Bio Hunter: Les démons de la chair

Demon virus busters!!! This OVA follows a routine narrative structure, yet the inner workings of Yoshiaki Kawajiri's punchy writing dynamics establishes engrossing core characters, draws upon mythical meditation counterbalanced by scientific lore and gruesome horror escalating into a whirlwind of dazzling inner demons wanting to breakout. And some do in grisly fashion! How these aspects arrive and come together, gel perfectly with director Yuzo Sato's eye for details and story pacing. Never once did my interest dip, because I was so invested in the on-screen interactions and metaphysical tailoring. It was well-written with moments of snappy banter and a strong basis, which never succumbs to any sort of tawdriness, or complexity.

Two molecular biologists, Komada and Koshigaya have day jobs lecturing at a university, but on the side they're self-proclaimed bio-hunters who track-down, or receive call-outs to those who are infected by the unusual demon virus that transforms humans into hungry demons with special powers. Soon they find themselves dealing with a mysterious lady, who somehow shares a connection with a mighty strong demon terrorising the night streets of a Tokyo ripping open young women to devour their livers.

The fascinating facet here, is that Komada happens to be half-human, half-demon, as he was infected by the demon virus. However his human qualities are able to control the hunger of his demon side, not without some growing pains, but in spite of it, this ability can help him sense out demons which makes it easy for the duo to do their jobs. It gave the character another dimension to work off, especially his inner battle over his responsibility to this infliction and desire to live a normal life. The final image, after the insane encounter with the chief demon, tentacles and all. Had him walking away from possible happiness painting the heartache, but also the fear of what he is, hanging over his head. His needs, while there, aren't important, as the dedication to his work is his safeguard. And the otherworldly experience brought upon by the final demon encounter heightened those senses to shut himself away.

I really enjoyed the interesting combination, and character shades between Komada and Koshigaya, as I found it to overshadow everything else. Yep, even the nasty demons and their messy aftermath. This included the strong opening and closing sequences. Whenever the demons are on the screen, the way the virus attacks the human genetic code causing the infected to morph, or grow monstrous deformities with a life of its own had me thinking of a few of Rob Bottin's practical effects from The Thing. It's just uncanny. Well, excluding Komada's demon transformation, which is a neat looking design. The music score hits all the right notes, at times, quite haunting and the animation looks good. I just wish it was longer.

In Japanese Anime' director Yuzo Sato's "Biohunter," the greatest enemy is that of within: a strange virus is infecting the human genetic code and turning people into bizarre monsters who have demonic powers. One of these mutant creatures is prowling the streets of Tokyo, killing young women and devouring their livers. Two scientists, dubbed "biohunters," are out there trying to get a handle on the "Demon Virus," as it is called, before it conquers the whole world.

One of these scientists, Komada, is infected with the virus, but something in his immune system prevents it from fully taking control of him. He can transform into a beastly creature at will, but it's easy to see that he's loosing the battle for his soul, and it's up to him and his partner Koshigaya to try to find a cure. Along the way, they meet a beautiful young woman who is being chased by some political/mafioso types because her uncle is a famed psychic with a unique knowledge of the murders plaguing Tokyo.

Based on the comic book by Fujihiko Hosono and written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, Wicked City), "Biohunter" contains the usual elements of Kawajiri's past work including Asian spirituality and stylish writing. There is plenty of sex (the film opens with a graphic sex scene where a woman suddenly contracts the Demon Virus and attacks her lover) and nudity, and the violence is well up there, even though strangely enough "Biohunter" is restrained in this particular aspect.

The main problem with "Biohunter" is that it's just too short, coming in at barely 58 minutes in running time. So much happens during this picture that a lot is left unexplained to the viewer, which may be an even greater turn-off to those not accustomed to Japanese animation. It sort of gets to a point where things are happening, you don't know why, and you're just going along with the movie. I was seriously disappointed with this film's length, even though there is a lot working in its favor (mainly the big names behind the production), and the animation is fantastic.

But "Biohunter" is squarely reserved for die hard Anime' addicts. And as the ending shows, more is on the way, though I have not heard a peep about a "Biohunter 2" or "Biohunter: The Series."

6/10

The Guyver ('80s) and Wicked City are similar and do manage to hold my attention. This could've been a 20-minute episode.

Coming from the same man who gave us 'Wicked City' and 'Ninja scroll' it shouldn't be at all surprising that this OVA is full of explicit sex, graphic extreme violence, and gnarly creature designs. More generally, as a work of Japanese animation it's not at all surprising that the artists have given us incredible detail and texture, lighting and shading, and effects in everything from the backgrounds to animated elements including characters and creatures. Even the most state-of-the-art animation from other industries has a hard time comparing, and for that matter too many live-action films struggle to be as rich, exciting, and captivating in their visuals compared to what we routinely see in any iteration of anime. This is to say nothing of Amano Masamichi's stupendous original score, wonderfully dynamic, searing, and flavorful in complementing the proceedings at all times; bountiful and fetching sound effects; or excellent, expressive voice acting that ably meets the needs of the storytelling. Putting aside the nature of the material, the fundamental viewing experience of 'Bio hunter' is very easy on the eyes and ears, and it's so sharply made, including editing, that it's hard to argue about how terrific and entertaining it is, and a fine credit to filmmaker Sato Yuzo.

Of course, the other half of the equation is the writing, Kawajiri Yoshiaki's adaptation of Hosono Fujihiko's manga. Here, too, however, I find the picture to be a great success, for the tale on hand is highly engaging, absorbing, and satisfying, if also plainly disturbing. Even over the abbreviated runtime of sixty minutes a gratifying amount of careful minutiae was poured into the narrative and scene writing to round out a story of horror, science fiction, and fantasy: demonic possession in the form of a virus, monstrous transformations, easy infection and corruption in halls of power, and loose, covert organizations that fight the terrors of the night. Albeit in a different manner, there's really just as much detail in the writing as there is in the animation; just as much to the point, diminutive though the length may be, the plot is complete and compelling. One does wish, perhaps, that the feature were longer, expanded upon so as to provide more thrills, even more action and horror, and more of the ghastly creature designs that make this the minor gem it is - but even at that the sum total is marvelously, darkly fun and invigorating, exactly what we want out of such genre fare. 'Bio hunter' is succinct and concise, and there's a wisdom in that, too.

For the nature of the material and the sheer intensity of the violence this won't be for everyone, but anyone with an appreciation for horror is sure to have a blast. It's wild, outright grotesque, and borderline exploitative, but also superbly animated and written, and all around fantastic. It's not anything one needs to go out of their way to see, but if this is the type of movie that's up your alley and you do have an opportunity to watch, at only one hour long 'Bio hunter' is well worth checking out.

I remember owning this 1995 Anime on VHS tape back in the day, and thus as I had the opportunity to sit down here in 2023 and watch it again digitally, of course I so. However, I have to admit that I had forgotten entirely about the storyline of this Anime, I only remembered it by its title.

The storyline in "Baio Hantâ" (aka "Bio Hunter") was quite good. It is a storyline for a mature audience, given the horror elements and the whole concept of the plot. So I think writers Fujihiko Hosono, Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Naoko Takahashi put together something quite good back then.

Visually then "Baio Hantâ" is adequately holding up still today, though I wasn't overly keen on the way that the faces were drawn in general. But that was a minor detail really. The art style was good and the animation was good.

I sat through an English dubbed version, both back in the late 1990s and again here in 2023. I am not overly keen on dubbing, as I prefer the original language to whatever I am watching. But the voice acting in the dubbing was adequate here, which counted for something.

"Baio Hantâ" is definitely well-worth checking out if you enjoy horror-laced entertainment.

My rating of "Baio Hantâ" lands on a six out of ten stars.