Anime DVD Reviews of Ghost Talker's Daydream and Mermaid Forest Vol. 2
© Holly Ellingwood
Ghost Talker's Daydream is the all new horror anime from Geneon. Based on the hit graphic novel in Japan by Saky Okuse and Sankichi Meguro, this is the complete 4 episode OVA series on one DVD. Meet Misaki Saiki, a dominatrix in the S&M sex trade business while working a second job as a supernatural investigator due to a disturbing talent she's had since birth; she can see and speak with the dead. With sex slave stalkers on one side and an endless demand of undead hungry for revenge or forgiveness on the other, Misaki has her hands full. To help her, she has a driver and aid who is more bumbling than competent, a young girl who shares some of Misaki's same supernatural abilities, and a strange thing called Kinui, which looks like a glowing purple rope that helps protect Misaki as she confronts the dead.
This new anime has an intriguing concept; a woman who works in the sex trade and can communicate with the dead, lost and desperate souls. I have to admit though, that the first two stories didn't grab me. It wasn't until the last two episodes which were a two-parter that I felt involved with what I was seeing. Only then did the story become gripping for me. Part of it might be the lack of character development. Although we see a bit into Misaki's past we are never truly shown what happened to her when she was younger, let alone why or how she came to do what she does as either the dominatrix or supernatural investigator. The animation, though adequate, was not as high quality as I've come to expect from OVA series animation. Wht stood out for me was the Englsih voice actress for Misaki, who did an exceptional job of giving the character a hard edged, sarcastic and world weary air. It lent an air of believability to a person who seems to have lived a hard life in such gritty circumstances. We see Misaki handle awful tragedy and terrible horror time and again and one can't help but wonder how that weighs down her soul. For originality and the latter half of the OVA series, it earns a 7.5/10 kendo swords.
Rating: This DVD is rated 16 and up for explicit nudity, coarse language, and mature subject matter. There is quite a bit of hard hitting subject matter in this that is definitely not suitable for younger viewers.
 |
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
