Before there was the phenomenon “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”, there was “Baoh: The Visitor”.
By the same mangaka, Hirohiko Araki, this manga was “Jojo before Jojo”. The series ran in Shonen Jump in 1984, for just 9 chapters, or 2 volumes as a whole, in only five months. And yet, in this short period of time, Araki would show his craftsmanship that would fully shine in the future. From the art, to the story, to the characters, this is a unique and fantastic piece of history.
With a manga this brief, an OVA that tells the whole story was made in 1989, by Studio Pierrot. We’ll take a look at the story, the animation and reoccuring ideas of Hirohiko Araki. This is “Baoh: The Visitor”.
Story and Characters
An evil corporation tests out a new biochemical weapon, an alien larva called “Baoh”, that turns any living being into an over-powered killing machine. They tested it on animals, and now for the first time, on a human. Unfortanetly, this human, named Ikuro, escapes when being transported by train.
The lighting and angles give it a great grim sci-fi vibe. But it wouldn’t be Araki if the muscular guy were not in a fabulous outfit.
“Excuse me, madam, I need to get through here. Don’t mind the leather and general nakedness.”
Our protagonist jumps off the train, but gets hurt by electric cables that he tried to hold on to. He is saved by a little psychic girl, Sumire, that has visions of the future.
Araki can do moe!
BLEH! Araki’s creative visuals are already here!
It turns out that an assassin has been hired to kill Ikuro. He is now on the run with Sumire, and a lot of fight scenes ensue, where Ikuro starts to realise the potential of his newly gained supernatural powers. When a SWAT team led by a cyborg sniper comes after him, Ikuro a.k.a. “Baoh” goes on a violent blood-drenched rampage.
That is practically harmless. The violence in the OVA is much more graphic.
But what has he become?
The evil corporation kidnaps Sumire, in order to lure Ikuro back to the laboratory. Here, the action gets even more intense, with a psychic villain called “Walken”.
He has fire powers that are animated in impressive swirls.
And so, a big battle takes place, the laboratory is destroyed, and “Baoh” goes down with the explosion and the debris. The final fight between him and Walken is well animated and serves as a great climax.
Big laser cannon, big muscles, big explosions. Yes!
And so, the anime ends with Sumire standing on a beach, waiting for Baoh’s return. He’ll be back one day.
While the story seems simple and easy, the scenes in itself are crafted with care, as great action set pieces. I have excluded a lot of scenes here, in order not to spoil them for you. But we are not really here to discuss the story, let us take a look at the themes and the style, which are all very “Proto-Jojo”.
Jojo before Jojo
Araki has a love of naming characters after songs and artists he likes, like “Killer Queen” by Queen, “Speedwagon” as in the band “REO Speedwagon”, and most famously, “Dio”, after heavy metal legend “Ronnie James Dio”.
For the name of the Native American psychic warrior, he went for “Walken”, named after actor “Christopher Walken”.
Perfect!
The concept of “Baoh”, a perfect immortal being and what it would mean, was revisited in several parts of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, mostly with the characters of “Dio” and “Cars”.
Hirohiko Araki, when he started the series in the 80’s, was really fascinated by the idea of macho and strength, and asked himself: how strong do they get, and how is strength measured? And what if a person is immortal? Are they then unbeatable? This is a prominent theme in the first parts of JJBA, and it appears already in “Baoh”.
Hirohiko Araki in an interview about the story of Part 1 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
(Source. Warning: Araki is too pure for this world.)
Also, Araki took the design of Baoh and redid it for Cars, the one of the main villains in JJBA Part 2, complete with lots of muscles, long hair, and arm scythes.
Cars in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency compared to “Baoh”.
“Baoh” easteregg in the JJBA anime adaptation by David Productions. Joseph Joestar is reading the manga on a plane.
Baoh also makes an appearance in the “JJBA: All Star Battle” video game as a DLC character.
As Araki has a deep love for Western pop culture, other references are found as well, like the melting of faces in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, an alien larva seeking for a host from “Alien”, and the cyborg villain aesthetic of the “Terminator” movies.
Only two of many references. Not pictured here: very graphic face-melting.
Tiny observation: The investors wear masks, not unlike the mask from JJBA.
Animation & Early “Posing Style”
The animation still holds up very well for being 27 years old, with outstanding sakuga moments fit for an action series, featuring debris, explosions and gunfire.
Scenes from Sakugabooru:
Impressive shot of Baoh escaping the military and Walken in a cave.
Shot of Baoh getting hunted down by a SWAT team.
Shot of ocean waves in the ED.
(WARNING!) The fight scene between the Baoh monster and the tiger is gruesome, with trademark 80’s hyperviolent gore and blood, and Araki’s odd habit of “animals getting hurt to show how evil the scene is”, which would appear in Jojo prominently as well.
But a special highlight are the early forms of “poses” that would become one of the beloved main attributes of “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”.
All of Baoh’s fighting moves feel very stylish!
Even those inbetweens!
On a side note, I cannot really recommend the dub of this OVA, except if you really want badly acted voices, which have a strange, campy charm in itself. (Baoh himself unfortunately sounds like he was dubbed by someone who happend to stand in the recording booth by accident.) The original voices give the anime more of a proper, serious feel.
Conclusion
“Baoh: The Visitor” is a fantastic trip to the past. Not only to see Hirohiko Araki’s evolution as an artist, but also to revisit the age of 80’s anime. It is only 48 minutes long, but time really flies by in this action packed OVA. The hyperviolence and gore are very much in the zeitgeist of the decade, but the Araki spin on it makes it all the more entertaining. Instead of being just a boring gallery of violence, this anime becomes a camp celebration of 80’s. From the animation, to the character designs, to the music.
If you are a fan of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, give this anime a watch. If you just want to check out the 80’s aesthetic, I recommend this as well. While today is the age of “moe” and “slice of life”, this was the age of musclebound men and hyperviolence. It is interesting to see how preferences, overall artstyles and the general anime culture change. You may just need a strong stomach for all those strong visuals. If you do, sit back and enjoy this little gem from Hirohiko Araki.
The End.
Elena DS 