore fest and having watched it for myself, I honestly don't think it deserves the hate it's received. Not to say that it's one of the greatest animes to come out of the OVA boom of the 80s. Beginning in 1987 and being the sole directorial work of Hiroaki Oogami, Maryuu Senki a.k.a. Evil Dragon War Chronicles is pretty much your typical ultra violence title of the OVA boom ment to push the boundaries of what television broadcast standards would deem unacceptable. It's an anime that would have been easy pickings for western animedistributors of the early 90s such as the UK's Manga Entertainment, who were mostly looking for anything involving sex and violence that they could market to Britain's Beer & Curry crowd. In other words, teenage boys and young adult men. Oddly enough, the OVA would not receive any form of official release outside of Japan and hasn't even so much as recived any form of DVD or Blu-Ray with it's only form of disc based media release being laser disc. Although, this was likely due to it not selling well in Japan which may or may not have been attributed to it being part of the Pink Noise series of OVAs which consisted of titles such as supernatural horror/bawdy sex comedy Call Me Tonight and the tokusatsu Metal Hero inspired one shot OVA Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon, none of which sold well either. It also doesn't help that it suffered from production issues such as a change in hands from AIC to Bandai Visual which left the series stuck in limbo until 1989 where it was finally competed, resulting in the original story treatment for part 2 being scrapped (part 1 ends with a preview of part 2 that shows scenes that don't appear in part 2 at all). Centuries ago in ancient Japan, a cult a shamans called the Kido ruled the country from the shadows. Although hunted down and exterminated by those who feared their power, a small group of their number managed to survive and hoped to regain their power by performing a dark ritual to summon the Four Sacred Beasts into human bodies. Now it's 1989 and the Kido have once again risen to attempt the ritual again in Shinjuku, Tokyo and are searching for the reincarnation of Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird of the South to complete the ritual under the command of their leader, shady businessman Miki Chiyoe who is the reincarnation of Seiryu, the Azure Dragon of the East. Chiyoe has discovered that sculptor and martial artist Kyoichi Hiyu, the anime's protagonist is the human reincarnation of Byakko, the White Tiger of the West and believes he may be connected to the other two Sacred Beasts. Gendo, a monk who is also Hiyu's grandfather and sensei is the reincarnation of Genbu, the Black Tortoise of the North and Hiyu's girlfriend Shiho Murase is the reincarnation of Suzaku, who Chiyoe is looking for. And so begins a race to protect Shiho from Chiyoe in order to prevent him from carrying out the dark ritual that will restore the Kido cult to power leading to carnage and bloody battles against some terrifying demonic creatures. And when I say bloody battles, I mean bloody! Okay, so the story may not exactly be anything special but it's still pretty solid for the most part being a typical good vs evil story where our heroes are mere mortal humans who happen to possess extraordinary abilities while the villains are demonic entities with otherworldly powers, packing suspense while offering plenty of tension fuelled action. Sadly, characters don't really get much in the way of development, if any at all. The animation is also pretty good, if suffering from some issues in some places. However, where the anime really shines it's it's art style, especially in part 1 which looks outstanding and has some amazing attention to detail. Part 2 is where the change in the production company can definitely be felt as not only do we get a change in art style but in character design as well, some of the design changes being more noticeable than others. Although the animation does get some improvement over the first part. Oh, and I hope you have a least some knowledge of the Four Heavenly Beasts of Chinese mythology because you're gonna need it while watching this anime Maryuu Senki is not an anime without it's flaws, of which there are a lot. On the other hand, it's not a bad little OVA and it certainly doesn't deserve to be relegated to total obscurity. The story is pretty decent and packs tension while the animation and art are a feast for the eyes. Apparently, Yoshiaki Kawajiri was such a fan of the first OVA that would use it as inspiration for his own OVA feature, Demon City Shinjuku in 1988. If you're a fan of 80s horror movies that are heavy on blood and gore looking for a solid late night horror title, then get yourself a curry, crack open a beer and give this a shot.

In my perspective, this anime lacks coherence and fails to establish a strong narrative foundation. To begin with, the story stats with a seemingly random scene that bears no relevance to the subsequent chapters. The characters are unengaging, with an absence of substantial context regarding their identities, occupations, or the underlying motivations of the antagonists and protagonists. This results in a perplexing viewing experience. Personally, I found no enjoyment in this anime at any point, and I am uncertain how I managed to endure it in its entirety. Each episode appears disjointed, resembling disparate tales that fail to interconnect logically. One noteworthy aspect worth mentioning isthe character design, particularly that of the antagonist who bears a striking resemblance to a twink vampire. However, this singular positive attribute does not redeem the overall lackluster quality of the OVA. I would refrain from recommending this anime unless someone wants to waste their time.

Merchandise

Links may contain affiliate references

Studio

Producers

Themes