Sukeban Deka (1991) Anime OVA Review

Sukeban Deka is a 1991 action crime anime written and directed by Takeshi Hirota based on a manga by Shinji Wada. The manga series was highly successful in Japan, which gave way for a full live-action TV series and 3 films inspired by the same story. This particular OVA starred Kazue Ikura, Akio Ōtsuka, Akira Kamiya, Hiroshi Takemura, Kenji Utsumi, Masako Katsuki, Naomi Uchiyama and Saeko Shimazu. Juvenile delinquents were a pretty big issue in Japanese society at the time and media related to it gave way for a fiction subgenre that focused on the female variety and it's subculture, Sukeban Deka (Delinquent Girl Detective) being one of the prime examples.

Saki Asamiya is a young delinquent who gets taken out of her cell by the police in order to go undercover into the social structure of a dangerous school ruled by the wealthy Mizuchi sisters, girls who belong to a crime family and fight for control and to be head of the organization. Saki does this in order to get her mother out of death row and to gain her freedom.

Such a premise gives us an action-filled vehicle that goes at 200 miles per hour and has very little time to breathe or rest, establishing relationships, settings and ideas in little time but with a lot of dynamism and a playful nature. It's stylish and lyrical, highly poetic and potently dramatic. It's an excellent piece of the genre that takes advantage of its medium. Everything is executed with precise skill by the animators and the crew.

This is probably the best example of an OVA series that, while surprisingly short, is able to construct a proper dramatic structure that has the same effect in getting you attached to its characters, both main and secondary, in such a small time frame. One example is the girl that the protagonist meets and is then attacked at the end of the first episode. The series doesn't waste time and introduces her right away. Her dialogue is succinct and to the point but the VA's give the lines some personality and emotion. We have some brief scenes of her that are well juggled between other plotlines but also presents us her intimacy (her home, her hobbies, her aspirations, what she sees in life) that gets us closer to her in a single brief but effective scene (through the main character's point of view as well). Because of this, when the tragic event happens we are more invested in her as a person, the stakes moving higher and higher with every event and we understand why the protagonist cares at the same time.

I really love how overdramatic and heightened character's reactions are. The VA's really give it their all and embody their characters with perfection. They yell and grunt and shriek in the right tone and register to make everything more expressive and understandable. This doesn't stop at the voice actors' performances, the direction also emphasizes these intense emotions via angles and visual techniques in order to solidify and express a needed emotion.

The constant array of action and events might have gotten tiresome it wasn't for the tricks they pull and the clever ways they are able to disguise the corners they cut, either by cutting away from the most laborious fight sequences with many characters by focusing on another character while we assume a battle takes place or by using eye-popping visuals to summarize events. You can tell, because of the fast pace, that this was a TV series or a long manga that had time for everything to take place before it became a 40 minute two-part OVA (80 minutes at most) but it all helps to give it some energy and make it consistently entertaining without losing the meat of the story.

A totally recommended OVA in every sense. It's quick and strong. Obligatory for all anime fans.

Wildcat (2025) Movie Review

Wildcat is an American-British co-production, an action crime film directed by James Nunn and written by Dominic Burns starring Kate Beckinsale, Lewis Tan, Rasmus Hardiker, Alice Krige, Bailey Patrick, and Roxy Striar.

Originally titled Lioness, Wildcat is about an ex-black ops leader, Ada (Beckinsale), who reunites with her old partner when her eight-year-old daughter is kidnapped, forcing her to stage a dangerous heist against crime mistress Christina Vine (Alice Krige) in order to hatch a scheme to get her daughter back from the crime lord that has her child.

The film starts off with explosive editing and directing that gets you into the action quickly as a hook. However, this isn't just a cheap trick to grab your attention, there is an energetic quick pace that exists throughout the film, as well as a carefree attitude that makes things light. The hyperactivity of camera work and movement in some sequences break the dull talkiness of a lot of scenes that are in the middle of action set-pieces, ones that are actually quite solid and somewhat impressive with their staging.

Wildcat can be described as more stylish than substantial, with a slightly more playful tone and writing that seems very much self-aware of its condition of being a British action film that has its DNA in Guy Ritchie films but on a budget.

I will say that there's no real center of dramatic gravity to ground it in tone, there's barely any interaction between Ada and her child, so we don't really care for the central conflict. The constant flashbacks only mess things around even if they are important for backstory, and the fragmented chronology with somewhat confusing or simply disjointed or not needed time jumps is a bit jarring. To that you add that the real star of the film, while having her time to shine, doesn't really have the prominence and protagonism she needs, then you start to see the flaws and cracks. Beckinsale's sweet accent kind of makes up for some of the errors though.

The film is a bit more visually lively than usual, with interesting locations and less muted colors than the typical product of its kind. So it has a bit more going for it than what you would usually receive.

Recommended for the action movie buffs who enjoy a fun ride but not much else.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024) Movie Review

Love Lies Bleeding is a neo noir crime drama released in 2024 and directed by Rose Glass. It stars the divisive Kristen Stewart and the action girl newcomer Katy O'Brian, alongside Ed Harris and Jana Malone.

Its trailer shocked and surprised people who thought that low budget indie crime thrillers were not being made anymore, at least not with enough refreshing elements to create enough noise and anticipation. The film also promised another relatively mainstream lesbian relationship that shatters conventions, Bound (1996) being the last previous film of its kind to do it to this scale. 

Did it deliver? Let's see.

In 1989, gym manager Lou (Stewart) meets beefy bombshell Jackie (O’Brian), who has been travelling in order to win a bodybuilding contest. They begin to date and their relationship and personal issues intertwine with the criminal organization run by Lou's father.

Unusually grungy, dirty and stylish neo-noir oddity, composed of corporeal obsession and savage impulses of sex and violence, love and hate. Love Lies Bleeding is a recent watchable outing in the alternative cinema field the Hollywood system has provided over the years, offering a very crude and somewhat delirious story that might puzzle some. Similar to Bound in many respects but increasing the extravagant elements of the story and adapting it for modern audiences.

Stewart actually works her way out of her typical blandness, to be fair, I think her method is fine in certain films and the disheveled, depressed, unemotional character she interprets here plays to her strengths. That's not to say she is dull, she delivers more nuanced emotions than in her usual roles, while still managing to stick to her understated style. Katy O’Brian has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw her work at Lucasfilm and Marvel, so I am glad they are able to use her more extensively here. Katy has great chemistry with Stewart and both are not only a cute couple but also create an interesting contrast in many ways.

Carefully controlled compositions, elaborate camera work, impressive production design and some good looking cinematography decorate this thrilling storyline and fluidly express the intended emotion/tone of each and every scene. The filmmaking is top notch by itself but the flaws are present and somewhat prominent. For example, the film drags during its middle part, it has the stereotypical and misguided representation of abusive relationships Hollywood uses (I can excuse it here because it's thematically important, speaking about family and people who you love but also hurt you) and the surreal scenes are somewhat useless or just odd without much weight to them overall.

It's a solid movie but hardly one that's unskippable. I think it's decently executed, the technique is more than competent and the premise was intriguing but it ran out of fuel and wasn't as hard hitting in it's emotional aspect or plot points/revelations as it should have been. A good time but it’s perhaps not a masterpiece. It also features female bodybuilder representation and lesbian themes done in a very organic manner.