Since the two were such close friends, it's only natural that Ken Ishikawa had some works that felt inspired, in some way, by the works of Go Nagai, and one example of that looks to be Majuu Sensen/The Demonic Beast Front. Debuting in the pages of Futabasha's Weekly Shonen Action in 1975, Majuu Sensen was a manga that dealt with things like "demons", experimentation in an effort to surpass the limits of humanity by fusing with non-human beings, & the literal apocalypse, making it seem like a direct response to Nagai's iconic Devilman from 1972. Both series even ran for only a single year, though Majuu Sensen was compiled into just four volumes, but in Ishikawa's case that was simply because Weekly Shonen Action itself got cancelled, leaving Majuu Sensen unfinished. Regardless, Majuu Sensen is now considered one of Ishikawa's most iconic works (Type-Moon even full-on used the name for its 2019 TV anime Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia), & the design of lead character Shinichi Kuruma has been paid homage to every now & then, most notably in how Ryoma Nagare dresses throughout the OVA series Getter Robo Armageddon in the late 90s; in fact, mangaka Shinichi Kuruma (Majinden/Battle Royal High School) literally names himself after the character! Therefore, it's not surprising that Majuu Sensen would get adapted into anime at some point, in particular twice, one being a direct adaptation of the manga & the other being an alternate universe sequel. Seeing as it's the month of October, let's get a little horror-themed & check out both of these anime adaptations of Majuu Sensen, one of which for the second time.
Naturally, we'll start with the first one, a three-episode OVA (though they were all ~45 minutes long) produced by Animate-Film/MOVIC & J.C. Staff that (interestingly enough) actually came out all at once, first on VHS on October 1, 1990 & then on LD on December 1 later that same year. The OVA was also given a short theatrical run in Theater Ikebukuro from October 13 to 26, 1990, & on February 22, 2002 (that's a lot of 2s) would get re-released on DVD; sadly, though, the OVA has not been re-released since then, & it's not even streaming anywhere in Japan. Nevertheless, let's see how the OVA adaptation of Majuu Sensen holds up over 30 years later & in what ways Ken Ishikawa differed in his take on a "Dynamic Armageddon" from Go Nagai's Devilman.
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| Yes, that is Shinichi holding onto someone's head after he literally bit it off with his mouth. What of it? |
Tomisaburo & Maria Tengai are siblings who travel about Tokyo with their grandfather, using Grandpa's precognitive abilities to do street side predictions for cash... at least, when said powers don't simply freak out the general public. On their way back home one night the three are accosted by some gangsters, only for a cloaked man to suddenly appear like a wild beast & kill the gangsters. The man, Shinichi Kuruma, has come to the Tengai trio for their assistance, as Shinichi's on a mission: To locate his father, Dr. Genzou Kuruma, & his fellow 12 "Apostles", scientists who collaborated with Genzou in their mad experiments... and kill them. Specifically, the Apostles have been trying to create "Newmen" (i.e. "New Humans") by fusing people with various animals in an effort to be the creators of the true successors to humanity, feeling that they've been chosen by God to do so; that said, said creations are more "Majuu/Demonic Beasts" than "Newmen". Five years ago, Genzou's madness even resulted in him experimenting on both his son Shinichi & even his wife Shizue, resulting in Shizue being fused with a bear, lion, snake, & eagle, while Shinichi was deemed expendable, due to his young age deeming him a failure. Shizue, wanting to protect her son, managed to break free to save Shinichi, only for her to be shot in the head & the lab destroyed... but unbeknownst to Apostles is that Shizue managed to save Shinichi by having him absorb her body, not only giving him life but also the ability to summon parts of the bear, lion, & eagle that were fused into his mother. However, the Tengai trio know of the 13 Apostles that Shinichi is after, as they were responsible for the destruction of their village & the deaths of Tomisaburo & Maria's parents, and Grandpa Tengai fears that Shinichi himself is the beast that, according to prophecy, will bring about the apocalypse in his hunt for them.
While Devilman held off ever-so-slightly in introducing the biblical elements for later on, Majuu Sensen doesn't have as much restraint. Genzou & his allies literally call themselves "Apostles", Episode 1 ends with a bunch of them escaping in a gigantic flying ark like the one Noah used to survive the great flood, Shinichi kills his first Apostle by staking him to the side of the ark as though he was crucified (& there is the occasional image of the traditional Jesus crucifix via various items), & of course there's the whole prophecy of an apocalypse, with Grandpa Tengai even saying that exact word instead of the traditional Japanese word (mokushiroku). Also, as if it really needs to be stated, but there's Maria herself, as though her name is written in ateji (i.e. "kanji used for phonetic purposes"), it's very obvious that she's named after the biblical Maria/Mary (or, at least, one of them), and roughly halfway into Episode 1 it's established that the Apostles want Maria due to her own psychic powers, as she's seemingly the one who will help bring about the new world that they are looking to create. Similarly, some the various Apostles have different biblical names, like Job, Abraham, Moloch, John (just like Mary, there are a bunch), & even Judas; that last could be mistaken as Judah, since they're both "Yuda" in Japanese, but he winds up being "a Judas".
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| What, are you saying that you CAN'T simply spawn your siblings from your own body? |
In fact, "Majuu Sensen doesn't have as much restraint" is pretty much the easiest way to describe it, in a nutshell. Shinichi Kuruma himself is just an absolute madman of a main character, so much so that he could seriously just be the psychotic villain in any other story. I mean, he literally bathes in the raining blood of his eviscerated foes in order to heal injuries, and relishes in doing so! Beyond that, though he does show a sense of care & protection towards Maria & Tomisaburo, Shinichi is a young man filled with nothing but absolute rage towards his father & the Apostles for what they did to him & his mother; make no mistake, some of the stuff Shinichi does isn't exactly "heroic", but you understand his actions. This is also reflected in the way he fights, showing no hesitation in utilizing the literal beasts absorbed into his body, whether it's spawning the entire bear as his lower body, flying around with the eagle's wings, ripping off his own arm & replacing it with the lion, before simply reattaching his arm after the fight's over; you know, perfectly normal things! All that being said, it's not as though the various Majuu that Shinichi fights against are any less "normal", as they are essentially where Ken Ishikawa went absolutely ham when it comes to visual monstrosities & even some body horror. Some are rather straightforward, like one with a giant spider acting as the lower half of his body or another who looks more like he's growing out of a giant ape's head (similar to what Shinichi does, in response), but then you get the ones that truly are just absolutely freakish. For example, Episode 2 has a focus on Shinichi dealing with Apostles who have experimented on their own children, so one of them can literally grow his own siblings out of his body (& they can even just poke out to act as lookouts, or even fire arrows!), while another is literally just a pair of eyeballs within a poisonous gas that's all housed within a jacket & full-body bandages, ala Darkman (though technically predating that)!! Just whenever you think you've seen the craziest thing possible, Majuu Sensen comes around & gives you some new spore of madness that blows your mind.
While I can't really judge this OVA as a direct adaptation of Ishikawa's original manga, as I've never read it, it is worth noting that since the manga had not been finished back in the day (a proper sequel wouldn't come out until a little over a decade later), this OVA does feature its own original ending, and I imagine that also effected what exactly is adapted here. I say this because while the first episode seems like a direct adaptation from the beginning of the manga, Episode 2 very obviously skips over portions of the manga in order to move on to the "children of the Apostles" focus it has, with it even being established that Shinichi has taken out a few other Apostles in the interim, whereas in Episode 1 he had only taken out one. This also results in a bit of missing character development between Shinichi & Maria, as Episode 2 shows Shinichi as having mellowed out ever so slightly from before, mainly because Maria implores him to not actually kill (though circumstances really don't give him any choice, honestly), while Maria & Tomisaburo have pretty much gotten used to the vasts amounts of blood that Shinichi's fights result in, not to mention the various monstrous Majuu that they encounter. The climax of Episode 2, though, sees Maria captured by Genzou himself, who has his own wild animals that he's absorbed into himself, turning him into the obvious final battle for Shinichi. I imagine this episode's climax is where the OVA moves into its own original content for the finale, as it sees Shinichi lose his animal powers & simply become a gun-toting maniac... which isn't exactly a complaint, mind you, as "gun-toting maniac" can accurately describe more than a few Ken Ishikawa characters. As for said finale at the end of Episode 3, while (to my knowledge) it is an anime-original it definitely has many of the hallmarks of Ken Ishikawa, right down to leaving itself open to interpretation & being a tiny bit ambiguous, though compared to stuff like some of the later Getter Robo anime finales it's still 100% easier to follow & understand instantly.
In all honesty, Majuu Sensen isn't exactly the deepest story you can find in anime, though there are some moments, like Dr. Abraham not willing to show what he's transformed himself into to his daughter, even when Shinichi has him at gunpoint & will shoot to kill, showing his hypocrisy. However, it is unflinching in all of its violence, body horror, & moments of darkness. While it's certainly in no way a "clone" of Devilman, Ken Ishikawa still told a story showing the darkness in humanity, both in our villains & even our hero, and the OVA seems to carry that over excellently.
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| So, let's see, that's two lion heads, two wolf heads, two entire snakes, an alligator head, & eagle wings. Sound like he's an entire party all on his own! |
The Majuu Sensen OVA was directed by Shunji Oga (Amon Saga, Golgo 13 TV), and while the overall production & animation from J.C. Staff certainly won't win any awards, it is at least very consistent throughout & delivers when it comes to the wild & violent imagery; amusingly enough, Oga would go on to direct a stretch of Anpanman movies between 1990 & 2002. Similarly, character designer Hideyuki Motohashi (Black Lion, Getter Robo Arc) converts Ken Ishikawa's usual visual style to animation very well, with Shinichi looking appropriately psychotic at points, especially when in battle. Fittingly for a title as wild as this, the infamous Noboru "Sho" Aikawa (Fullmetal Alchemist [2003], Kamen Rider Blade's second half) was brought on to write the script, and while it does seem like portions of the manga were skipped over (& an original ending was created) so as to give each episode its own focus, I feel Aikawa did a good job at keeping everything flowing well, and despite each episode being double-length they all move by at a brisk pace, never feeling like it's wasting its time, which is great. Finally, the music by Hiroya Watanabe (Devil Hunter Yohko, Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato) is solid enough, if a bit unmemorable, delivering a synth-heavy score that reminds one of various horror films of the decade, which is very appropriate, as Majuu Sensen never wants to feel "comfortable".
In terms of the cast, there's really only three "starring" roles: Shinichi, Maria, & Tomisaburo. Shinichi is voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto, who from my experience tends to voice one of two roles: Comedic (but sometimes serious) Stalwart or Absolute Psychopath. Obviously, Matsumoto plays the latter in this OVA, and he does a great job in establishing Shinichi as being fully aware of just how much of a demon he can come off through his actions, but simply not caring due to his absolute hatred towards the Apostles & what they did to him & his mother. Maria is voiced by the late Yuko Mizutani (Sora in Digimon Adventure, Apple in Zillion), who gives the character the appropriately calm & always forgiving feel of the character, very rarely delivering anything notably angered, though there is a horrified scream or two now & then. As for Tomisaburo, we have Eiko Yamada (Mai in Dragon Ball, Taro Misaki in Captain Tsubasa [1983]), who delivers an fittingly comedic & silly performance for the semi-hapless child that's simply caught up in the madness, though there are still moments where Yamada is able to give Tomisaburo a more somber voice when things get especially dark & morose. After them the most notable would be Yusaku Yara as Dr. Genzou Kuruma, who gives our main villain a fittingly dark & often unemotional voice that fits the mad scientist. Beyond them, it's really just the various other Apostles & Majuu that Shinichi & his friends encounter, but most only get moments to really shine. Still, they're rounded out by the likes of Kozo Shioya (Dr. Shangri-La), Banjou Ginga (Dr. Barbia), the late Eken Mine (Dr. John), the late Ichiro Nagai (Grandpa Tengai), Ikuya Sawaki (Dr. Shaft), the late Kan Tokumaru (Dr. Abraham), Masashi Hirose & Kenyuu Horiuchi (Dr. Judas & his son, Jim), Ryo Horikawa (Dr. Paris), & Chiyoko Kawashima (Shizue Kuruma).
From a storytelling perspective, the Majuu Sensen OVA is rather straightforward & not especially mind provoking, instead focusing on telling the story of a young man who will stop at nothing to get revenge on a group of mad scientists, led by his own father, for what they did to him & his mother. That's not to say that there isn't any depth to this story, though, as the biblical elements are interesting, though definitely included more for flavor than anything declaratory, and there are moments where it doesn't flinch in showing just how far gone Shinichi himself has become in his revenge-filled rage. All that being said, though, Majuu Sensen is really most notable for just how bat**** insane it can get, primarily through the Majuu themselves, which utterly showcase how much of a mad scientist Ken Ishikawa himself could be via his works. The various human/animal fusions (as well as non-animal ones, too) are always a sight to see, and there's no hesitation in just fusing Majuu together like it was nothing to create even more monstrous concoctions, all wrapped up in an penchant for bloodshed & violence, though gore itself is actually held back on; there's a ton of blood, but nothing really in terms of internal organs being ripped out, for example. Had this OVA been licensed & released in English I imagine it would have quickly become a cult classic for its sometimes insane imagery & bloodshed, but instead it has remained without any sort of English translation to this day, official or otherwise; the OG manga has since been fully fan translated, though.
Still, Ken Ishikawa himself likely was never pleased that he wasn't able to properly end the Majuu Sensen manga on his terms back in the mid-70s, and the OVA's exclusive ending likely wasn't enough, either. Therefore, he would return to what it now one of his most iconic works at the start of the new millennium, which in turn would lead to a second anime based on Majuu Sensen, one that acted as a sequel... but not as an adaptation of Ishikawa's own manga sequel. So come back this Halloween as we return to the subject of an old review as we revisit 2003's Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse!
Anime © Dynamic Planning・Tokuma Japan 1989
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