Psycho Diver

How do you grab somebody's attention... start off with some guy screaming at the top of his lungs before completely losing their head... splat!!! It worked for Psycho Diver: Soul Siren, so I hope it worked for me.

Yuki, a young pop-star is haunted by memories of her past, and is discovering she possesses psycho-kinetic powers she cannot control. Appearing on the scene, Bosujima, a class one psycho diver, which through advance technology and psychic abilities, dives into the minds of trouble souls for a clean-out. He takes Yuki's job on the side, a dangerous one because of her powers. Entering her soul he learns there are others who'll stop at nothing to control her fate.

Playing out like a moody, slightly techno sci-fi thriller garnished in strong noir atmospherics of dark shades and dingy silhouettes. It's one of those fuzzy, elaborate plots, where things are not quite what they seem, leading to murder and a deadly power struggle between two very dominant figures fighting for control of the girl. Caught in the middle is the sleuth-like Bosujima, who's chauvinistic to the core. A smooth talker when he wants to be, but more often fairly salty and getting into pyshical altercations. His career looks like it's weighing on his mind, but this latest one might just change his mindset for the better? The visuals can have a disturbing kick, as the intensity and emotions of certain scenes derives from its direction, even the score's mind field of soulful blues to industrial drones than anything to do with the plotting. The way it was edited, and how the dressed up images flashed across the screen (like the music video clip sequence) - I could see a De Palma influence in few scenes. While the concept of the psycho diver does play second fiddle to reality-based investigative groundwork and the behind-the-scenes manipulation of this job. I would've loved to see a surreal approach, especially the dreamscape trips. I was more interested in that element of the story then where it actually headed.

A "psycho diver" is somebody who can treat people with psychological problems by entering their inner world. When a female pop singer has a mental problem and feel she can't sing anymore, such a psycho diver is called for help. The case turns out to be unusual and dangerous...

"Psycho Diver" has not only a rather original story and characters in whose destiny the audience is really interested in. It also has a good visual style that is neither too freaky nor too dull, catchy music fitting into the story which is based on a singer, after all, dark atmosphere and even good dialogs. The hero's attitude towards his talent, navigating successfully through the stormy seas in other people's heads, is similar to the understatement of a film noir detective: it's a job that needs to be done, even if it is somewhat dirty. Certainly more sympathetic than a boasting genius. To sum it up, "Psycho Diver" is an excellent anime that, except for some unnecessary bloodshed, seemed not to have any weaknesses to me.

I thought this was pretty good and not bad for 48 minutes which I think the people who put this together did a good job of fitting the story in. I liked how it delved into mental problems also the concept was one of the Psycho Diver was one of the most interesting I saw in a while.

Also the protagonist Bosujima was interesting enough as were other characters surprisingly and the character development was pretty decent despite this OVA lasting 48 minutes.

All in all this was pretty good I liked the story, characters and the animation though my chief complaint was it was a bit short despite the good job they did of fitting it within the time and as far as I know as of this review they didn't make anymore anime either movie, series or OVA to which I felt there was potential.

Psycho Diver is like a mix between Inception and Scanners.The OVA is just about 48 minutes so the plot moving very fast but it packed with enough stuff to keep you interesting.It have all elements from sci-fi action thriller to horror but like most of other anime OVA the only issue is it too short.I like to know more about the characters and even when the anime end it still left behind many unanswered questions.I probably enjoy it more as a long series