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.
