Iria, The Zeiram Animation

This was released a while back in the US and comes to the UK courtesy of Pioneer after its successful debut for USMC. If you ever saw the live action Manga release Zeram then you will be familiar with the monster and Iria herself, but you won't be too up on her home and the background behind her hunter training and life, especially hunting Zeiram.

Iria's older brother was also a hunter and, along with partner Bob, the pair were sent on a mission to rescue passengers from a stranded ship only to find that what they had been sent to do was nothing compared to what they would need to do. They encounter a Zeiram, a space creature with a line in bloody slaughter of humanoids and a tendency to not die when shot, which takes Iria's brother. All through the story that follows in the six part OVA, her brother guides her moves as she finds her way through bureaucratic corruption and brat infested slum towns alike, encountering Zeiram again and again as she searches for the truth, not least about her brothers' whereabouts.

The animation is delightful and the soundtrack is brilliant, especially the opening theme which compliments the strangely fascinating homeworld that Iria is trying to save from itself. I bought this on a whim, and I haven't regretted it.

Well, the Pioneer release was a dub after all. And not a very good dub either. Very mechanical, not very good at all really though at least they left the soundtrack intact. Good enough not to rate a complete kill, but I will have to drop a star for this (it isn't even as good as some of the Pioneer-own dubs)

[4 star]

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