Baoh is one of the darkest biopunk anime animations. Is often overlooked because of biopunk and shoon elements (anime for boys, think Dragonball or Naruto). Baoh was written as a manga in 1984 and adapted for cinema in 1989. Akira was written as a manga in 1982 and adapted for cinema in 1988. In this light, it is not surprising that the elements of Baoh that look like Akira are not only thematic but also visual. In the same way, Baoh would be one of the most violent influences of Genocyber since 1993.
The Baoh host is a parasite that infects hosts and introduces paranormal forces. When a paranormal girl, Sumire, flees for her captors, the diabolical organization of Doress, she accidentally releases the free Ikuro, infected by Baoh. Ikuro also escapes while demonstrating incredible physical skills far beyond normal human abilities. He works with Sumire and Doress sends murderers to kill them. When the contract killers fail and Ikuro’s forces continue to increase, Doress seizes Sumire to lure him into a secret lab, where Doress hopes to capture and control Ikuro and Baoh in him. Instead, Ikuro returns Doress.
How is Baoh a Biopunk Anime?
Baoh is a biopunk anime full of action and hyper-violent. Throughout the film, Terminator and Akira gave testimonies, including one of Ikuro’s murderers who explode half of his face and the psychic forces that crush scientists and defenseless soldiers. Several times in one of the last scenes, we see Ikuro fight a powerful powerful laser psychic laser in a way reminiscent of Kaneda’s last confrontation with Tetsuo in Akira. The story is well known but brought nothing new to the table. The soundtrack, voice actors and production, in general, were acceptable but not memorable. What emerged in my head were some of the animation sequences. The action is fluid and exciting, but these are scenes, such as the mirror of the image above, which we are witnessing to disintegration, while Ikuro transforms from its Baoh form, which left the most lasting impression.
If you’re looking for an anime to see this cyberpunk, but on the dark side because you’ve seen the pillars like Ghost in the Shell and Akira, Baoh is worth seeing. It is short and well advanced, with a duration of 48 minutes. No annoying investment is needed for this only one of its kind and fun OVA.
What is Biopunk Anime exactly?
What is Biopunk anime? The answer to this question is not clear because the film focuses on its post-apocalyptic elements. If you pay enough attention, some things become clear. The first, and most simply said, is that the world was plagued by a virus, a common biopunk trope. The second is that there are two categories of people: genetically propagated people and people who are not. Anticipating this story screams that Kio is somehow genetically superior, but the story goes away long before we know anything about it, but that’s probably why she was arrested. There also seems to be a religion around this genetic separation, leading to the next theme – terrorism.
