After the success of the erotic horror epic, UROTSUKIDOJI, Japan’s Daiei Studios enlisted the aid of producer Rusher Ikeda (TWIN ANGELS, L.A. BLUE GIRL, VENUS 5) to bring their own demonic erotic series to fruition. Ikeda hired writer Toshio Maeda, the idea man behind the controversial UROTSUKIDOJI, to develop the story and concepts. Producer Ikeda also snagged noted anime composer, Teruo Takahama, with whom he had worked with on the L.A. BLUE GIRL and TWIN ANGELS projects. The YOKU KYOSHITSU Original Video Animation (OVA) series launched in 1993 to favorable fan acclaim. Several years later, New York-based outfit Central Park Media acquired the film for domestic release. As many of you know, those people over at CPM headquarters have an ever-expanding DVD line called Anime 18. They use this label to release graphic adult-themed titles such as OGENKI CLINIC and the landmark UROTSUKIDOJI series. Believe me folks, this ain’t no POKEMON. This DVD contains the first two episodes of the YOKU KYOSHITSU OVA, which back-to-back makes for a linear feature film with a beginning and an ending.

A meteor hurtles Earthward, carrying with it an alien creature from Quasar BHL5200. The creature (resembling a tentacled, muscular demon) is one of many sent to Earth for colonization. Because the Earth’s atmosphere is poisonous to the aliens’ biological makeup. After prolonged exposure, they must inhabit human host bodies to survive. The aliens also mate with physically gifted Earth females in an attempt to crossbreed their species, and give their progeny the means to withstand the Earth’s environment indefinitely. An unseen space security council sends a duo of enforcers to Earth to hunt down and destroy the alien race they call the ‘demon beasts’. One of these enforcers is a veteran agent named Kasu, whose pupil is an Earth youth named Munetto. Both these guys look human, but they exhibit superhuman prowess when fighting the demon beasts.

Kasu and Munetto pursue the demon beast to Tokyo’s Prefectural College, where Munetto runs into his two closest friends from his youth, Stamu and Kayo. Though Kayo and Munetto used to have feelings for one another, Kayo and Stamu are now in love. Munetto asks his friends to help him keep an eye out on the college campus for anything unusual. The demon beast is walking among the young women hidden in the guise of a horny human male. After the demon beast has sex with an unsuspecting partner, if the woman does not get pregnant, she dies. After a tip-off from Kayo, Kasu and Munetto set a trap to confront the demon beast host. Kasu and Munetto use their powers and alien technology to expose the demon beast, and after a brief battle they believe the monster destroyed. Unbeknownst to the duo, the shifty demon beast survives and takes possession of Stamu, Munetto’s childhood friend and Kayo’s lover. Stamu, under the control of the demon beast, seduces and impregnates Kayo. During the sex act, Stamu transforms back into the demon beast and goes on a campus rampage, which catches the attention of Kasu and Munetto. A vicious and desperate battle is fought and both sides suffer tremendous losses. Kasu is mortally wounded, and when Munetto vanquishes the demon beast, Stamu is killed as well since they share the same host body.

Soon after the death of Stamu, Kayo begins feeling strange. One evening while walking down the street, a pervert pulls her into an alleyway and begins to rape her. But, a hideous infant demon beast pops out of Kayo during the sexual assault and viciously mangles the rapist to death. Kayo can’t believe her eyes, that she has given birth to a sadistic human/demon beast crossbreed. The creature quickly becomes intelligent and grows into an adult demon beast, with a desire for vengeance against Munetto for killing its father. Unknown to Munetto, his superiors have sent him a new partner named Tsutomu, to assist him in stopping the plans of Kayo’s mutant offspring. To make matters worse, the demon beast horde assembles outside of Earth’s atmosphere, awaiting the arrival of the first human/demon beast crossbreed into their ranks (which signals doom for the human race). Munetto, Kayo, and Tsutomu must fight the demon beast crossbreed for the survival of mankind.

Here is a taste of the mayhem from DEMON BEAST INVASION:

The plot has some definite obstacles. The whole intergalactic security angle just does not jell with the narrative. We never learn anything about this mysterious organization, except through dialog between Kasu and Munetto. We never see any evidence that such an advanced organization exists, other than the high-tech weapons the heroes use. All the references to this galactic security force are implied (rather than seen), much like the 1987 movie, THE HIDDEN. While that film can be excused for it’s limited budget, DEMON BEAST INVASION is animated, thus the sky is the limit. For example in the mythos of UROTSUKIDOJI, there exists three worlds (each inhabited by humans, demons, and man-beasts), and each of these worlds are explored at some point. Writer Toshio Maeda has a fertile imagination, but his creativity seems limited by budget restrictions in DEMON BEAST INVASION.

The monsters themselves are something of a mixed bag. The demon beasts resemble mammoth gray body builders. Besides possessing great strength and agility, they have the power to transform to any shape they wish. When they attack their prey for mating, coiling tentacles emerge from their bodies. They wrap their tentacles around the victim and either kill him or her, or force intercourse on the women. Another plot point that doesn’t sit revolves the mythos of the demon beasts. These creatures look and behave like supernatural demons and they have no technology that I can see, but Toshio Maeda’s script paints them as advanced (though evil) aliens. I believe the premise would have worked better if he depicted them as Lovecraftian monsters, which fits their look and powers perfectly. That is why character design is so crucial in Japanese animation. The look has to fit the lore. You can’t have aliens composed of ice living on the surface of Venus.

- Darren Collette