"Prepare for the biggest anime hit of the year, in the first adventure with Kekkou Kamen."
"Based on the visions of Go Nagai', Kekkou Kamen revolves around the toughest high school in Japan. Run by the perverted principal Toecheese, with security courtesy of a squad of Nazi Hall Monitors, the film portrays the harsh regime of Japanese school life in the most hilarious comedy release of the year."
Creator: Go Nagai Director: Nobuhiro Kondo Screenplay: Masashi Sogo Character design: Tomo Hirayama Copyright: Go Nagai/Dynamic Planning Ltd. Language Format: English Language Running time: 42/42 mins Certificate: 18(cut)/18(cut) Label: East2West Films Catalogue no: E2W1002/E2W1004 Price: £10.99 each Release Date: Jul 31st/Aug 28th 1995
This title has achieved a small notoriety in some anime fan circles, as a very naughty video, which is how the distributors are trying to market it. Essentially, the story is about a school where all the teachers are sex perverts and have a torture chamber in the basement which is used for discipline. The frailer pupils are protected from the worst depredations of the perverts by a female crusader, Kekko Kamen (=Beautiful Mask), the "Messenger of Love and Justice", clad in a mask and boots AND NOTHING ELSE. In fact the video turns out to be much milder than I imagined it might be, as it scarcely goes beyond smutty adolescent humour. "Schoolboy humour" sums up the whole thing, though a few scenes are indeed very funny. That said, I thought parts of it were in rather poor taste - do we need any jokes about Nazis and concentration camps, and is tying up schoolgirls and hurting them supposed to be entertainment? Some anime does not travel well, methinks. But I think I've said enough for you to know what to do next; fume with outrage, ignore it, or go out and buy it. [Geoff Cowie]
ToonRunner:
I got Both volumes, and they are excellent!!!! Of course, I'm a single
male with extremely "H" tendancies, and a "T" fetish. Go Nagai outdid
himself with Kekko Kamen ("Ooo, I got Lucky Mask") and should be a must
for any GN fan. It basically explains the exploits of a unusual heroine.
Unusual in the fact she's fighting nasties left and right in the
"alltogether". It's quite funny, with the double-entre's and all. I
recomend it to one and all.
Enrique Conty:
As much of a huge Go Nagai fan as I am, I have to say that
Kekko Kamen is *NOT* good. Bottom of the barrel material.
Michael Studte:
I'm NOT a Go Nagai fan, but I found this to be the only US
anime purchase worthwhile in the last 12 months. Wonderfully funny,
makes fun of itself ("Hey, why wasn't there music when you appeared?"
"Because this isn't the crucial fight of the episode.", etc.) and great
voices.
Chae Ho An:
I thought KK had shakey animation, thinest approximation of a plot,
gratuitious T&A, rampant stereotypical characterizations, and some of the
best slapstick low-brow comedy I've seen so far in anime. If the first
four doesn't bother you much, then you'll like KK. I've only seen KK #1
and #2 and I admit that #1 caught me somewhat confused. It was funny,
but you have to loosen up and get into sort of 'Three Stooges' mode
to enjoy the humor in KK, IMO. Not that I want to see Larry, Moe,
and Curly in their birthday suits but I think both KK and 3S aim about
the same level, with varying level of success.