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| A man of action. |
Now that the end of the year festivities are around the corner, nothing screams family entertainment like バイオレンスジャック , AKA, Violence Jack. Today's entry is based upon a certain manga, co-written and co-illustrated by legend Go Nagai since 1973, all the way to 2008. Considering how long its run has been, it's quite obvious to agree this is the Manga responsible for creating the post-apocalyptic setting that became a genre of its own. It's funny though, because Hokuto No Ken , which came years later, is usually deemed as the ultimate representation of Manimé and post nuclear war storytelling. Perhaps, making it less graphic and sexist, allowed Kenshiro to grow into the franchise it is today.
A set of sagas from the manga were adapted in three independent OVAs released in 1986, 1988 and 1990. These OVAs have been released in the USA, Italy, France, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. In some of these countries, the contents of the OVAs have caused censorship issues, while in Australia the second OVA was banned altogether. If you’re familiar with Go Nagai you know that he's known for having eroticism and violence in many of his works. Besides that though, he did end up creating some influential and creative titles like Cutey Honey and Mazinger Z just to name two of his works.
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| A Hero has to smile sometimes. |
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| Not good. |
Anyway, this is an 80’s adult themed OVA and is known as one of the most grotesque, sadistic and cruel anime made in the 80s, and believe you me, there were many of those made in the 80s, and we have covered a few of them here in the past. As you can imagine, the story takes place in a grim post apocalyptic setting. after a massive earthquake (which in the OVAs was triggered by a Comet strike) dubbed 'The Great Kanto Hellquake'. Cut off from the rest of the world, the survivors of the disaster are divided between the strong and the weak, and the land becomes a haven for criminals and renegades from around the world. Violence Jack is uncovered among the rubble and demolished granite by the inhabitants of a ruined city, asking him to help the weak people and helping them destroy what, in most cases, are the strong groups commanded by killers and rapists (this is the story line of "Violence Jack: Evil Town"). In the three OVAs, Jack is requested to help different groups, such as the Zone A (later he ends up helping Zone C women) or a small town, as shown in "Hell's Wind". As for the manga, the stories change drastically, the first being the story of Violence Jack helping a group of female models in a tropical forest in Kanto by possessing a boy living in said forest in order to fight off a roving tribe of bandits. Although Jack maintains a ruthless facade, he often helps the weak, and expects nothing in return. However, Jack's unpredictable nature means that bystanders get injured or even killed on occasion as a consequence of his vicious fighting style.
Jack himself is some sort of Giant who always happens to be in the neighborhood during these attrocities. He's quite obviously very strong and he always sides with the weak, but it doesn’t seem like he really wants to. It just looks like he’s doing them a favor or something. Even though I guess he has some sense of justice in him. Besides that though, he’s just a bland heavy dude as far as the anime is concerned because we don’t even find out who he is, since this is an incomplete adaption of the source material. Besides, he doesn't talk much, so the mystery remains.
The rest of the characters are either just there to die and for you to feel sorry for, or completely evil and sadistic people you’re gonna hope to see die miserably. There’s not much else, really. Most of them don’t have any back-story (with an exception or two) and none of them are particularly focused on, or alive long enough to develop so there’s no point in talking about them much.
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| This isn't your Saturday morning Jem. |
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| Size matters. |
But, who is Violence Jack?
He is a complete mystery to those who have encountered him. He is often described being 7 to 10 feet tall with the muscles of a gorilla, the fangs of a wolf, and having burning primordial eyes. The man called Violence Jack had his name given to him for his unpredictable, violent nature and for his signature weapon, a large foldout jack-knife that he conceals and sometimes brandishes whenever necessary.
Having appeared out of nowhere after the Great Kanto Hell Quake, Jack wanders throughout Kanto, often picking street fights with those he sees as a threat to Kanto. He often helps those who are weaker than him who are preyed upon by violent nomads and criminals who scour Kanto. Although Jack is described as human, he is often the focal point of strange phenomena that occurs in Kanto. Often when he is finished helping the weak, he will suddenly vanish without a trace of him ever actually being there.
Many of the towns he visits are often subjected to mysterious earthquakes that occur during or after his arrival. His presence alone sometimes incites those he is around to become violent and seek to attack him.
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| This isn't what it looks like. |
While Jack is a man of a few words, he uses violence to solve problems caused by violence. After all, it's a futuristic world with no rules. If you want to go philosophical about it, Violence Jack is once again another Animé dealing with sexist culture and its grotesque results if left unsupervised. Everything you see in the three OVAs is seen from a sexist perspective where men are the leads, and women are mere diversions. While it's true the last chapter features a stronger woman seeking revenge, she still has to rely on a man to get the job done, and get humiliated by men in doing so. My point is, don't take it too seriously if you plan to watch it for the first time, or rewatch it after a long time. Most of these made for home videos were made in a time where it was cheap & profitable to make them. The shock value was intentionally added, to separate them from your usual Saturday morning cartoons. They wanted to get your attention. And they did. Now, if you insist on trying to find some value in Violence Jack, I'd say it pretty much describes how society has been for decades.
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| This is how Violence Jack was promoted. |
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| Shut up! you little shit! |
Much like what we'd seen years before on the Fist Of The North Star animé. Each OVA revolves around the aftermath of some disastrous event in Japan and as a result, the strong people take advantage of the situation and persecute the weak. And we (the audience) get to witness that, with all the Gory details. Sure, it involves themes like anarchy, lawlessness, corrupt politicians and policemen, and how some people might behave in such situations, their presence is merely to justify what comes next with all the damage they cause, and how only a mysterious over powered man can turn the tables and bring bloody violent, yet fair, revenge in favor of the weak and the abused.
Production values are somewhat good for its time. The soundtrack is a combination of what now has been dubbed as "City Pop" and some hard rock songs very much in the line of what was trending in Japan those days. but it’s quite creepy and fitting most of the time. Sound effects and seiyu acting are great examples of the decade where the OVAs were made, meaning they're great. The character designs aren’t very pretty and neither are the colors, but they are mostly detailed. Character and background animation are the standard for the genre. The three OVAs were released on Blu-ray Disc some time ago, and I highly recommend it. The HD work makes it look brand new, and it comes with a lot of supplemental material.
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| Kids love violence! |
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| An eye stab? |
Now let's got for quick review of each episode:
Volume 1: Harlem Bomber (1986)- This one has an earthquake, after which, a man kidnaps women and turns them in to sex slaves in addition to going after our hero, Violence Jack. Did I mention that this is the tamer one of the three? Yep, at this point the violence seems pretty basic for an 80’s gore OVA. Besides nudity and sex, there’s nothing here you haven’t seen somewhere else. The story was both meh and also paced badly, it seems messy and rushed, although I'm sure some people might have liked it enough for the producers to continue with two extra volumes.
The story is basically about a wasteland ruled by bike gangs and a sociopath anti-hero that brutally kills them all. Jack is causing trouble for a
gang called The Slum Lords and the boss is obsessed with killing Jack.
One the gang's enforcers helps gather up young women to force into
sexual slavery, but he suddenly grows a conscience when one of the girls
is his ex-girlfriend. He tries to free the girl, but is caught by the
boss of the Slum Lords. The boss will only let him go if he can, of
course, kill Violence Jack.
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| Violence Jack is here! |
Volume 2: Evil Town (1988)- Now this is the story that made Violence Jack as infamous as it still is. After another natural disaster, people go underground and separate in to 3 groups. One group consists of people who just want to find a way to survive, another group has women only (from fear of getting raped) and the third is a group of vicious thugs lead by a transvestite and his Giant lover. As you can probably guess, this is the volume that gave Violence Jack the reputation it still has. Both men group are equally grotesque and perverted. While some women can defend themselves, they're outnumbered and most of them end up raped and dead. While there are worse graphic examples of this in other Animé, these scenes are unnecessarily long, not to mention the graphic violence that women and even children face on screen.
Like the previous OVA, Evil Town
excels at showing carnage and intestines. The blood and gore is far
more realistic than most other old anime. People are actually filled
with organs, guts, and bone fragments instead of just red paint. One
thing I found hilarious was that the artist really loves to draw tits,
but sucks at drawing them. The nipples are placed at random locations
that seem to change in every shot. It would be easier to predict the
exact location of an electron orbiting an atom (and its momentum) than
predict where the nipple is going to show up next. At least Heisenberg
would enjoy this anime, because it would give him the excuse to make
another long math formula. If you didn't get that last joke...go take a
physics course.
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| The future is evil. |
Volume 3: Hell's Wind (1990)- It takes place in a peaceful town somewhere in the wastelands and its quickly attacked by a motorcycle gang. This one is basically like an average HnK episode. But wait, there’s actually a notable character in this one that has some background and a proper motivation (hurray!). The character is a muscular chick with scars on her face and body (she’s really hot btw, they rarely make anime chicks like this nowadays) and we witness her lover being torn to pieces in front of her in the beginning of the episode. As a result she’s out for revenge. Not as insane as Vol’ 2 but still very gruesome at points.
If you happen to live in a poorer and
under-served portion of the wasteland, you get officer Jack as your
defender. Unfortunately, Jack's
response time is the worst. He will never get there in
time to prevent a rape or a murder. However, he will at least brutally
stab the assailants to death with his Jack Knife. Sure he always stops to get that cheeseburger rather than getting
to the crime scene on time, but at least he only kills criminals that
committed a serious crime. Every person that Jack
kills is armed at the time he kills them. Jack doesn't kill petty
criminals who run in fear of his manly sideburns by lazily shooting them
because he doesn't feel like giving chase, or breaking their cervical
spines. Jack would never accidentally choke a man to death for selling
loose cigarettes on the street because he wanted to "show off" to his
drinking buddies.
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| What were they thinking in Evil Town? |
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| Sex & violence always sell. |
Overall, Violence Jack suffers from not having enough time to develop good story telling. Three OVAs that run for two hours and a half are nowhere near decades of Manga publications. However, the essentials are here and you can clearly understand why his name is Violence. Made in a decade that wanted to make as much money as possible, all these crazy OVAs are a reflection of the 1980s fear of the future based on the cold war and cyberpunk ultra violence. Definitely not for the faint of the heart, or for those who can't see this is a fictional work.
