3x3 Eyes Legend of the Divine Demon

3x3 Eyes: Legend of the Divine Demon

I’ve watched and published a review of the 3x3 Eyes’ original OVA. It was a series with many problems, such as poor character development, a very short run time, and a bland soundtrack. The ending left a lot to be desired, too, so looking at the sequel OVA called 3x3 Eyes: Legend of the Divine Demon, how does this OVA stand compared to the original?

Well, the creative and production work has been taken over by Studio Junio. Legend of the Divine Demon was released four years after the initial OVA’s release too. So have they managed to figure out how to fix the problems that the original had? Well, no, not really.

3x3 Eyes Legend of the Divine Demon - Pinnedupink.com

The series takes place four years after the events of the original OVA, just the same as the difference of release times between the two OVAs. Now a trained Wu, Yakumo has almost wholly mastered his abilities as he searches for Pai after her mysterious disappearance at the end of the series. He does end up finding her after a long searching process, but she has seemingly lost all of her memories to his demise. Now, Yakumo must take her to the Holy Land, the three-eyed-eyed demon races’ birthplace.

Yakumo’s journey mainly revolves around Pai in this sequel, just like in the original OVA. However, their relationship isn’t the same way when the first OVA ended, meaning that it’s less about their relationship but more about rekindling it. This particular change was quite decent, and I enjoyed the characters much more because they seem to be developed. However, none of their development is shown, and them being far away from each other for so long doesn’t mean much because it’s just one episode of a difference for someone watching in 2021.

Now, let’s talk about the more significant problems this series has aside from the character development. First off, there’s very little chance that you can develop a good romance story in just three episodes. Second, the ending is one of the most important missed opportunities that I have come across in anime in a while. Junio had the option to opt for a mature, bittersweet ending which would’ve fit the themes of brutal violence in the series, yet they decided to go for a cheesy ending that just doesn’t seem to fit right.

The other issue is that; 3x3 Eyes revolves around Pai and Yakumo’s romance, which doesn’t work here whatsoever! That’s made utterly impossible because Pai has amnesia. So, the romance aspect is scrapped by the end, and whatever they do to make it happen seems not to work. It’s just sad when you compare it to the romance in the previous OVA, which was one of the aspects that made it decent.

There are plenty of good things about the OVA too. The overall story is engaging with a legitimately good twist. The Hindu influence is still strong in the series, and it's still used intriguingly.

I will give credit to Studio Junio for trying their hardest to replicate the art style from the original OVA by Toei Animation. It holds up pretty well too, the animation itself is even better at times compared to the original OVA.

However, the art isn’t half as unique as the original OVA and misses the original’s gothic atmosphere and moodiness for which it was known. The artwork in Legends of the Divine Demon is darker and honestly colorless at times; they don’t hold up too well, in my opinion.

The animation suffers from the same sort of loss of complexity. While the original OVA didn’t have any revolutionary animation either, it chose to take a retro approach to its design, and it made that style WORK flawlessly.

However, Legend of the Divine Demon is a full-out 90s anime with more fluidity in the animation, but it lacks consistency. Each character seems to move smoothly; however, their steps and movements don’t feel very organic, and that is where the art and direction have done a miss.

When it comes to sound, it holds up just as well as the original series—especially the voice acting, which is one aspect where this OVA is phenomenal but still has problems. Popular names such as Hayashibara Megumi, Tsujitani Kouji, and Ootsuka Akio give strong performances.

The sound that I didn’t like was that the side characters rarely had any emotion in their dialogue and felt like robots. It often sounded like the Google default voice saying the lines at times, and it didn’t feel right. The music is just the same as the original OVA, with Kaoru Wada making a return with his particular style of music.

In conclusion, the original OVA wasn’t a great outing from Toei Animation, but Studio Junio’s sequel to 3x3 Eyes isn’t that great either. They feel like two peas of the same pod, with issues that were present in the original OVA making a comeback here as well.

This makes me sad because the 3x3 Eyes manga has so much potential to be adapted into something exceptional. In the end, the only thing it sadly resulted in was underdeveloped characters, half-assed storylines, some decent art and animation at times, and a bland soundtrack. Again, this would be fun for those who enjoyed the first OVA, but there is practically no point in watching it if you haven’t seen the original.