One of the earliest 'hentais' to make it state side, this helped spark the uber obsession America's geeks have with anime. Featuring graphic violence, explicit sex and an adult-themed apocalypse story, this is one of anime's best offerings.

The world, it seems, is divided in to 3 parts. The human world, the beast world and the demon world. Demons being evil, beast being good, and humans caught in the middle. An ancient prophecy speaks of a creature, called the Overfiend, which will be born of man and will bring either peace or destruction to the three realms. The race is on to find it's vessel on Earth and harness it's potential power.

The story has more than it's fare share of fantasy and horror, it seeks to balance the two elements and does a nice job of it. But the main reason most people will watch this is the same reason I did: anime-sex. For inexplicable reasons that stuff is just plain hot, probably because they do things in the medium one would never see in a live action film.

The sored acts include all manners of regular sexual activity all the way up to tentacle rape. Yes, I said tentacle rape. However, unlike most other products of it's kind the sex doesn't feel like cheap excess nor does it come off as the only viewing point. Graphic (often fully explicit) though it may be, it serves a purpose with in the larger story. Rather than a stopping point it furthers the action.

Horror purists will be happy to know that mixed in with the sex and fantasy elements is a healthy dose of horror, J-pop style. Dr. Suess-inspired underworlds, great creature designs, and gobs of spilt hemoglobin. The ultimate conclusion is a little hard to get past at first (as with many J-horror films), but it still wraps up nicely.

Anime fans, horror geeks, and the rain-coat crowd should definitely seeks this one out.

9/10

Wow, if you're reading this review; you've probably heard all the hype and controversy surrounding this movie and to tell the truth it deserves it. From the first 10 minutes of a female teacher turning into a demon and raping a student, to orgies to sodomy to some graphic depictions of violence; this film is an endurance test for a movie-going novice. I enjoyed this first segment in the series, I think the 2nd one (Legend of the Demon Womb) was slightly better, but they are both better than any other in the series including RETURN OF THE OVERFIEND or INFERNO ROAD. The later in the series, the more confusing and stupid it gets. Don't say you weren't warned!

This movie is prevalent with scene's of extreme sex and sadistic violence. Women / Girls are repeatedly raped through every orifice by what appear to be huge tentacle penises, causing their body to violently erupt into bloody pieces. Penises that are miles long and fire a constant stream of projectile semen more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Japan during WWII. Creatures with more penises than fingers. Slashing, dicing, ripping, beating, decapitation and raping of women / girls. This is NOT animated afternoon fun for the children, or even adults with any morals. To sit through this amazing animated adventure, and the others in the series, one must throw any sense of morality outta the window....

From the opening credits with the picture of a red-skinned demons, every muscle group shaded, doing what you might imagine demons to do with an ominous narration about the legend of the Overfiend (also known as the CHOJIN) and the collapse of the three worlds in the background, the story is completely entertaining. These opening credits also serve as a good warning as to the adult content of the rest of the movie - if you are already feeling queasy or covering your eyes, I recommend you avoid anything in this genre.

The characters are fully developed throughout the film, changing over time as one might expect with the sudden addition of paranormal forces into their ordinary lives. It is a story of love, war, desperation, misunderstanding and ultimately change, following the lives of children becoming adults in a world where demons, super-humans and gods can interact with humans on a very intimate level.

In the beginning of the actual story, a sharp contrast is drawn between the demon world experienced in the prologue and the brightly lit world of the humans. Nagumo is a silly pubescent Japanese high school kid, whom enjoys peeping into the female locker room, obsessed with the girls in his school and enamored by a beautiful Japanese cheerleader named Akemi. Akemi is a carefree, smiling girl-next-door in these opening scenes, when she is summoned in for a conference with a teacher, the true horror begins. The teacher, a Ms. Togami, turns out to be a Makai, a demon from one of the three realms explained in the opening narrative. This is the audiences first introduction to Amano Jyaku, the 300 year old anti-hero from the world of the Jyujin-kai, or "man-beasts", battling the now demonic - Ms. Togami.

From here the story takes off as Amano Jyaku and his sister Megumi search for the Chojin, each following a different character. Nagumo is Megumi's pick, although he seems a small and weak introvert compared to the star basketball player Ozaki (his complete opposite), whom Amano is convinced is the true Chojin, an thus decides to pursue. The story follows the lives of the characters, and although there are strong scenes of extreme violence and rape, none are excessive or distracting from the plot. The violence that surrounds the characters is what drives them, it is the force that promotes the changes necessary to live in the ever changing world of the story itself. A lot would be lost to this story were the violence to be removed or even toned down. However, keep in mind, that it is strongly present before watching this movie, or showing it to others.

To tell any more of the plot would reveal entirely too much of the story. Much of the enjoyment is following Amano and Megumi on their 300 year closing quest for the all powerful Chojin, a search which leads them to a shockingly unexpected conclusion.

If you can forgive the English dubbing (I recommend watching this with subtitles if you can locate the uncut PERFECT COLLECTION DVD), it's a classic piece of Japanese animation.

Not for the faint hearted or easily offended....or those of a nervous disposition.