Reviews by Aeternum Inferis - Dailymotion

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00:00For as much as I often sing the praises of Go Nagai and his myriad of contributions for the

00:11manga industry, I often recommend his work with some caveats. Considering how old his work is,

00:18they often have some odd quirks to them. Some might find his art or his writing to be a bit

00:24clumsy and awkward, but the general strokes of his stories are still very engaging, which is why

00:30they keep getting remade for modern audiences. In recent memory, the Netflix adaptation of Devilman

00:36was a massive success and helped a lot of people get into his work. Cutie Honey also received another

00:42show, although that one was less discussed. A Violence Jack remake was something that I've been

00:48pining for for a while after Devilman Crybaby. I really thought that we were going to see another

00:54Violence Jack anime, but it never really seemed to happen. That was until 2021 when we got Violence

01:02Jack 20XX by Yu Kinutani, the same guy responsible for Dark Side of the Devilman manga. I remember being

01:10a bit skeptical because I like the artwork from the Dark Side of the Devilman manga, but I remember

01:17the story not really clicking with me. If anything, Violence Jack getting remade had me a little excited.

01:24Violence Jack isn't really given a fair chance in a lot of circles due to the infamous OVAs. I'd have

01:31to rewatch those to give my thoughts on them, but they aren't received very well. The original manga is

01:37actually pretty interesting. Most of my praise would go towards the Violence Jack character himself.

01:44He's not a traditional protagonist with a ton of mystery surrounding his character, with very

01:49little explanation as to who he is. The original wasn't even fully translated into English until

01:56recently, and I was unable to find any English translation at the time for 20XX either. Thankfully,

02:04a certain viewer pointed me in the right direction, and I was able to read the four available chapters in

02:10English. The first thing off the bat that I gotta praise is the artwork by Yu Kinutani. You can clearly

02:17see how talented he is, and he revved up the violence for the manga as expected. I can't wait to see

02:24Violence Jack and the Slum King because, wow, they are great. Kinutani knocked it out of the park with

02:30these two. Now, the actual story itself takes some interesting decisions. So, according to Wikipedia,

02:39it's a condensed version of Violence Jack, but when I heard the word condensed, I didn't think it meant

02:45rushed. That's what it ends up feeling like here. The original Violence Jack opening, from what I

02:52remember, was ways slower, and it felt more impactful. It seems like it'll take that direction at the

03:00beginning when we were introduced to Ryu and his sister and a bunch of other characters.

03:06There's a plot line with Ryu's mother dying of cancer, too. It looked like they were going to expand

03:12upon the beginning section, but it quickly gets shelved for the action. The Kanto Hellquake kinda just

03:18happens all of a sudden. I don't mind the idea of cutting to the chase here because, let's be honest,

03:25we're all here for Violence Jack, but it did feel rushed. So many of the characters that die I have

03:31no attachment towards because we spend absolutely no time with them. Then, after a clumsy introduction,

03:38we get Ryu living in some type of settlement. This is where the story diverges from the original,

03:45and it interested me the most. Also, King's Men wear samurai armor now, which is a cool addition.

03:52Outside of that, I don't really have anything else to comment on. There's a lot of setup here,

03:59and I don't want to be too harsh because it's still in its infancy. I do worry about the writing

04:05quality in this, but I'm sure when Violence Jack shows up, everything will work out fine. Right now,

04:12I would say that I am cautiously optimistic. I might do a review of each chapter as they come out,

04:18or I'll hold my thoughts until it's completely finished.

04:21Thanks for watching.