Enzai Episode 1
Reviewer: Suspect501 [email]Overall Rating: B+
Media Reviewed: Digital Fansub
Creator: Langmaor
U.S. Licensed: No
Released by: Langmaor
Run time: 25 minutes
BL Content: Very hard (sexual situations, non-consent, gang rape, censored genitals)
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Other media: English-licensed computer game [review]
You can find a very good, high quality fansub of this by Nakama Project via torrenting. It's in DivX AVI so make sure you have the latest version of DivX to play it.
The OAV is based on the yaoi text adventure game by Langmaor. The game itself is dark and violent, which is just how the OAV is. Those who are opposed to rape and fetish shouldn't view this, much less play the original game.
The episode opens to a young boy being strip searched and anal probed by a blonde prison warden. His name is Durer, but it's never mentioned here. In fact, we don't see him again after this scene.
Gaise is a young street runt who is caught by Guildias for stealing candy. Unfortunately for him, he ends up being convicted for murder. Through a fixed trial, Gaise is thrown into the harsh prison where he is gang raped after being tricked by a small boy named Io. We never see Io again either.
Halfway through, we are introduced to Evar and Valleida, fellow prisoners. Evar turns out to be a reporter who faked his own death but even more curious is how he seems to know Gaise's incompetent lawyer, Ruska. How, why and further development are not provided. We also see a shot or two of the mysterious Belbet who has incidentally been turned into a blonde. As before, we never see him again.
Guildias' intentions are somewhat revealed near the last ten minutes. It turns out he's quite the sadistic seme type. He intends to hold Gaise's friends as hostages so Gaise will become his sex toy. During sex, Guildias recalls the name 'Niuka' though who she is isn't explained. By logical deduction, I'd say she's the blonde girl we see somewhere in the beginning. For some reason, she knows Gaise on sight.
The episode ends with Gaise's hopes of escaping being dashed poetically by seeing a bird being shot down just as it clears the prison walls.
The animation itself is not fantastic. Think of the original Weiss Kreuz during the mid series drop in quality. Perhaps it's slightly better than that, but if you're expecting gorgeous 30 fps animation, be prepared to be disappointed. It's a pity, really, since the game had beautifully gothic art that was deliciously dark. Speaking of the game, it has the usual pixilated genitals and that had carried over into the anime.
Story-wise, it would seem dodgy to someone who hasn't played the game yet, like myself. As it was with Fish in a Trap, it seems to be more of an anime summary and teaser for the game. Still, it's a bit strange to have so many loose ends.
Even after two screenings, I'm not entirely sure where it's going, but if the purpose of this is to entice people to buy the game or eye candy for those who already have, it's certainly worth watching.
I must admit I'm intrigued.