Maji

“Maji” is a 3-episode OVA about a young man’s rise to prominence in the world of Japanese organized crime. Although it offers some interesting (albeit likely exaggerated) insight into that world, just about every aspect of this OVA ranges from subpar to offensive, and it’s difficult to sit through. The series centers on Motoki Shirogane, who goes by the name “Maji,” and begins with him as a young yakuza underling who, through a series of events, proves himself worthy of moving up in the ranks. This causes him to make both friends and enemies, the latter of which are the source of most of the show’sdrama, including turf wars, attempted and successful murders, and rapes. Meanwhile, Maji is in love with Kumiko, a stereotypically innocent high school girl. Once he becomes a full-fledged yakuza member, he refuses to meet with her for her own good, but is committed to protecting her and the town they live in from the shadows. The dramatic moments seem highly exaggerated and unrealistic. The police only show up a couple of times, but they don’t really do anything except give the gang members a slap on the wrist and let them go, even when people are murdered. There’s also a melodramatic subplot about blood transfusion, which plays out in a cliched and silly way. The characters age over the three episode runtime, particularly from the first to second episode, but there isn’t much character development. Maji makes the change from delinquent kid to yakuza gentleman rather quickly, and even gets a voice actor change. Kumiko is depicted as way too innocent/trusting — they make sure to emphasize her innocence by having her attend church and volunteer at an orphanage, and she doesn’t even realize that Maji is a yakuza member until he straight up tells her. Other characters that get at least a modicum of development are the yakuza members under Maji’s care, Maji’s mysterious “rival” from another gang who sometimes ends up helping him, and the head of their parent gang. The technical aspects of this OVA are subpar. The animation is not good at all. Sometimes the way objects (like cars) move looks unnatural, like they’re just sliding across the screen, and some of the shots are taken at odd angles. Some scenes and parts of scenes are reused. The character designs are bland. There's nothing appealing visually about this. The all-instrumental soundtrack is also lacking; it's incredibly boring and forgettable. The voice acting is not good; the dialogue is dull. There is significant objectionable content in this OVA. There are about three or four (depending on how you count) scenes of rape or attempted rape, all with nudity and no real consequences for the rapists. Also, since some of the gang members run an adult video shop, there’s a sex scene shown on tape, and some tape covers with nudity can be seen. As one would expect from an anime about organized crime, there’s lots of blood and violence, including a scene where part of a finger gets chopped off. I wouldn’t recommend watching “Maji” to anyone unless they have a keen interest in Japanese organized crime, and even then, I would hesitate to recommend this because of all of the subpar and objectionable elements. Also, as of this writing, there’s no English version available, so it’s not really accessible to the average non-Japanese speaker.

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