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April seems like a good time to review horror anime, right? With the amount of viable horror anime picks being so slim, Gerald has opted for the 4-part OAV Demon Prince Enma, a dark reimagining of Go Nagai’s classic character Enma-kun.
Introduction (0:00 – 37:48)
Having missed the month of March, we use this opportunity to discuss the merger effort that finally occurred between Crunchyroll and FUNimation, then compare what actually transpired to what we predicted would happen. We were close enough, I guess. With the Spring 2022 anime season underway, we give some initial impressions on a few titles that caught our attention (sadly, at the time of recording, nobody had yet seen the golf one). Plus, since we know everybody just loves and adores us whenever we do this and it definitely does not earn us endless unceasing scorn, we touch the oven once again by talking about Yoshiyuki Tomino and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Because we never learn.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (37:48 – 41:10)
With so many manga titles out, it typically takes a successful anime adaptation of a manga before the fan interest REALLY takes off. Right now, the adaptation of the Shonen Jump series SPY x FAMILY by Wit Studio and CloverWorks is the big deal, and so if you’re interested in checking out the SPY x FAMILY manga, Right Stuf’s got the best deals for physical copies.
Review: Demon Prince Enma (41:10 – 1:16:57)
Gerald reviews the Bandai Visual release of the four-part OVA Demon Prince Enma from the late 2000s. It’s a remake of one of Go Nagai’s 1970s works, Dororon Enma-kun, albeit with far more objectionable content (remind you of anything?). There are also several iterations of manga, and while none have been officially released in the US, there are a decent amount of scanlations out there which you may not want to be caught reading in public depending on which manga run you end up checking out. Despite being released in the US 15 years ago and being out of print for roughly that long, copies of Demon Prince Enma are readily available for dirt cheap…BUT FOR HOW LONG?
- For now, both Volume 1 and Volume 2 will run you $4.50 each.
- Demon Prince Enma is also streaming for free on Tubi (which, because it’s free, may or may not serve up highly incongruous ads at highly inappropriate moments)
- The more “traditional” Enma-kun “modern” adaptation, the comedy TV series Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up, is also streaming for free on Tubi, for which physical copies of its long out of print release are much harder to come by
Did I imagine this, or was there another podcast where you discussed this OVA?
Not that I have a complaint. Just wondering if I’m recalling correctly. [You’re most likely thinking of the time we reviewed the very similarly-named Demon Lord Dante, which was also from Go Nagai. –Daryl]
Another delightful episode. Thanks for interacting with anime and the fandom in the way that I, also approaching 40, appreciate. This one reminded me that you guys had been vaguely hunting for true horror genre anime for possible future Halloween episodes. I would love to hear you guys talk about the Mario Asaka “Mermaid Scar” OAV! [I had watched it recently, as the 30 year anniversary of Mermaid’s Forest had just passed, and so I had also looked back at the manga as well as the follow-up OAV, Mermaid’s Scar. The 2000s TV series is…well, it’d sound very similar to what we said regarding that 2000s Locke the Superman. We’ve discussed covering the Mermaid Saga, but last we checked all of the anime are out of print and not streaming anywhere. –Daryl]
I’m watching on Tubi and yes, I did get an advert with an adorable bunny rabbit at a hilariously inappropriate moment.
That aside, I’m enjoying this a lot (I like a giallo) and I’m glad you brought it up!
Always fun to hear about the heavyweights of the Rightstuf bargain bin, besides the aforementioned Demon Lord Dante. Maybe we’ll hear about ex-Driver the Movie in the not-so-distant future? Anyway, while I haven’t seen it myself, a really fun detail about Ghastly Prince Enma-kun Burning Up is that it shares a ton of staff with GaoGaiGar: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/compare.php?anime_list=1170-12267 (less of course Yasuhiro Imagawa).
I checked the archive, and looks like you never really talked about Aeon Flux. And why? Not only is it at least interesting (if one takes the braindead “quality is subjective” position), but it is culturally influential as well, a very important show that did a lot for adult animation, and so much more. Plus, the director is a very cool person. So why not dedicate an episode to Aeon Flux? [This is a podcast about Japanese animation, and since Aeon Flux is an American animated series it is therefore external to our scope. Also, “quality is subjective” is not a brain-dead position and you should really stop caring about what Robert Pirsig wrote in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 50 years ago. –Daryl]