Yami no Shihoukan Judge (original) (raw)
Synopsis
Hoichiro Ohma works in an office. Everybody knows him as a silent, humble man. Even his girlfriend, Nanase, doesn't suspect that he could be something more, but he is. When a person dies as a victim of murder; when someone kills himself with a curse on his lips; when someone's death needs to be judged, he is there, for he is a Judge Of Darkness. Following the Laws Of Darkness, with a book made of human skin and an unusual parrot, he pronounces judgement over living criminals that would otherwise go free.
(Source: ANN)
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
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Reviews
Jul 15, 2024
This doesn't deserve such a low score! This is was awesome for what it was. It's an early 90s OVA you get what you see, it's nothing crazy high quality but they're usually fascinating and this one is no exception. The story in this is one of the coolest and most well thought-out depictions of Japanese occultism I've ever seen in anime. The entire thing is steeped in mythology and lore about death and hell and deities like King Enma, stuff like that. If you've heard of an Onmyoji before thats what the main character is based on, amongst other things.
Eventually the story went somewhere... I wasn't expecting but absolutely loved. Like demonic Law and Order. If you're looking for adult goosebumps style anime, this is it. It almost reminded me of an episode of the Twilight Zone in a way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 14, 2016
Yami no Shihosha Judge isn't a known anime for a reason. The concept of the story is rather interesting but it doesn't work well as a horror.
The main character resembles Clark Kent. He is a nerdy and kind guy at work but when no one is looking he turns into a super hero whose goal is to bring justice upon vilains (by killing tchem ofc). We don't get to know why is he that way, who exactly is he and what is his story. He definetly isn't a "generic good guy" but unfortunately he isn't memorable either.
When it comes to the art & music... they are fairly ok for a 1991 anime. My only objection is that the music sometimes doesn't match the scenes.
And finally the most important aspect: "Why is YSJ not good as a horror?".
#1 There were only 3 scary scenes in the entire movie. It definetly is not enough for a horror that lasts 48 minutes.
#2 All of these scenes were really unrealistic. Maybe it's only me but i don't find magical books, weird deformed ghosts and birds which can cut you scary.
#3 The ending didn't leave me with any tention. When the story came to an end i felt as if nothing has happened. I think that if it was longer it might have been much better but it all happened to fast.
To conclude i don't recommend you YSJ unless you are an otaku hipster and want to show off your anime knowledge.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 17, 2009
The concept of this story isn't that bad. They could have done more with it. Action is a bit lacking and it's rather generic at best. It's short (thank god), but still has low rewatchability as there isn't much there to make you want to rewatch it. Animation is typical of it's age. Characters are easy to forget and anime as a whole is worth watching if you seen most of them and are experimenting with OVAs or something. Easy to find cheap on dvd if desired, but there's much better anime to spend your money on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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