Produced by Toei Animation
Sex and death turned up to 11 in this six part OVA courtesy of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. The Crying Freeman OVA series is based on the manga of the same name by renowned artist Ikegami Ryoichi the art direction seen within the series is faithful to Ikegami’s psuedo realistic style but it just doesn’t look nice when it’s moving [emphasise on when] most of the time we’re treated to still shots lifted directly from the manga and dabbed with colour. And when the action scenes do come a rolling in they move hideously. Poor Toei they just can’t use a budget properly.
Out of the whole series Episode 3 is the best it has the most heart and approaches problems in a unique sense. Episode 1 is also good. This can’t be said for the other four episodes however. Even when the artists try and spice things up it turns out for the worse [see Episode 4] they just can’t seem to get the series moving in any positive direction.
This synopsis is also supposed to be reviewing the final episode [OVA #6] however I feel that I’ve already said the same things about episodes 4 and 5 and so you can get the gist from those reviews. Episode 6 is the exact same as the rest of them and doesn’t help the series claw its way back up the score ladder average at best disappointing at worst Crying Freeman isn’t worth your time or money.
Episode 6 score:
Four out of Ten
Series Average:
Five out of Ten