After watching the live-action film, I had to check out the anime, *maybe I will read the manga lol.
*
I like the old animated style here a lot, it's fitting and in general I like the tone this set for Riki-Oh as a character, the introduction of him is better, in my opinion and the idea of his character is captured far better than in the adaptation 2 years later. However, I still think it's bad, it has completely different flaws compared to the live action film but still lethal ones. It's a lot too fast, we jump from scene to scene in an instant, nothing is explored enough, many scenes were just skipped through and instead narrated by an inmate. These parts, the movie did a whole lot better, but the rest I think the anime clears. For example, Ricky's girlfriend in the live-action adaptation, didn't add anything to the movie, here she doesn't even exist and I couldn't feel a difference. The action is equally good or bad. But Riki is a lot better in the anime. Yet, I will admit that the live-action film has the better approach. The anime mainly lacked a lot of depth.

I hope there is more to Riki-Oh's character than what I have seen so far *because both are disappointments.
*
3 stars

After watching the live-action film, I had to check out the anime, *maybe I will read the manga lol.
*
I like the old animated style here a lot, it's fitting and in general I like the tone this set for Riki-Oh as a character, the introduction of him is better, in my opinion and the idea of his character is captured far better than in the adaptation 2 years later. However, I still think it's bad, it has completely different flaws compared to the live action film but still lethal ones. It's a lot too fast, we jump from scene to scene in an instant, nothing is explored enough, many scenes were just skipped through and instead narrated by an inmate. These parts, the movie did a whole lot better, but the rest I think the anime clears. For example, Ricky's girlfriend in the live-action adaptation, didn't add anything to the movie, here she doesn't even exist and I couldn't feel a difference. The action is equally good or bad. But Riki is a lot better in the anime. Yet, I will admit that the live-action film has the better approach. The anime mainly lacked a lot of depth.

I hope there is more to Riki-Oh's character than what I have seen so far *because both are disappointments.
*
3 stars

A pure example of a simple concept retro anime can achieve like no other genre: bad assery.

There is no fat or superfluous information here. The only possible complaint is incompleteness. But with an abundance of excessively violent action, I don't need anything else. This is one of my true filmic indulgences.

Riki-Oh invokes another of my all-time favourite anime characters: Kenshiro. This basically operates on the same playing field as a Fist of the North Star episode, only this time in prison. Every punch blesses us with an ecstatic aftermath, whether it be a detached jaw, an exploding intestine, or a delayed face-melting-implosion. Each violent explosion makes my pupils dilate and my heart flutter.

There is no reason to critically examine this as anything other than an apex predator of hyper anime violence. Either you're with it or you're not.

A pure example of a simple concept retro anime can achieve like no other genre: bad assery.

There is no fat or superfluous information here. The only possible complaint is incompleteness. But with an abundance of excessively violent action, I don't need anything else. This is one of my true filmic indulgences.

Riki-Oh invokes another of my all-time favourite anime characters: Kenshiro. This basically operates on the same playing field as a Fist of the North Star episode, only this time in prison. Every punch blesses us with an ecstatic aftermath, whether it be a detached jaw, an exploding intestine, or a delayed face-melting-implosion. Each violent explosion makes my pupils dilate and my heart flutter.

There is no reason to critically examine this as anything other than an apex predator of hyper anime violence. Either you're with it or you're not.