Editor's Note:
Originally published on June 6th 2019 with a few revisions as of June 1st 2024 in honor of the Manga's 40th anniversary.
Let's take a trip back in time like say, 35 years ago when the Japanese medium, known as Anime has yet to make it's big splash within the United States, until the mid nineties.
Although many were aware of the animated form, most of the Movies, and TV series were bootleg VHS tapes sold via underground markets due to scarcity issues and worse, they were very expensive af!
A 40 minute program called Original Video Animation or "OVA" for short, could set you back around $30-$40 adjusted for inflation.
OVAs are basically brief movies or an "extended episode" since the time window is roughly well over 30 minutes and while some are complete stories with a finite ending, others were 3 to 6 part episodic segments.
Now, within the various genres offered by OVAs, i.e. Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy and Comedy just to name a few. However, there was this little Subgenre that contained contents of gratuitous violence, as in disemboweled bodies, exploding heads and severed limbs which ironically, began with the animated feature adaptation of Hoto No Ken, or referred to in America as Fist of the Northstar!
Splatterpunk, a term coined by Author David J. Schow, was
a movement within horror fiction in the 1980s, distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence, counter-cultural alignment and "hyperintense horror, baring no limits." Although this movement was originally defined by mostly Horror films of old, the same can be applied to Japanese Animation even without weighing the burdens of Horror tropes.
The gory violence is enough to place my favorite pick within this category so in honor of its 40th Anniversary, let's talk about 1989's Baoh the Visitor!
Created by Hirohiko Araki prior to his breakout series, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Baoh is an animated adaptation of the Weekly Shonen Jump Manga, centering around Ikuro Hashizawa, a 17 year old boy who after surviving a near fatal car accident, is "elected" to be some test subject for the scientific organization Called Doress, spearheaded by Professor Kasuminome, your archetypal mad scientist.
Kasuminone injects Ikuro's brain with a worm like parasite, sounds familiar? Baoh, is the acronym for Biological Armament On Help, which is Doress's biggest experiment and if proven successful the shady organization will produce more of these for "weapons of mass destruction " marketing.
When the deprivation tank used to contain Ikuro is accidentally opened, the teenager escapes, and with Doress having their prized possession loose into the public, he is now marked for termination by mercenaries and even cyborgs!
But are they a match for a 6 ft unstoppable biological killing machine armed with blade like appendages, rail gun like particles that shoot from his hair, electricity, superhuman, strength, speed and a regenerative healing factor?
While part of Baoh's plot is comparable to Stephen King's Firestarter, especially in regards to Ikuro's traveling companion, Sumrie, a 6 year old girl who has psychic powers and her pet Nuroto on the run,with Walken a Native American adversary who is reminiscent to George C. Scott's character John Rainbird however, this OVA is an on the rails Seek and Destroy Superhero adventure, yet Baoh is the one who "destroys."
And destroy he does, as the series is unabashed when embracing ultraviolence from face meltings, decapitations, a body getting slammed through concrete with a hanging eye socket afterwards, burnings and exploding heads-Fulci and Cronenberg fans will eat this shit up!
The dialogue can be cringe as I'm b movie tropes at times, when you have the not-so good Doctor being nominated for the "Captain Obvious" award, when he is very impressed by Ikuro’s special abilities whether it’s his " electrical field" or "Baoh has a laser Cannon" followed by Kurisumie cheering him on when yelling "Baoh, break, dark thunder"!!
But these reactionary lines continue in other series i.e. Robert E. Speedwagon from Jo Jo's Bizzare Adventure often mentions an event or special combat move. It seems that Araki likes to reuse his earlier tropes in succeeding anime as demonstrated in Jo Jo's Bizarre, i.e. decapitation of doggies, which is another one of his signature trademarks. RIP Iggy the Fool.Iggy the Fool.
Studio Perriot has a flair for stylized action and storyboards, one example I can recall is when Ikuro first begins his transformation after being stabbed in brutal fashion by one of Colonel Dorudo's assassins. Baoh leaps in the air while performing a somersault, lands atop of the assailant's car, creating an opening and just melts his face like the Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Ark! Then there’s Ikruoo instantly changing into Baoh while performing Captain America somersaults, a swan dive, and especially his phenomenon moves if not outrunning Walken's psychic waves.
Yet one of my favorite scenes takes place during Baoh’s 2nd Phenomenon ,when our hero is peppered by bullets, he seemed unfazed while walking like a Zombie as if being possessed by the parasite demonstrate how much of a threat Baoh can become to Doress.
While this OVA may seem unimpressive to some, I can see the ambition and appreciate the little things.
Baoh's soundtrack is engaging sure it’s no big standout, but still a good listen.
In truth, Baoh falls more in line with "Biopunk" than Splatterpunk when you remove the blood and gore factor. The subgenre itself for the most part, refers to Science fiction media, that entails biological experimentation gone awry. The metaphor in its simplicity demonstrates what can happen when Man opens the Pandora box of genetic engineering, only to have the results of their curiosity, not go in their favor.
That is the core of Baoh's narrative.
My only gripe was that it was too damn short as with most OVAs leaving many of us wanting more.
Once the credits roll, its officially a wrap and in my opinion, Baoh should've at least had 2 more episodes, instead of an introductory tale. And speaking of credits, the film’s ending theme "Soldier" serves as a prodigious way to close out the 48 min feature thanks to the optimistic post credits scene which to be honest, was the first time I experienced. Yeah, sure Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 1987's Masters of the Universe did it first, but Baoh is at least the first Anime which featured a post credits sting.
In truth, Baoh falls more in line with "Biopunk" than Splatterpunk when you remove the blood and gore factor. The genre Biopunk, refers to Science fiction media, that entails biological experimentation gone awry for the most part. The metaphors of what happens when Man opens the Pandora box of science, only to have the results of their curiosity turn against them.
This is somewhat the core of Baoh's narrative. Simplistic in theory, yet compelling in execution!
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Despite how many elitist snobs or gatekeepers, yes I'm pointing at Anime News Network and Bennett the Sage, I can appreciate the OVA for what it is, not what it could have been.
If I want heavy handed anime with philosophical themes, I'll go watch Evangelion.That said, If you can embrace its sci fi body horror camp, with blood gushing gore, and a one shot ova to check your brain at the door, then Baoh is for you.
The DVD was released in the states in 2001 but nowadays it's hard to find that is unless you have $300 to spare.
In the meantime you can play as Ikuro Hashizawa in the Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle available for Xbox Series X PS5 and PC.
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