OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Spirit Warrior

The Kujakuoh was the first manga by artist Makoto Ogino which ran for five years. The series gained enough of a following that it got a pair of Hong Kong live-action films titled Peacock Kings, plus a 5-episode OVA series that was released in English from U.S. Manga Corps also being rebranded as Spirit Warrior. The OVA contains some outstanding animation done by a trio of studios for each episode including AIC, Madhouse, and Studio 88 that in itself works against the total production with each episode featuring different character designs throughout the whole series. This anime didn't get much attention at the time of its release largely because the story has such a complex lore behind it getting into various aspects of Chinese and Japanese religion. Dark Myth went in this same direction, although Spirit Warrior has a larger cinematic vision to it with astounding action sequences.

After a large opening narration about how the forces of good battled the forces of evil at the dawn of mankind, the accumulated darkness was sealed in a golden skull called the Dragon Orb which has been passed down from various Buddhist branches and kept away from outside eyes seeking power. One of these evil seekers is an organization of Neo-Nazis that operate in broad daylight with swastika symbols planted on everything including their slowly escaping giant blimp that approximates as stealthy in modern day as hijacking an entire football stadium. Kujaku is a Buddhist priest with no clue about his past that is later brought to light for him as his elder priests inform him, he was one of a pair of twins that were the children of one of their agents. The twins were originally intended to be the living incarnation of an evil spirit called the Regent of Darkness after claiming the Dragon Orb. Kujaku retrieves the Orb for the Buddhists to use against Neo-Nazis, while anther faction plots to seal the Orb away not leaving up to the whims of mankind. The Nazis make off with the Orb and retrieve it for their leader Siegfried von Mittgard who uses Kujaku's twin sister Tomoko to access the powers of ancient darkness for a Fourth Reich. Kujasu and his allies lead an assault on the Nazis stronghold in Europe to foil their plans for world domination.

Spirit Warrior is bogged down with a tortuous amount of lore and conflicting factions instead of it being a simple "good guys vs. bad guys" plot. There are so many different characters being introduced that there is no room for growth, plus you can see the idiosyncrasies of each episode in flux since it was bounced between three separate studios. The anime is an acquired taste if you are venturing for some flowing visuals, but the story gravely needs to learn how to keep a steady pace to its overall arc.