Enemies of the State: the Films and Filmmakers of the Underground — Part 7 “OVAs”

While the majority of the genres we have so far covered reached Zenith in the 1970s, flanderizing into unexciting self-parody just over a decade hence, tonight’s article will cover a wave of Anime films that released in, and are unequivocal products of, the 1980s.

EXPLOITATION CIRCA 1980

Circa 1969 there was an untapped market in taboo. Hollywood was confined to various code-of-ethics that had made little progress since their aversion to photographing a toilet in Hitchcock's Psycho. Yet the average movie-goer, the average participant in culture, was growing aroused by the sexual revolution happening the world over, and searched for a cinema that both reflected and pushed this shift in culture. Exploitation films were made in direct answer to their query. Providing them with the squib-soaked Italian Westerns and the collegiate sexcapades of the Cheerleader film. However, by the 1980s, films of extreme sex and violence could be found in your local cinema and discussed at the water cooler — Robocop, Fatal Attraction, et al. Exploitation cinema then shifted and became more radicalized in order to compete. What might have previously been made as a moderately explicit sex comedy for the drive-in, was instead made as a direct-to-VHS porno for the home market. In Japan, this led to the creation of OVAs (original video animation), i.e., anime marketed towards adults but made for the market of anyone older than 13.

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O (original) V (video) A (animation)

Much like in 70s America, in Japan there was demand for Adult Anime. Because OVA were not broadcast on TV, there was no censor to inhibit their content — within the limitations of Japan's federal laws: nothing should be visible below pubic hair. And, because they were not broadcast on TV, instead being released as 80 minute features, they were given a higher budget on top of more creative control. Many directors of OVA were allowed to explore niche subjects or experimental formats for their films, making the genre a rather potent sandbox that trained a lot of now celebrated directors: Mamoru Oshii (AKIRA); Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion); Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue); et al. The products themselves are direct reflections of this freedom, being bombastically violent and erotic.

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GOLGO 13: THE PROFESSIONAL (1983) — Osamu Dezaki

Golgo 13 is a mesomorphic, strong-silent hitman, whose dogged hunter-prey pursuit of targets is second only to his Bond-esq, equally dogged, pursuit of women. These two facets of his character, action and sex, make up the body of the film and, as we will see, most OVA films. The cinematography is slick, with the high-contrast shadow-play of noir elevating the rampant shots of Golgo’s naked girls into something artfully sexy, rather than something explicitly pornographic. Golgo 13 released in the U.S in ‘92, garnering criticism for a scene of excessive sexual assault. A prevalent theme of OVAs is the line between too-far and not-far-enough.

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Continue reading in Premium and discover an extensive portrait of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, considered one of Japan’s best anime directors, more on OVA classics: WICKED CITY (1987) — Yoshiaki Kawajiri, GOKU MIDNIGHT EYE (1989) — Yoshiaki Kawajiri, NINJA SCROLL (1993) — Yoshiaki Kawajiri, UROTSUKIDOJI: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND (1989) — Hideki Takayama, including no less than 122 arousing images, and MUCH more...

Click HERE for the article Erotism and Pornography In Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend by Toshio Maeda

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