Baoh the Caller

Baoh the Caller, called Baoh the Visitor when I watched it back in the 90s, is a true classic of the era and the genre. It's a true memory of what used to be, as opposed to modern anime, and it really shows just what anime used to be. It's exciting and beautifully animated, and when you see the hero striking a pose before shooting lightning bolts from his hands...you know INSTANTLY where it came from. This isn't a spoiler, but unlike some other "screaming and shooting lasers" anime like DBZ, when Baoh roars it sounds less like a roar and more like a man in an echoing room howling! Absolute classic. 90s anime-cool designs and great fight scenes, especially the English Dub. Ah, the memories...

Awkwardly, for as finely made as this is all around, some otherwise admirable aspects arguably work against the whole. There's nothing wrong with the character of Sumire, except that unless a writer or filmmaker is willing to go extra dark, having a child as a supporting character inherently lightens the tone. Namba Hiroyuki's music is flavorful and enjoyable in and of itself, but similarly carries itself with too light a tenor. The same verbiage could be applied to Yokoyama Hiroyuki's otherwise firm direction, let alone the manga stylization that uses on-screen text to name the various abilities that the superpowered characters utilize. I'll grant that this OVA is so incredibly violent and gnarly as it is that it may have actually been necessary to reduce the overall effect just so the sum total could be palatable. Still, in a story of horror, sci-fi, and action that almost makes 'Akira' seem tame, and of experimentation and inhuman transformation, I think the whole may have been stronger if all involved had fully embraced the most grim and sinister possibilities and followed that thread wherever it may lead. In fairness, this may stem just as well from Araki Hirohiko's manga, or from Terada Kenji's adaptation, but here we are.

So yes, some creative choices had a dampening effect, and moreover, the saga as it presents in adaptation pointedly feels like only collected fragments of the entirety it should be. Be that as it may, the narrative is complete, and compelling, and the scene writing is gritty and vibrant in its bloodshed and carnage. The blend of genres is a wicked ride, brought to bear with the excellent animation of Pierrot: great detail in every background and environment, imaginative designs for characters and creatures, fluid action, dazzling effects, and so on. The voice cast gives commendable performances, and the film is broadly well made. Clocking in at less than fifty minutes 'Baoh' is brisk, and maybe too much so to be utterly satisfying, but this also has no illusions about being anything it's not. All things considered this isn't something one needs to go out of their way to see, but provided that graphic violence is no obstacle, it's suitably enjoyable to fill a bit of time, and worth checking out if you come across it. Sometimes that's all a piece of anime needs to be.

I was attracted to the wacky screenshots on this website for this anime.

It seemed like it would be a crazy ride, and I gave it a go.

Of course, I don't have the nostalgy factor as I'm just picking this up now, but it just seemed weird in a bad way for me.

Not only the story is very basic, and the writing quite silly and cringe at times.

It also has the two main characters, a 9 year old girl and a 17 year old boy having a romance.. bad vibes, if you ask me.. not interested in seeing anything like that, specially because it doesn't serve the story and it's unnecessary.

If it was within the premise and setting, I might take it differently, but the age difference is weird and quite inappropriate. I wouldn't crucify the whole film because of this, of course, it just seemed very awkward, but the rest of the film wasn't great neither.

There are two characters saying out loud whatever the main character is doing, like the viewer is incapable of figure it out, it was quite annoying.

The action is nothing special, and the character designs are interesting, but not enough to carry such a a lack of a good story.

The story seems to be some sort of a series start, but probably didn't well enough to carry on with it.

I guess the visual aspect is its strongest point, but it isn't anything special.

Plenty of better animes out there to check before this one, from the 80s, 90s and newer.

A boy is experimented upon by the government after an accident that leaves his family dead. Only in anime is this a recurring theme (government using children or adults) for their own purposes. I wonder why this is? Of coarse he escapes and uses these "experiments" to his advantage. There isn't much more to the story except some brutal sci-fi carnage, but in my opinion if you mix sci-fi and violence it should be brutal. There are other characters of coarse but not worth of mention. The diolage is laughable and pure cheese but adds unintentionable comedy to this violent tale. If you like anime and your sci-fi bloody check it out!

46min anime about two people with mutant abilities, one is a little girl with a pet squirrel pokémon and the other is just typical anime dude... he's a guy who gets powers blah blah blah. There isn't much characterization here. The underlying story about an organization that controls and tries to harness the power of 'Boah' (and others) is the most interesting stuff. That, and the well directed violent battle scenes; great use of POV and close-ups. Very reminiscent of JoJo at times, and unfortunately there is a bit of dog torture, I'm not sure why Araki has (or had) that fixation.

The English dub sounds bad, just VHS quality; and they turned down the music it seems... I usually prefer the dub but here you gotta go with the OG Japanese track, my copy is great quality.

This gets an easy recommend, it doesn't drag at 46 minutes (the start is a little cheesy), it's unorthodox and bloody and kept me entertained and interested 'till the end.

Make sure you watch through the credits.