Violence Jack: Hell's Wind-hen

Overview: Well shit! I hoped this day would never come! However, I promised that if my review of Violence Jack 2 ever received 15 "helpfuls" that I would review Jack 3. Unfortunately, it has recently been brought to my attention that my Jack 2 review has now met this goal. I am a man of my word, so here is my review of the final movie in the Violence Jack Trilogy: Hell's Wind. Story: If you have watched the first 2 Jack films, I think you know the drill by this point. There is a bleak, post apocalyptic wasteland in the year 20XX with nomadic gangs terrorizing small bands of survivors with mass outbreaks of rape and murder. The only law enforcement in this very 1980s genre of anime, comes in the form of badass motherfuckers who walk the Earth kicking evil's ass. If you happen to live in the nice part of the wasteland, your area is enforced by officer Kenshiro. Kenshiro is on the side of "lawful good". He is a dutiful defender who always arrives on the job in time to save at least SOME of the potential victims. Especially if the potential victims are children. Sometimes, he even gets there in time to stop the murder before it can occur. If you happen to live in a poorer and under-served portion of the wasteland, you get officer Jack as your defender. Jack is a 9 foot tall, Wolverine looking motherfucker who stabs people with a Crocodile Dundee knife! Unfortunately, Jack's response time is fucking TERRIBLE! He will literally NEVER get there in time to prevent a rape or a murder. However, he will at least brutally stab the assailants to death with his Jack Knife. His alignment is "chaotic good". However, he actually isn't THAT bad of an officer of the law. Sure he always stops to get that cheeseburger rather than getting to the crime scene on time, but at least he only kills criminals that committed a serious crime like murder or rape. Every person that Jack kills is armed at the time he kills them. Jack doesn't kill petty criminals who run in fear of his manly sideburns by lazily shooting them because he doesn't feel like giving chase, or breaking their cervical spines. Jack would never accidentally choke a man to death for selling loose cigarettes on the street because he wanted to "show off" to his drinking buddies. Honestly, if you used a magic spell to bring Violence Jack into the real world and put his 9 foot frame in a custom made NYPD uniform, he wouldn't be the worst officer on the force. Considering Officer "chokeoffsky didn't get fired, there is ZERO chance that the NYPD would fire Jack for any of his actions in this movie. He would be in the bottom 10% sure, but at worst he would just get occasionally reprimanded for his mediocrity. Art: Say what you want about Jack's story, dialogue, character development, or themes, but this anime knows how to draw some awesome gore. The highlight of this film is seeing a guy get executed with a chainsaw and bikers pull his intestines out of his profusely bleeding stomach. If you are going to watch Violence Jack, be SURE to watch the uncut version of the movie, otherwise you are completely wasting your time. Music: I honestly don't have much to say here. The music wasn't too great in the first 2 Jack films and it isn't too great here. I wish they would have some awesome electric guitar rifts as you would expect from a schlock violence OVA from the late 80s/early 90s, but nope! Overall: If you saw the first 2 Jack films and LOVE you some Violence Jack, I would recommend the 3rd entry. The violence is cut back a little from part 2, but there is still plenty of brutal gore and rape to go around. It is WAY more violent than part 1, which is the weakest of the trilogy by a long shot. If you don't simply love pointless violence and rape, then you are probably better off NOT watching Violence Jack. Don't bother watching this one for the engaging plot and characters...unless you are a complete tool.

Violence Jack 3: why me? This is the third time I'm putting my mental health at risk to review this for you all, so I hope you get something out of it. Overview: At this point, I don't think Violence Jack needs much of an introduction. If you're one of those backwards people who like to watch movies in reverse order or something (Star Wars), here's your tiny preface: post apocalyptic tale of wanton violence, with a healthy dose of stabbing, ripping, evisceration, and angst. Story: 7 A lonely jeep rumbles across the ruined landscape, assaulted by a gang of bikers. The occupants, a man and woman, are quickly rounded up, the man cruelly murdered, and the woman is sexually assaulted, lacerated, and left to die. This is Violence Jack afterall, what did you expect? This time around, we get a cohesive story. We have two narratives going; one of this kid who lives in post-earthquake Hope Town, and one of this woman out for vengeance for the death of her loved one, and her own brutal mistreatment at the hands of this biker gang, known as Hell's Wind. Violence Jack awakens. A sadistic tale of the psychopathic Hell's Wind gang, led by Dante (symbolism intact), who exist purely to terrorize the desolate Kanto region: rape, murder, and torture are the MO, the denizens of Hope Town soon find themselves beset upon by vile fiends. The woman takes it upon herself to administer some sweet, sweet justice on them-and very nearly succeeds, but finds that despite all her rage, she is still just a rat in a cage. After a beloved teacher is captured in a raid from Hell's Wind, the aforementioned boy, the woman out for vengeance, and Violence Jack team up to reach the ferocious conclusion. Who lives? who walks free? With a name like Violence Jack, I can assure you nobody does. Art: 7 As the Violence Jack saga has progressed, the art style has definitely improved. Totally watchable, with some minor discrepancies with character design- nothing major. Viscera show up in their bloody, pink and red glory, and the fire looks pretty nice. Sound: 7 Sound jumped up a lot from the previous films. We have some decent 80s-y action riffs, and it picks up at the high points to add a bit of dramatic tension. Definite improvement Characters: 6 A little more heartfelt this time, since we have a more coherent story, and not just clips of the ultraviolent nature. A strong female side character is also a nice change from previous entries. Overall fine, still what you'd expect from Violence Jack Enjoyment: 6+1 This film was definitely the best of the three. I enjoyed there being an actual story, the violence was satisfying also. A few missteps with continuity, but ah, who cares? A few key ultraviolent moments: Chainsaw scene (9/10 brutality) Man ripped in half by motorcycles (8/10 brutality) Flaming Curb stomp (10/10 brutality) [27/30 brutality points, enjoyment gets +1] Overall: 7 As I reach the end of this Saga, i realize Violence Jack taught me something. One _can_ make violence for the sake of violence a plot point, but you really have to follow through, and Jack did this. They set up the standard for viciousness in Jack 1, upped the ante with 2, and culminated it in this. Edit: Just watched Mad Max again, and this OVA definitely pays a lot of homage to it, which is a good thing. The biker gang, killing for fun, and a character out for revenge of his lost ones makes for a decent copyjob. I need to go wash my eyes and scrub my brain with clorox now.

Third chapter on the Violence Jack unholy trinity. It starts with a good violent scene getting to what matter in this anime. Violence and brutality. If the other OVAs didn’t please you this one will not either, since the story is of the same calibre of the other ones of if not a little below. Some time has passed since the events that occurred on the other two parts of this series. Society seems to be again growing slowly but as it’s usual with these post apocalyptic worlds, gangs of delinquents, murders and rapists control the cities. This time around, Violence Jack has another person who wants to take revenge on the bad guys. Another OVA full of wicked violence and the always pleasant gore for your viewing pleasure. Rate: 6/10

A young couple are attacked by a biker gang called Hell's Wind. Jun's boyfriend is massacred by the gang before her eyes, and she's then raped by them. Hell's Wind next invades a small town and begins killing the villagers. They get more than they bargain for on this particular violence trip. -summary I am still struggling on what exactly is more horrifying. The fact someone out there actually thought Violence Jack was important enough to make it to a DVD set, or that I have actually seen this putrid anime OVA featured on at least one person's greatest anime of all time list; both are just too disturbing to think about because these people obviously have very low standards when it comes down to their entertainment. I have seen some very bad titles over the years, with some of them actually forcing me to put them off for a few days in between episodes. Violence Jack put me off a few weeks to even months in between the three episodes. I thought this anime was bad before, but after this rewatch it is totally wretched, and I mean wow, unbelievable. Violence Jack is a three part OVA series based on random stories from Go Nagai's manga of the same name. This volume is meant to be second in Japanese language and third in English. Since these stories are stand alone they can be seen in any order. Directed by Takuya Wada, Hell's Wind continues to increase the body count while examining the exact same themes concerning evil people with power, and being as tasteless as it can possibly be along the way. The plot begins when Jun returns for vengeance against the gang, and she begins to take them out in an all out battle with explosive arrows. Later, Violence Jack makes his dramatic entrance and one would think this is when things would become better. Well, after the first two volumes starring our charismatic-handicapped hulking friend, I did not expect anything other than staleness and that's what I got. Jack tosses a few punches, and then stares into space only to be shot repeatedly as if he's some type of irresistible force of nature just waiting to explode on these poor bastards asses, and then.... he does nothing but hit the floor, only to be bandaged up and transported to the next battle. Yeah, that's what happens. Then we wait and wait for another lame action scene that leads to an ending leaving story elements wide open. I know that OVA's are usually low budget and one shouldn't expect much from them, but if you seen Area 88, Battle Angel, or Manie Manie the Labyrinth Tales, then you will know that these titles can be pretty damn amazing when put into the right hands. Violence Jack is so poorly done that I can see it pushing away any newcomers to the anime genre. Please dismiss any claims of this being the gold standard of anime in any time period. Wada also doesn't skip out on the misogyny, as you will be treated to some really long torture scenes that grows quite annoying. Outside of some really sick death scenes that I did think were kind of cool. I really didn't enjoy this volume. I didn't care for the side characters at all, Jack is just too damn lame for words, and there were some stupid story elements. Seriously, Violence Jack makes Fist of the Northstar look like 2001. Visually this volume looked a little better and there were moments where the midnight dark blues helped with the atmosphere. The violence is pretty graphic at times with guts torn out of stomachs, and people ripped into two pieces. However, there are far too many shortcuts taken with still action, and too many explosives simulating action. There's no real choreography to speak of and as a result the animation just really isn't good. The language is only in subtitles, and sometimes the words move by a little too fast. My feelings on the voice acting is mixed; some of the adult characters sounded alright while the kids were just too chibi for my taste. If I will give this anime OVA any credit at all, is that it truly knows what it wants to be. It maintains a dark and sinister tone through out. The world is indeed hell and the backgrounds along with the vile mannerisms of the local bandits depict this. It's such a shame though that this OVA wasn't put into the hands of people with talent. To this day, I have not read the manga on this and although it sounds promising, I can't bring myself to reading it, because Go Nagai's batting average has been pretty low from the things I've seen. If you enjoy over the top violent anime with hentai elements then this is for you. Others who need better storytelling, well developed and interesting characters shouldn't even bother. Highs: Tonal Consistency Lows: Wretched in just about every other area

Violence Jack : Hell's Wind. This is the last OVA of the show, wish there were more. The fundamental aspect which I don't get is how people are rating this at sub 5.x and Dragon Ball Super at such high levels. It's really crazy to see how people are sensitized towards Anime works. This is the most influential show of all the time and most brutal masterpieces out there, a shame. I will keep the final review a short one direct to the point. Final OVA has more humane Jack than the first two, that's how it starts but by the end of third act it all comes perfectly and maintains that cohesive ultimate aspect of Violence Jack - Damsel in Distress. The usual strong powerful man helping weak and beautiful feminine women. That's the pinnacle of success of this show which maintains it thoroughly. Kentaro Muira's Berserk, Tetsuo Hara's Hokuto no Ken / Fist of North star all were inspired by this work by Go Nagai. The art style captures every single expression and brutality so perfectly just like all the OVA parts. It's a masterpiece. Soundtrack in this third OVA is as usual top fare of this show. Sit back and enjoy one of the finest and most brutal and daring shows of all the time. The most important aspect of why I rate it so top is the Emotional connection Violence Jack manages to achieve as an art. My utmost respect to the team who made it possible.

The worst of the Violence Jack films. You have a pretty standard story of bikers in the post apocalypse terrorizing a town and a hero comes to fight them off. We are introduced to a character called Jun and she has history with the bikers. In a normal film Jun would be the MC but here she is instead sidelined to make more room for Jack who just shows up and has no real reason to be here other then his name being on the cover. Jack's actions don't make much sense and their is no tension what so ever as Jack is basically an unstoppable monster which makes some scenes very confusing. The only thing I'd say is done well is the gore and nudity which you will have plenty of.

“Violence Jack: Hell's Wind” is what happens when You finish a trilogy with trash. Finally. The last movie in the “Violence Jack” saga. It stands out from the rest by having interesting characters and absolutely wasting them. I know, I know, after the previous two OVAs I should be used to it by now but somehow it hurts more this time around. I can’t help it. I’m a fan of good writing and this is not it. As before there is no story in this only plot and not even a good one. I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them: “What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.” “STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result”. To be fair this time the writers created two actually interesting characters. A scared, more than one way, tough woman named Jun and a kid that wants to be a hero for his teacher named Saburo. Both want revenge on the same biker gang for what they did. This is actually an interesting set up that could go in a couple of different ways. But… this is “Violence Jack” so I’m not even entertaining that possibility. After two OVAs I know better than to have hope for anything that isn’t a cheap shock. Surprisingly the violence and gore are much tamer than what it was in “Evil Town”. Not only that but the scenes themselves are much quicker. Almost like someone got the memo that prolonging rapes and tortures takes away time that could be used making something worthwhile. Compare to the second OVA, the only rape in this one is actual done with a lot of restrain. A bit too much if you ask me. The brutal rapes of the previous movie created hatred for the perpetrators. You just had to see them die for what they did. This time… yeah… not so much. I mean, I still wanted to see the piece of shit dead but I wasn’t hyped for his demise. At least it wasn’t done in a comedic way like in the first OVA. Small wins I guess. I was actually hoping that Jun would play the first fiddle in this move. The way Jack was introduced gave me hope that he will return to being a boogie man and a force of nature (like in the first OVA) leaving the girls' thirst for vengeance front and center. Everything looked that way. The fact that Jun was raped, she watched her loved one being killed in a gruesome manner right in front of her, having a body filled with scars, we even see her practicing with a bow… topless for some reason. I mean, I know the reason. It’s to show that she survived hardship. Everything led me to believe that she will be the most important character. Damn… now I feel stupid. Despite having everything an awesome protagonist could need she is sidelined to make room for more scenes with Jack. Even if some of those scenes are pointless and drag too long. She is even relegated to a damsel in distress in a really dumb, heavy handed way. I have no problem with her being captured and tortured. It’s “Violence Jack”, it’s normal for this universe. But for effs sake at least let her do something important before that. She kills 3 trash mobs of no importance and then she is captured using an almost naked hostage strapped to a jet fighter. Yes, it’s that stupid. Jack does nothing of importance except killing the bad guys and yet the OVA gives him so much useless screen time that a good writer could make Jun go down like a true badass. Jun should have done most of the work in this movie and Jack should have come out of nowhere like a force of nature to just clean up the boss and what’s left of the gang. That would have been a more interesting plot and it could have even had a proper story. You know. I defended the writing in the first OVA because it had some kind of 80s jank to it. I gave 3 to the second OVA because the idea itself was actually good. This time I have nothing to defend. The movie had an amazing character that should have been the MC and wasted it on a more boring plot involving Jack. I can’t and don’t want to even defend this level or writing. It just sucks

A solid final slab of Violence Jack sleaze, and the first time Jack actually feels like a character Hell’s Wind gives us the most personality from Jack across the trilogy. He’s still an unstoppable force of nature, but here he feels more like an actual character than a giant immovable object dropped into the story. The sexual violence is toned down from Evil Town, but the regular violence is still excessive, bloody and satisfyingly over the top. The action is strong, the animation is decent, and it keeps that grimy post-apocalyptic OVA feel. It also gives us a couple more protagonists to root for: a young boy whose optimism brings out a surprisingly human side of Jack, and a bow-wielding woman seeking revenge who gets to be both a badass and, eventually, the damsel in distress. Overall, it’s solid VHS-era sleaze with good action, great violence and a slightly stronger character focus than the previous entries. It even finishes by teasing another villain and seemingly setting the stage for more adventures, which makes it especially frustrating that this was the final OVA. Just when Violence Jack starts feeling like it might have somewhere else to go, it ends.

By far the most competent and balanced(?) among the Violence Jack OVAs. It follows a pretty straightforward revenge story of a female survivor with a vendetta against a maniacal biker gang, and for once the show focuses on its postapocalyptic plot more than on random sexual violence. You still have some of that of course, but the episode doesn't pause all the time just to introduce a few more gruelling minutes of fetishized rape, which is a welcome change. Also, it just looks and sounds better than the previous two OVAs, with some grotesquely detailed gore and semi-decent action scenes. Of course, it's all still very, very dumb and ultimately very off-putting in its tone, but if you want to see what Violence Jack is about, this is the best place to check. Or if you're simply in a mood for some trashy exploitation cinema in anime form... It actually somewhat works this time. Also, it's not like any of the previous story actually matters, so you can very much just treat this as a standalone thing. And I if any of the two conditions I mentioned earlier apply, I can half-heartedly recommend it...

The biggest issue with this one isnt that it isn't good, it's that it's just not as good as the 2nd OVA, Evil-Town. The animation is still pretty good, but lacks the oomph of the 2nd OVA and the gritty roughness of the 1st. There are more obvious themes in this one about facing down terrible or scary things, persevering in the face of personal horror to see a better tomorrow. This is embodied in our two perspective characters - a woman who as survived the advances of the horrible roaming gangs and uses her anger to fuel a crusade of revenge, and a young boy who just wants to protect those close to him and can't play it safe to do so. Even Jack himself seems affected by this as he is at his most human in this installment for most of it. There are still depictions of lots of gore and various intense things but (again) feels lighter than what you would see in the previous two OVAs. More than previously, this entry seems to set the stage for future events that will come to a head - ironic since this was the last one! Well, that sours this one a little too. Still worth checking out, but I think it's the weakest of the 3.

I'm going through the Violence Jack shows just to clear them out since they're supposedly related to Devilman? I saw the connection in an outside theory but otherwise, there's nothing indicating how they're related in the shows. Now, that aside, whether it's related or not, Violence Jack is, as the name suggests, violent. It's just pure violence and cruelty and torture and I guess it's good for people who want to indulge in some blood and torture (think horror movie level torture of splitting people apart via motorcycle and raping women). Otherwise, it was gross to watch and everytime I saw a woman in the show, I cringed, because I already knew what was going to happen to her. Guaranteed, any woman you see in the show, you will see her breasts.

Fun fact: This is the most censored release EVER in the UK. Almost 7 minutes was cut before it was approved by the BBFC. After Evil Town I was expecting something at least decent from Hells Wind but unfortunately, I was left very disappointed. It was an echo of the first OVA, Slumking: Barely any story, weak characters, and Jack back to being a boring silent hero. There were some ok action scenes but again, a lot of still shots were present. Possible budget issues? It was released over 2 years after Evil Town so they at least had some time to come up with a decent production. In any case, I thought the animation and art was a step down from the previous OVA. How about the characters? We get two new heroines: Keiko who exists solely to be kidnapped and stripped as a reason to move the story forward, and our main heroine Jun who is introduced to us with her top off. She’s shown to be pretty kick ass and was a good character to root for but is also captured and in true Violence Jack fashion… gets stripped and graphically cut up with a knife. Lovely. This just felt like an excuse to show women (and men) being abused as much as possible. The violence was uncomfortable and monotonous. Pure misery porn. I’m probably being generous giving this a 3, but as it was slightly better than the first OVA Slumking I’ll give it an extra point. What a disappointing end to the trilogy. Well, at least fans of trashy anime will find some appeal from this one, it’s not as depressing as Evil Town.