Baoh Review

Well, I’ve reviewed good & bad shows so far, so now it’s time for something boring, and I know just the movie to suit a boring mood. Without delay, here’s a review for Baoh.

Story/Setup
Taken from the Wikipedia page:

“Teenager Ikuro Hashizawa is kidnapped and turned into a Baoh, a bioweapon with super human strength and other abilities such as firing a corrosive substance, by the Judas Laboratory. He escapes with the help of Sumire, a 10-year-old psychic girl. Professor Hazyeye, head scientist at Judas, sends various assassins and monsters to try and kill Ikuro, in means of stopping the Baoh virus from spreading and infecting the world.”

To be honest with you, Baoh’s story is really it’s only saving grace, despite how basic & predictable it is. Good guys escape, bad guys send out minions, good guys beat up/kill said minions, one good guy gets captured, etc etc. It really gets predictable as you get further & further into the film, but at least the idea behind the story is original.

Setting
Baoh’s setting, for the most part, feels rather generic. It isn’t like Angel Cop, as at least this movie puts effort into how it looks, but at the same time there really wasn’t much effort. Everything looks rather typical of the late 80s timeframe, and perhaps the only effort put into any of the environments are the laboratories that the bad guys use. There’s definitely some imagination put into them, but at the same time still feels weak.

Characters
The characters in this movie are, for a lack of better terms.....boring. None of them are really likable, but they aren’t necessarily bad. The only characters that you kinda support are Ikuro/Baoh and the psychic girl Sumire, and that’s only because of their circumstances. 

Animation
Baoh animation quality is.....okay at best. It’s far, far from the ugliness of Angel Cop, but it isn’t the greatest looking thing on the planet. There are some interesting visual moments, like Ikuro’s transformation into Baoh, and a vision of Sumire’s early in the movie, but the movie itself just feels plain.

Voice Acting
Voice acting in Baoh is...meh. There really isn’t any one character in the movie that’s any better or any worse than everybody else. All of the characters just have a monotone voice that really doesn’t change much from emotion to emotion. Even when it actually does change, it’s more in terms of volume rather than emotion.

Episodes & Episode Length
Like Appleseed, Baoh is a feature film. Unlike Appleseed, Baoh has a shorter run time. 47 minutes, to be exact. If you don’t like this movie, then it’s short run time isn’t much of a burden. I didn’t have a problem with it’s running time, but I felt as though there was potential for this OVA to become a series. Not a long show, but more of a 4 to 6 mini-series.

Availability & Pricing
Despite being a rather obscure show, Baoh is actually somewhat hard to find. I was only able to find a pinchful of DVDs over on Amazon, with a even divide between new & used (At the time of this writing, there are only 4 new & used copies available). Pricing, however, is a bit uneven: New copies start out at a whopping 79 dollars, while used copies start at a more generous 25 dollars.

Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.

General Impression & Rating
Baoh is just boring, plain & simple. It’s a shame, really, cause the story has some weight to it, and Ikuro & Sumire are kinda interesting characters. If there was more effort put into everything else, I might recommend this movie to you. With how meh everything else is, I’d recommend it to you, but in this case, I’m not gonna, although those who are curious might go for it.

Baoh gets a 5 out of 10.

See you all later today, when I’ll talk to you about grieving. Until then, stay Otaku!