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Tokko – 2 – Guns forever

In many ways, TOKKO is the worst anime series I’ve seen for a while now; the animation (if we can call it that) is cheap and tacky and the characters are about as cookie cutter as they come, but it’s violent, has demons and pulls no punches when the time is nigh to combine the slicing quality of samurai swords with human limbs.
This is a show for the anime fans who grew up with the ultra violent OVAs of the 1980s and early 90s; we’re talking Genocyber, AD Police and Angel Cop here. The story is basically “kid’s parents are killed by monsters, so kid wants revenge”- you don’t need any more information than that, throw in some fleeting sexual innuendo and that’s about got TOKKO covered.
This episode was simply more of the same; a police officer can’t take down a bunch of zombies with his pistol so comes back at them with a military issue anti-tank machine gun. You’ll either love that idea or not and it pretty much sums up why I’m watching TOKKO. This is cheap, so-bad-it’s-funny horror.

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Tokko – 1 – Horror, gore and siscon (in that order, repeat)

I’m a horror fan, have been all my life and aside from the claret soaked GANTZ, I’ve seen nothing lately that’s been up to quenching my thirst for such sheer bloody antics. That is until I saw the first episode of TOKKO.
Before launching into horror fan hyperbole, I’ll state right now that TOKKO isn’t and won’t become a masterpiece. It’s trashy, ugly, has poor production values and does nothing new with it’s characters, that said- if you’re in touch with the “goretastic” side of your personality, you should check this out.
So let’s run through my horror fan check list: severed heads, messy piles of dismembered body parts, weird parasites (connected to humans) with disturbingly high and distorted voices, zombies, samurai swords and monsters (from hell). The story is basically about a rookie (Ranmaru Shindou) who has just joined his city’s anti-terrorist police force to hunt down the violent butcher of his family. Lucky for him, Ranmaru ‘s first job just happens to involve a wall splattered with body parts and a walking army of the undead.
If you’ve read this far, you should know whether or not TOKKO is for you. It’s violent, jokes about incest and involves hot young men and women jumping around with swords, slashing at puny monsters. The story is moving at a good pace and leaves little to the imagination; there’s enough blunt sexual innuendo and cheesy jokes to fill the time between all blood letting.
TOKKO won’t be for everyone, but it’s gory horror just the way I like it.

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Studio 4C's Comedy – Medieval fable set in Ireland

Story so far
Set during Ireland’s War of Independence, a young Irish lass, besieged by the merciless English soldiers, seeks the help of a legendary swordsman who is rumoured to have supernatural powers.
My impressions
Studio 4C’s Comedy is a gripping 10 minute OAV from Kazuto Nakazawa; the main creative force behind Kill Bill’s ultra-violent anime sequence. This is a dark, gothic tale with no real historical significance, a vehicle for Nakazawa’s undoubted sense of style. His scratchy, sleek character designs are distinctive and attractive here, as is the hyper stylised violence. The compelling soundtrack is basically one song, but what a song; operatic classic Ave Maria.
It all adds up to be a really quite outstanding OAV, bleeding with moody landscapes and vivid characters no doubt inspired by an old European picture-book aesthetic. Comedy may only be 10 minutes long, but it works perfectly; both as a experiment in surreal atmospherics and an entertaining snapshot of Britain’s bloody history.