Lady Death (2004)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by
Directed by

Features:

• director's commentary
  
• making-of featurette
  
• animation featurette
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• physical abuse
• Hell
• demons and devils
• extreme nipplage
• dominatrices
• death, dismemberment, and blood
• rather unforgiving priests
• mob rules

Released by: ADV
Region: 1
Rating:
Anamorphic:

My Advice: Get it only if you love Lady Death, though as a comic fan, you should either see this or read the comics.

Fans of the Lady Death comic already know the basic plot: innocent Hope's world is shattered the day she discovers that her father is really none other than the Devil himself and not just the cruel, ignoble medieval overlord Matthias that everyone thought him to be. Rowdy peasants revolt and end up burning Hope at the stake for witchcraft, while Daddy burns down the ancestral home and escapes with a bunch of souls for Hell, including Hope's One True Love, Niccolo. Now, reborn in Hell, Hope is brought before her father and offered a chance to serve him, but the upright Christian decides she'd rather serve in Heaven. Of course, first, she must survive in the wilds of Hell, raise an army, and take on her father for the throne of Hell.

The opening scenes are likely to confuse anyone not already familiar with the Lady Death mythos. It is a shame that the directors couldn't think of anything other than a frame story with choppy flashbacks to do the exposition.

The book's strength was in the character of Hope/Lady Death, and the film version is no different. While we get to see many of her allies, such as Cremator and the wolves, and her enemies, like that idiot priest who burns her, move and talk for the first time, Lady Death herself still drives the plot and the film and is the inspirational force for couture in the film (sorry, boys, no Purgatori).

The show's animation is patterned after that of the comic; if you like the look of the book, then you'll likely enjoy the filmed version as well, but be aware that the film version lacks some of the "delicacy" of the original. The backgrounds are not as rich, and the secondary characters lack some of the detail that made the original series appeal to women, as well as men. There are, of course, a passel of gratuitous nipples and some physical abuse that would bother some viewers, had they not already known better when they learned that this takes place in HELL. The ending shot of the wolves and part of the cap-and-bells is actually nicely done and oddly subtle.

The sound of the DVD is nice; the soundtrack is quite good and appropriate for the show's themes and feel. The voice acting is mediocre, but good enough for what is asked of them. This isn't Hamlet, after all.

We get a couple of nice special features, such as an audio commentary with the director and two making-of featurettes. Fans of animated films and comics alike will appreciate those bonuses. We also get the usual selection of trailers and previews.

Fans of the comic series will want to see this one, if only to satisfy themselves that they've already sucked the best life out of the franchise. People unfamiliar with the title are better off looking elsewhere for their Hope fix, especially if they can get their hands on the Image first-run series. If it were a little less inexplicable and had a bit less obvious fan service for a "serious" piece, it would be a better film. As it is, it's even more about cheesecake than the original comics and less about Hope's very real ethical quandaries and battles for power, which is a shameful thing to do to a queen.