‘Idol of Darkness’ [UK/Europe title]
AKA ‘Sex Beast - Idol of Darkness’ [North American title]
AKA ‘Injuu / Injū Nerawareta Idol’ [Original Japanese title]
1996 adult anime - official British DVD release
Outstanding near mint condition throughout (DVD disc looks new, other than some almost invisible fingerprints).
Originally bought from a high street shop. Beware of fake DVDs.
Details
Aspect Ratio : 4:3 - 1.33:1
Is discontinued by manufacturer : Unknown
Rated : Suitable for 18 years and over
Language : Japanese / English
Package Dimensions : 18.03 x 13.76 x 1.48 cm; 83.16 Grams
Media Format : Colour, Dolby, Animated, PAL , All Regions , DVD
Run time : 40 minutes
Subtitles: : English
Language : Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Actors : To Be Announced
Studio : ILC Prime
Number of discs : 1
ASIN : B00007JGKI
Country of origin : United Kingdom
Best Sellers Rank: 9,936 in DVD & Blu-ray (See Top 100 in DVD & Blu-ray)
256 in Anime (DVD & Blu-ray)
Customer reviews: 3.0 out of 5 stars (17 ratings)
Description
Ikumi is a bright young pop singer on the cusp of success, with millions of fans and a promising acting career. She should be looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses, but she's got man trouble. The love of her life just isn't sure he can handle Ikumi's fame and fortune. To make matters worse, while shooting on location, a jealous co-star finds a strange wooden idol in an abandoned temple, and uses it to invoke a hideous demon to be the instrument of her revenge. Will Ikumi's next concert be her last curtain call? She's about to discover that there really are fates worse than death…
Additional Info (copied from rear of case)
Up and coming pop singer Ikumi Murase seems to have everything a girl could want – beauty, fame, fortune and even a handsome boyfriend! But not everyone is pleased with Ikumi’s success. Akira, Ikumi’s beau, is starting to resent the fact that she never has time for him. To top it off, Ikumi’s jealous co-star Ms. Lieh wants to bring Ikumi down at any cost, even if it means shooting herself in the foot… by summoning an ancient demon!
Review(s)
7/10 “Ikumi, the idol who is soon gonna meet an ugly fate.”
chribren1 - June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
"Inju Nerawareta Idol", also called "Idol of Darkness", is an erotic anime directed by Kotaro Ran, and produced by Pink Pineapple.
Basic plot: While the cute pop singer/actress Ikumi is being shoot on location at a shrine, a jealous co-star arrives at an abandoned temple and finds a wooden idol, which she uses to awaken a demon in order to take revenge on Ikumi. Ikumi, while on her next concert in front of lots of fans, is gonna meet her fate worse than death.
Being an anime fan, I've always enjoyed watching anime being made during the 90s. This can vary from being mainstream movies for teens, to much ruder stuff. With the latter being topic here, I find the ones being made in the 90s to be more enjoyable than most of the ones being made in Japan today. Several of these anime have great plots, and hand drawn scenes which tend to look more appealing, regardless if the anime is about demons, supernatural elements or similar stuff.
"Idol of Darkness" is one of the more sexy anime I enjoyed, especially with the revenge plotted by the jealous co-star, and the kidnapping done by the demon itself. The animation itself, as well as the soundtrack, is very typical for any anime being made in the 90s, which are other reasons to like this one. However, this one isn't long as it is slightly under 45 minutes, which is typical with most one-episode ‘OVA’ (Original Video Anime) adult animation made in the period.
Some other similar stuff of the 90s which deal with demons and monsters include: "La Blue Girl", "Twin Dolls", "Demon Beast Invasion", and the whole "Urotsukidoji"-saga which began in late 80s.
My overall rating: 7/10.
1 out of 1 found this helpful.
3.0 out of 5 stars “Neither one thing or the other”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom GB on 11 February 2005
The story is simple and cliched, although reasonably diverting. The animation is of it's period. However, the artwork is good and the scenes are graphic.
Inevitably the sex takes precedence over plot and character development. In its original form this film would probably have been fun as comic smut (3.5 stars max); however, some clumsy censorship has resulted in a very abrupt conclusion which is a bit of an anticlimax that just shows up the deficiencies in the other aspects of the film.
Despite the description, the film is actually in Japanese with English subtitles.
10 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars “Misleading cover”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 March 2004
This is a very Japanese sort of animation style, which is far more erotic/tasteless than I had realised from the cover art and blurb on rear (although with hindsight the female pop idol on the front strung up by saliva dripping tentacles, should’ve been a clue!). In fact, it is pretty explicit in certain scenes so watch with caution!
I’d say it’s worth watching, if you’re into this sort of thing. The animation itself is nowhere near as polished as that from say Miyazake's stable (Studio Ghibli), although there are far worse anime out there. However this is much more of a niche thing with a lower budget, so you would not expect it to be in the same league.
The plot itself has echoes of a number of mainstream Hollywood pictures. Essentially it has everything it needs, some action, emotions, tragedy etc... But whilst is isn’t overly original, it has some charm and interest. The basic premise is that a young singer is so successful, that a rival actress gets jealous of her and decides to take revenge by summoning up a demon to slay her and drag her down to the underworld. Meanwhile, this singer's boyfriend has developed guardian angel-like super powers and uses them to defend her as best he can. In reality, this storyline is only there to string together the various (tacky and sometimes amusing) erotic scenes.
Overall I felt that it was entertaining, but not long enough to justify the cost (at a bit over 40 mins). Nevertheless I can see that it will appeal to a certain audience.
2 people found this helpful