Speed Grapher
(MVM Region 2 PAL DVD)
(2005)
review by Blackgloves

Whenever I see the moniker of studio GONZO attached to an anime project, I rub my hands with glee at the prospect of even stranger plot lines, crazier characters, more outlandish violence and an even greater prurience in the depiction of warped animated sex than we usually get in common-or-garden, everyday Japanese animation — and that, needless to mention, is saying something! 

 

GONZO pushed things as far as they could be pushed in their unbelievably perverse TV sci-fi drama "Ganz". Could "Speed Grapher" -- a twenty-four part, 2005 series -- possibly eclipse that show's lurid explicitness and imaginative mind-fuck dramatics? Probably not, but it comes damn close, presenting another anti-capitalist dystopian future where mega-business and sexual freakery are combined in the occult machinations of a secret society where Japan's wealthy elite congregate to take part in strange masked ceremonies, during which the Goddess Kagura bestows her peculiar "blessing".

 

Into this disorientating world of high-class fetishism, stumbles Tatsumi Saiga, a troubled ex-war photographer whose past trade has taken its toll on his health and sanity -- it's probably not a good sign when one gets an erection while photographing war atrocities on the battlefield! Now languishing in semi-obscurity as a reporter on a Tokyo newspaper, and suffering flashbacks from his battlefield experiences, Tatsumi finds himself on the trail of an odd set of murders, performed by a elastic limbed man in a rubber gimp costume! This is when he is not being propositioned by pneumatic -- and ultra violent! -- policewoman, Hibari Ginza, who has some unorthodox uses for her regulation handcuffs. 

 

Meanwhile, the life of schoolgirl Kagura Tennouzu seems to be as rosy as anyone's could be -- especially when they are the daughter of the wealthiest woman in the world: Shinsen Tennouzu, president of the mysterious Tennouzu group, a mega-corporation with no small amount of political influence. But all is not what it seems. Kagura is being systematically starved by her own mother, who is apparently jealous of a perceived advanced youthfulness in her daughter. When Kagura's school teacher promises to intervene to help her, Kagura returns home to find said teacher being "pleasured" by her mother, who then buys her off with as much money as she can carry home ... naked!

 

Shinsen is involved with an even more dubious character: Chouji Suitengu -- the head of a violent crime syndicate who smokes cigarettes rolled from 10,000 yen notes! He also heads the Roppongi Club, and it is through this menagerie of perversity that the lives of these characters become entwined when Tatsumi infiltrates one of its gatherings on a night when its goddess is about to make one of her appearances. This "goddess" is, in fact, Kagura. The schoolgirl is being abused in vile mass orgies by her mother's depraved lover! After Tatsumi is caught at the gathering, a kiss from Kagura gives him amazing powers: the click of his camera can wipe out anyone who stands in his way. How the abused Kagura has gained this ability and what process lies behind the emergence of the select group of "euphorics" who are able to benefit by it, are just some of the mysteries yet to be uncovered in this bizarre and compelling adult fantasy series.

 

"Speed Grapher" may not plum the depths (or heights) of lewdness depicted by  "GANTZ", but its adult themes and dark humour make it easily as disturbing and as riveting viewing. The range of its characters' peculiarities and peccadilloes seems almost endless; and these four largely scene-setting episodes do much in establishing a cruel futuristic world of outlandish abuse and criminal culpability. The full story behind the various plot lines is only hinted at so far, but the show promises to capture the imagination of all fans of the more extreme anime fantasy drama: laying the foundations for an addictive plunge into an underworld of genetically mutated assassins and mind-warping vice.

 

MVM's DVD presents the first four episodes in anamorphic widescreen with both the original Japanese audio (with English subtitles) and an excellent English dub track from FUNimation. Extras include the audition tapes for three of the characters (for the English dub) accompanied by some commentary by the English language producer.