I’ve yet to see a Yasuomi Umetsu film that didn’t have a depressing ending, so I was very eager to see how this one would end. I won’t spoil anything for you guys so I’ll just give you a sneak peek as to why this deserves a perfect 10 in my book.

That animation and artwork—where the women are gorgeous and the men look like dogs that miraculously evolved—get a two-thumbs up is already a given, as some people who are familiar with masterpieces such as Kite and Yellow Star would agree to. Gruesome action scenes with all the bloody details showing the aftermath of violence would also be expected. Hentai scenes that are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination have always been his strong points. Ah, yes, and never forget the absolutely mind-boggling titling that would have you thinking of moderately loud sound—as what mezzo forte actually means in the field of music—when the plot doesn’t have anything to do with music at all. Why, was Kite about flying piece of paper held by long strings? It wasn’t either. I won’t pretend to understand how Yasuomi Umetsu’s mind works so I’ll leave it at that. Who knows, it could actually mean something symbolic?

Women empowerment anyone? Just like in Kite, the girls here look positively deceiving. They are defined by cutesy clothes, pastel fluffs, and even panda icons etched on just about every non-living property. But watch out for their hands and feet because they can make grown men cower to the floor in pain, agony, and fear. What’s more, it’s just out of the ordinary how the “Orange Girl” and the “Psycho Bitch”, as they are called in the movie, are somehow psychically linked despite their obvious hatred for each other. This makes for an interestingly creepy angle, one that makes you wonder if they might come from the same gene pool.

What makes Mezzo Forte different from all other hentai anime, and even from the other Yasuomi Umetso works I’ve seen are the amazing display of counter intelligence and the insertion of humor in the overall gory scenario. Thank heavens for that, because I really had a craving to see h-anime characters make good use of their gray matter soon after watching mentally incapacitated titles like Shusaku and its successors.

Yes, you read me right when I mentioned humor. I actually found it in Mezzo Forte. Fancy that. It’s such a refreshing change to experience hilarity in an anime that is meant to be violent and horridly graphic. You can find it in little things like in how the characters execute assassination jobs, or how a beetle car can climb gutters and sewer stairs, or how old tricks still work on stupid blundering gun toting dickheads. It’s just sheer poetry how surprises are pulled off and leave you satisfied. Like I said, it’s a nice blend of counter intelligence and dry wit.

I just wish more hentai titles like Mezzo Forte would come out. Maybe then we wouldn’t actually have to defend our appreciation for hentai by rationalizing that there really is something mentally stimulating in this particular arena.

Individual Rating: Art/Animation: 10 Story/Plot: 10 Characters: 10 Sounds: 9 Ecchi Level: 10

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2002 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Mezzo Forte, Anime Hentai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.