Here we have the very first of three Violence Jack movies and at 37 minutes, this one here by Ichirô Itano is also easily the shortest. Like most other anime, it is based on a comic. The film is known under 2 titles, namely "Harlem Bomber" or "Slum King". Of course, these are the English titles and in favor of IMDb's spell checking software, I will do without the Japanese original title here in my review. The original language of these slightly under 40 minutes is Japanese too, so you may want to try a dubbed version or subtitles unless you speak the language. This definitely not the kind of anime you want your kids to see, lots of nudity and sex, rape even, lots of violence too and graphic sex scenes, but also sensual at times. But the style fits the story here and that's why I give the overall outcome a thumbs-up. It's no real greatness and I am not really curious about parts 2 and 3, but anime lovers can sure check it out. I personally liked the Mari/Ken love story and escape story more than the one about the title character in this post-apocalyptic destroyed world, but that's subjective of course. Anyway, if you like Japanese animation, then give this pretty old work a go. It's had its 30th anniversary already last year.
Violence Jack (TV Mini Series)
Violence Jack, Part 1, Slum King (1986)
User Reviews
Review this title13 Reviews
An animated B-movie
chris411-21 September 2001
To its credit, I did watch this anime all the way through. Most of Go Nagai's productions have that effect on me. But if you're a fan of anime, keep in mind, not all anime that makes it to this side of the Pacific is good.
There were some half-hearted attempts to bring some sophistication to this story, but personally, I was quickly distracted from those attempts by the gratuitous breast shots and the fountains of blood.
There is also an attempt to build Savage Jack into a anti-hero, which doesn't completely succeeds, and winds up making him more of a thug than anything else.
There were some half-hearted attempts to bring some sophistication to this story, but personally, I was quickly distracted from those attempts by the gratuitous breast shots and the fountains of blood.
There is also an attempt to build Savage Jack into a anti-hero, which doesn't completely succeeds, and winds up making him more of a thug than anything else.
Eviscerate me, please
Wwmbrd5 March 2015
This OVA is short and craptacular, so this review will be too. If there's anything redeeming about this OVA, it's got to be the gratuitous, grisly violence. *Disclaimer: Not an 80s anime guru by any means
Art: 7 Despite how old it is.. they did at least try to make the gore brutal by drawing in viscera and not just red waves. A couple of satisfying moments, mostly eh otherwise.
Enjoyment: 4 As stated above, if you like grisly, (but cheesy) violence, and some random sexual violence thrown in to be a shocker, there's some entertainment to be gleaned from this. Otherwise, it's asinine and absurd.
Sound: 3 Cheesy as hell 80's music. Probably ripped from a C list porno and the creator thought Violence Jack was so stupid that it wasn't worth suing over.
Story: 2 Imagine Mad Max, make the plot nonsensical with the only unifying theme as violence, and 30 minutes long.
Characters: 2 Violence Jack doesn't even speak in this, yet they make it a point to beat you over the head about explaining how intelligent he is... Well, he's good at using his knife to intelligently eviscerate people, and that's about all. The rest of the 'cast' are a bunch of aimless morons who serve little to no purpose other than to be cannon fodder and take up some screen time running around.
Overall: 3.6 (rounds up to 4, because I laughed a couple of times at how ridiculous it was) I was told this was an 80's schlockfest of depravity and ultraviolence. Perhaps I'm just really desensitized to violence, but there wasn't anything abhorrent or reviling here. Violence Jack succeeds in that it achieves what it set out to do. It's not trying to provoker deeper thought or offer extended introspective metaphor. It promises violence, and delivers. I'll give them points for trying; the 80's were a shocking time.
Art: 7 Despite how old it is.. they did at least try to make the gore brutal by drawing in viscera and not just red waves. A couple of satisfying moments, mostly eh otherwise.
Enjoyment: 4 As stated above, if you like grisly, (but cheesy) violence, and some random sexual violence thrown in to be a shocker, there's some entertainment to be gleaned from this. Otherwise, it's asinine and absurd.
Sound: 3 Cheesy as hell 80's music. Probably ripped from a C list porno and the creator thought Violence Jack was so stupid that it wasn't worth suing over.
Story: 2 Imagine Mad Max, make the plot nonsensical with the only unifying theme as violence, and 30 minutes long.
Characters: 2 Violence Jack doesn't even speak in this, yet they make it a point to beat you over the head about explaining how intelligent he is... Well, he's good at using his knife to intelligently eviscerate people, and that's about all. The rest of the 'cast' are a bunch of aimless morons who serve little to no purpose other than to be cannon fodder and take up some screen time running around.
Overall: 3.6 (rounds up to 4, because I laughed a couple of times at how ridiculous it was) I was told this was an 80's schlockfest of depravity and ultraviolence. Perhaps I'm just really desensitized to violence, but there wasn't anything abhorrent or reviling here. Violence Jack succeeds in that it achieves what it set out to do. It's not trying to provoker deeper thought or offer extended introspective metaphor. It promises violence, and delivers. I'll give them points for trying; the 80's were a shocking time.
A lot of gratuitous violence and nudity can't replace a plot.
a0510226723 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Violence Jack" is that animated adaptation of one comic book by Go Nagai of the same name, that was a sequel of one of his best works, "Devilman". I never read the comic book, but this one just did't convince me. I don't have trouble with graphic violence, or sex, or nudity, but what I hated about "Violence Jack" is that this movie seems to be made by people that consider the anime fans as people who doesn't care about the plot if it has naked girls, graphic violence and a "cool" main character. The first time that I saw this, somebody said that this was a "true" anime. Well, I don't agree. I don't think that the best thing about Japanese animation, but the good stories and interesting characters and good animation as well. (Actually the animation of "Violence Jack" isn't that bad) And this title lacks of everything that I mentioned before: The characters are bland and one-dimensional, everything is gratuitous and illogical, not to mention the plot holes and the absurd ending. I think that "Violence Jack" isn't my cup of tea. I guess that if you are more into this kind of stuff you will enjoy this more than I did.
Insane cartoon violence
Dr. Gore7 May 2003
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
I'm not a big fan of anime but when I saw this video, I couldn't resist. Violence Jack just looked cool. I'm glad I did pick it up because it is an insanely violent tale of Violence Jack and his battles with underground scum.
An earthquake has leveled Tokyo. Now there are three sections: Sections A, B, and C. Violence Jack gets dug out from the rubble. He is a giant. He decides to side with the all girl Section C. Before too long, Section B goes hog wild and attacks the other two sections. Violence Jack gets involved.
I loved this tape. The "Violence" in the title wasn't lying. Violence Jack lives for carnage. The blood was gushing and the heads were rolling. He has a great fight with the head of Section B who is also a giant. There is a mass rape scene too. A little weird for me to see cartoons curse, rape and bleed gallons of blood. Maybe I should rethink my attitude towards anime. They could be on to something.
I'm not a big fan of anime but when I saw this video, I couldn't resist. Violence Jack just looked cool. I'm glad I did pick it up because it is an insanely violent tale of Violence Jack and his battles with underground scum.
An earthquake has leveled Tokyo. Now there are three sections: Sections A, B, and C. Violence Jack gets dug out from the rubble. He is a giant. He decides to side with the all girl Section C. Before too long, Section B goes hog wild and attacks the other two sections. Violence Jack gets involved.
I loved this tape. The "Violence" in the title wasn't lying. Violence Jack lives for carnage. The blood was gushing and the heads were rolling. He has a great fight with the head of Section B who is also a giant. There is a mass rape scene too. A little weird for me to see cartoons curse, rape and bleed gallons of blood. Maybe I should rethink my attitude towards anime. They could be on to something.
The best bit ? The end credits.
The screen dweller9 July 2001
This post apocalyptic tale of giant on giant violence and porno rape sets out to be serious and dark but with the aid of a ridiculous set of character designs , bad dialogue and a bland script , fails. Badly.
Add to this set of flaws a hero who is just as unlikable as the villains he graphically crushes under his big feet , and you get a violent , corny , and unintentionally hilarious anime that's best watched and mabey (just mabey) enjoyed while drunk. Very , very drunk.
Violence jack ? Unintentionally funny jack more like. grrrr.
The screen dwellers (mark out of 5): *
Add to this set of flaws a hero who is just as unlikable as the villains he graphically crushes under his big feet , and you get a violent , corny , and unintentionally hilarious anime that's best watched and mabey (just mabey) enjoyed while drunk. Very , very drunk.
Violence jack ? Unintentionally funny jack more like. grrrr.
The screen dwellers (mark out of 5): *
Nasty
Rectangular_businessman21 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The second Violence Jack OVA (Though it was the first one to be released in the English version) It is also the most infamous one, and for very good reasons: Apparently somebody thought that the previous OVA of Violence Jack, "Harem Bomber" (The third one to be released in the English version) was too tamed, so more graphic violence and explicit depictions of rape were added, resulting in something in something very unpleasant to watch.
While the animation of "Evil Town" is slightly better than one from "Harem Town", this anime is so nasty that it doesn't have any kind of entertainment value. It's incredibly sexist (Portraying men as rapists monsters and women as helpless victims that are unable to do anything by themselves) and misanthropic, and also there are lots of scenes that doesn't make sense (Why Mad Saulus transforms into a demonic being after he performs his act of cannibalism?)
This was a horrible anime, which I prefer to forget.
While the animation of "Evil Town" is slightly better than one from "Harem Town", this anime is so nasty that it doesn't have any kind of entertainment value. It's incredibly sexist (Portraying men as rapists monsters and women as helpless victims that are unable to do anything by themselves) and misanthropic, and also there are lots of scenes that doesn't make sense (Why Mad Saulus transforms into a demonic being after he performs his act of cannibalism?)
This was a horrible anime, which I prefer to forget.
My own Waterloo
residentgrigo25 February 2015
My 1/10 mangaupdates review for the manga but the 3 OVA's are direct adaptations: This Slum King is well documented already and Bennett The Sage did not even review the equally abhorred ova which is banned in Australia/Germany when he reviewed in for real so you know what to expect. Just look at (my) categories and know that cannibalistic futanari rape (yes that is a sentence) is a thing and not the worst part of the manga. Dick slicing and then devouring, child rape and.. are in it too with no further meaning to back them up so this is basically gore porn only. The first few volumes were published as shonen so that is just lovely, the art is meh at best, the continuity and tone make no sense, the cameo's are a disgrace and i hate these characters already so let's stop. One day a group will unleash the entire thing on the world but i had my fill a decade ago. Till then you will have to imagine the fire or RUN FOR YOUR LIFE/SANITY. Berserk reigns supreme on the other end of the spectrum and only his Dante Shinkyoku (8,5/10) and to a lesser degree Mugen Utamaro (7/10) should be read but both are also adaptations. Amon - Devilman Mokushiroku (6/10) is the only part of the Devilman(4/10) mythos i can give to other people without fearing a lawsuit btw. Fun fact: Sho Aikawa wrote the ova's for V.J. and the ones for Urotsukidōji too. He also wrote most of the first FMA anime so that puts it's misguided gecko ending in perspective doesn't it?
Typical anime
acetylcholinenjoyer25 September 2010
This movie was so boring. It was your typical anime boring crap, filled with satanism, female nudity (But almost nothing of Male nudity, that's why it sucks) ugly designs, a stupid plot and boring and bland characters.
This show was so stupid and boring, that it was completely worthless.
There wasn't any single good thing about this, everything about this show sucked.
This movie is pretty lame, even for anime standards. Unless you are an anime fan, don't waste your time seeing this crap.
What a stupid movie, and what a waste of time. This sucks hard
This show was so stupid and boring, that it was completely worthless.
There wasn't any single good thing about this, everything about this show sucked.
This movie is pretty lame, even for anime standards. Unless you are an anime fan, don't waste your time seeing this crap.
What a stupid movie, and what a waste of time. This sucks hard
Perhaps the Greatest Achievement of the Modern Era
Tgraf19 February 2002
Hyperbole aside, this is one of the most entertaining videos available. The story is incomprehensible, at least it is to my western sentiments, and it makes no attempt to adhere to any form of rational logic.
In the not too distant future, in an underground post apocalyptic Tokyo, gangs fight each other for control of food and resources while trying to escape to the outside world. While digging through the rubble, one of the gangs discovers a gigantic man just standing behind the wall. He's just friggin' standing there. And we later discover that he's been standing there for six months!
Well, suffice it to say, the gang wants to use this behemoth to protect their sector of the wasteland from their much more rowdy and violent rivals, who ride around whooping it up on their motocycles. They also posses an indestructible glandular freak of their own, who has a girlfriend with an oddly testosterone-enhanced voice.
Back at HQ, the modern day hercules explains that he has no given name, but in a moment of high drama, he pulls out his jack knife and, in a deep sonorous voice, declares "I have taken my name from my trusty jack knife, so you can call me Jack." The newly christened "Jack" then pauses dramatically before thrusting his knife upon the table and in a hushed, intense voice adds, "VIOLENCE JACK!"
That's when I knew I was watching a masterpiece! But more was to come.
Eventually the rival gang's leader decides to meet this much-talked-about He-man--mano a mano! At this point in the movie--nay,I shall now refer to it as a film--the fact that there is a third gang comes to light. A gang that consists entirely of women. Thus, during a climactic stand-off between the biker gang and Violence Jack's gang, the all-female-gang steps in and asks Violence Jack to work for them. What follows is an utterly hilarious rape scene, in which it is explained that these women once belonged to Jack's gang, before all the male members drugged them and had their way. I still chuckle when I think of the last shot of the rape flashback, in which a screaming, half naked woman lunges out of a room, screaming in a whiny, high-pitched voice, "Help me!" before she is yanked back into the room.
Call me sick if you will, but you don't know what it means to laugh before you see this.
Violence Jack agrees to join the girly gang, which p***es off the other two gangs. I'm pretty hazy on the details of what ensues, but I know it consists of a Battle Royale, involving torn limbs and splattered brains--violence that would make the director of Fist of the North Star cringe. At one point Jack breaks through a rock wall with his bare hand, which leads me to the question: If Violence Jack can break through walls with his bare hands, what the hell was he doing trapped behind a rock wall for six months. Eventually, Violence Jack kills his rival's girlfriend. In a deeply moving scene, the hulking mass comes across his girlfriend's corpse and does what any other grieving boy friend has at least thought about--decides to eat her.
Apparently eating one's significant other in Japan is believed to give one superhuman strength. Thus, at this point, the biker gang's leader goes beserko and vows to destroy Jack. However, he never counted on Jacks skilled fighting, nor his urbane insults, which he insists on repeating again and again. By the second time that Violence Jack refers to the rival gang's leader as "Captain Butt-wipe" I was on the floor, writhing in a pool of my own urine.
I feel that I have said too much, but fear not--words alone cannot properly articulate how amazing this work of art is. Watch it for yourself, and share it with your loved ones. By the time the last bloody battle rolls around, you too will fall in love with the one they call Violence Jack.
In the not too distant future, in an underground post apocalyptic Tokyo, gangs fight each other for control of food and resources while trying to escape to the outside world. While digging through the rubble, one of the gangs discovers a gigantic man just standing behind the wall. He's just friggin' standing there. And we later discover that he's been standing there for six months!
Well, suffice it to say, the gang wants to use this behemoth to protect their sector of the wasteland from their much more rowdy and violent rivals, who ride around whooping it up on their motocycles. They also posses an indestructible glandular freak of their own, who has a girlfriend with an oddly testosterone-enhanced voice.
Back at HQ, the modern day hercules explains that he has no given name, but in a moment of high drama, he pulls out his jack knife and, in a deep sonorous voice, declares "I have taken my name from my trusty jack knife, so you can call me Jack." The newly christened "Jack" then pauses dramatically before thrusting his knife upon the table and in a hushed, intense voice adds, "VIOLENCE JACK!"
That's when I knew I was watching a masterpiece! But more was to come.
Eventually the rival gang's leader decides to meet this much-talked-about He-man--mano a mano! At this point in the movie--nay,I shall now refer to it as a film--the fact that there is a third gang comes to light. A gang that consists entirely of women. Thus, during a climactic stand-off between the biker gang and Violence Jack's gang, the all-female-gang steps in and asks Violence Jack to work for them. What follows is an utterly hilarious rape scene, in which it is explained that these women once belonged to Jack's gang, before all the male members drugged them and had their way. I still chuckle when I think of the last shot of the rape flashback, in which a screaming, half naked woman lunges out of a room, screaming in a whiny, high-pitched voice, "Help me!" before she is yanked back into the room.
Call me sick if you will, but you don't know what it means to laugh before you see this.
Violence Jack agrees to join the girly gang, which p***es off the other two gangs. I'm pretty hazy on the details of what ensues, but I know it consists of a Battle Royale, involving torn limbs and splattered brains--violence that would make the director of Fist of the North Star cringe. At one point Jack breaks through a rock wall with his bare hand, which leads me to the question: If Violence Jack can break through walls with his bare hands, what the hell was he doing trapped behind a rock wall for six months. Eventually, Violence Jack kills his rival's girlfriend. In a deeply moving scene, the hulking mass comes across his girlfriend's corpse and does what any other grieving boy friend has at least thought about--decides to eat her.
Apparently eating one's significant other in Japan is believed to give one superhuman strength. Thus, at this point, the biker gang's leader goes beserko and vows to destroy Jack. However, he never counted on Jacks skilled fighting, nor his urbane insults, which he insists on repeating again and again. By the second time that Violence Jack refers to the rival gang's leader as "Captain Butt-wipe" I was on the floor, writhing in a pool of my own urine.
I feel that I have said too much, but fear not--words alone cannot properly articulate how amazing this work of art is. Watch it for yourself, and share it with your loved ones. By the time the last bloody battle rolls around, you too will fall in love with the one they call Violence Jack.
Bloody Awful.
DM-1915 April 2002
Disregarding all thoughts of plot, acting and continuity, Violence Jack: Slumking is the worst anime I've seen (apart from parts 1 and 2). The story - what there is of it - concerns a giant named Jack who walks a desolate wasteland looking for people to kill.
This particular "episode" involves a character named the Slumking who captures females so he can train them to be sex slaves and then sell them on to towns. Jack decides he doesn't like this and decides to kill everyone.
Utter rubbish, with not enough sex to engage Hentai fans, not enough (good) violence to engage the casual viewer and so many errors regarding basic storytelling, it's sometimes even hard to understand what's going on. Give this one a miss everybody, you'll be doing yourself a favour.
This particular "episode" involves a character named the Slumking who captures females so he can train them to be sex slaves and then sell them on to towns. Jack decides he doesn't like this and decides to kill everyone.
Utter rubbish, with not enough sex to engage Hentai fans, not enough (good) violence to engage the casual viewer and so many errors regarding basic storytelling, it's sometimes even hard to understand what's going on. Give this one a miss everybody, you'll be doing yourself a favour.
Passable Hentai fare!!
mccarthystuart22 March 2005
It has to be said that this first entry into the 'Violence Jack' saga is not the most well-animated Anime there is on offer (the animation in the other two episodes is much better)and it really is starting to show its age a bit, but you could certainly do a whole lot worse than watch this.
To begin with, there's certainly plenty of gore and typically sadistic Anime violence to keep the viewers happy.
I found the earlier version of Jack in this cartoon to be surprisingly quite fearsome. He looked pretty much like some giant, satanic 'Hell's Angel'. He was every inch the cold-blooded demonic killer you'd expect him to be with a name like 'Violence Jack'.
What I did find a little disappointing, though, was that the ending seemed to me to be somewhat unresolved.
Overall, okay if you're looking to kill some time.
Rating: a reasonable 5/10
To begin with, there's certainly plenty of gore and typically sadistic Anime violence to keep the viewers happy.
I found the earlier version of Jack in this cartoon to be surprisingly quite fearsome. He looked pretty much like some giant, satanic 'Hell's Angel'. He was every inch the cold-blooded demonic killer you'd expect him to be with a name like 'Violence Jack'.
What I did find a little disappointing, though, was that the ending seemed to me to be somewhat unresolved.
Overall, okay if you're looking to kill some time.
Rating: a reasonable 5/10
Violent, Violent, Violent Anime
Leroy-829 October 2001
First things first, this is not the greatest work of anime ever by any means. If you want to see the greatest anime ever (well, in my humble opinion) that title belongs to Ghost in the Shell.
True, Violence Jack is crudely animated and poorly scripted, but it is also a visceral assault on the senses. These animators have just poured their darkest fantasies onto a blank canvas and the product is Violence Jack. The most compelling aspect of this film is that you are shocked but riveted by its twisted reality.
The rape scenes are appalling and you can not believe the animators have got away with such a graphic depection of the act. You dismiss them as sick perverts, and perhaps they are, but at the same time you are rivited to the screen in much the same way that people slow down as they pass the scene of an accident. You want to see what chaos and retribution Jack will inflict on the characters responsible.
I guess what I'm trying to say is its easy to dismiss what at first glace seems poor, but the fact that this film pushes the boundries of taste and decency, much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Scanners, will keep you bemused. This series of films became a cult classic in my house last year after we watched them on the Sci-Fi channel. The final film in particular is responsible for one of the greatest lines of dialogue of all time;
BAD GUY: "GO TO HELL!!!"
JACK: "I'LL GO HOME WHEN I'M GOOD AND READY!"
True, Violence Jack is crudely animated and poorly scripted, but it is also a visceral assault on the senses. These animators have just poured their darkest fantasies onto a blank canvas and the product is Violence Jack. The most compelling aspect of this film is that you are shocked but riveted by its twisted reality.
The rape scenes are appalling and you can not believe the animators have got away with such a graphic depection of the act. You dismiss them as sick perverts, and perhaps they are, but at the same time you are rivited to the screen in much the same way that people slow down as they pass the scene of an accident. You want to see what chaos and retribution Jack will inflict on the characters responsible.
I guess what I'm trying to say is its easy to dismiss what at first glace seems poor, but the fact that this film pushes the boundries of taste and decency, much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Scanners, will keep you bemused. This series of films became a cult classic in my house last year after we watched them on the Sci-Fi channel. The final film in particular is responsible for one of the greatest lines of dialogue of all time;
BAD GUY: "GO TO HELL!!!"
JACK: "I'LL GO HOME WHEN I'M GOOD AND READY!"
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