OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Mermaid's Scar

Mermaid's Forest was the last of the Rumik World OVAs based on various Rumiko Takahashi manga. Mermaid's Scar returns to the same storyline in a new OVA this time animated by Madhouse. Similar to Central Park Media's releases of Rumik World, this anime was released through Viz only on dubbed and subtitled VHS tapes. The dub features a completely different cast than Mermaid's Forest with the Ocean Group taking the reins in their first anime dubs. Where Mermaid's Forest carried a type of mysterious tune to it, Mermaid's Scar escalates the carnage by several steps with a greater emphasis on bloodshed.

Taking place sometime after Mermaid's Forest, the immortal twosome of Yuta and Mana are still roaming around Japan coming to a stop at a town near the beach where they run across a little boy named Masato who is moving in with his mother. Yuta and Mana gained immortality from eating the flesh of a mermaid, although a new element is added to the lore as some can eat the flesh while turning into a monster called a Lost Soul. Masato is revealed to also be in the mermaid-eating club after feeding a piece of flesh to his nanny that transforming her into a grotesque ghoul. Masato's mother is revealed not to be his real mother but a survivor of an attack in WWII that he also granted immortality to, but in a watered down capacity where her healing factor isn't as strong. The immortal boy Masato says he's over 800 years old and that he needs to get someone to play the part of his mother every few decades, this time with his sights on Mana. Yuta has to deal with Masato's crafty traps that are like a fatal version of Home Alone, and the little creep carries a loaded gun and a large meat cleaver on hand just in case he needs to behead any undying enemy's head. Masato comically drives off in car with Yuta and Mana forcing him off a cliff to his apparent fiery demise with the immortal deathless duo left to continue their never-ending road trip.

Mermaid's Scar takes the sinister J-horror established in the original OVA and cranks it up to full grindhouse territory. There isn't as much of the body horror aside from one Lost Soul mutation as the tone had changed to a higher extent of bloodshed as if it's a slasher flick peppered with monsters. Madhouse's style of animation is remarkably contrasting to that used in Mermaid's Forest so it might cause any watcher some inconsistency if you watch one OVA after the other. Viz's license for it ran out a good while ago making this weighty piece of anime history quite unreachable. Don't forget, immortal anime boys are pure evil!