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Onihei Historical OVA's Video Previews February 22 Release

posted on by Jennifer Sherman
OVA recounting legendary lawman's early days includes pilot, compiled novels

TMS Entertainment began streaming a promotional video for the Onihei ~Sono Otoko, Hasegawa Heizō~ (Onihei: This Man, Heizō Hasegawa) original video anime (OVA) on Wednesday. The video previews the bonuses that will ship with the DVD release on February 22.

The release will include the pilot version of the anime and bundle an exclusive compilation edition of the original novel series and the projects pilot video. The DVD will retail for 5,800 yen (about US$50).

The anime adaptation of Shōtarō Ikenami's Onihei Crime Reports in Edo (Onihei Hankachō or Onihei, the Devilish Bureau Chief) novel series includes the Onihei television anime and the prologue OVA. The television anime premiered on Monday.

The 40-minute OVA was actually in production before the television anime, although the television anime premiered first. The OVA sets up the character of Heizō, the man feared by thieves and miscreants as the "Demonic Heizō" during the Edo Period. A young man traces the stories about Heizō from Kumehachi, Hikojū, Omasa, and others who know and admire him. The young man learns about Heizō's early years and how he became a police operative.

Shigeyuki Miya is directing the OVA at Studio M2, the new studio of Madhouse and MAPPA founder Masao Maruyama, and designing the characters. Miya is also doing the same duties for television series. Maruyama is producing, and TMS Entertainment is credited with production for both the OVA and television series. Onihei is the first Ikenami work adapted into anime.

Kenyuu Horiuchi (Joker Game's Lieutenant Colonel Yūki, Re:Zero's Wilhelm van Astrea) plays the protagonist Heizō Hasegawa in both anime. Romi Park (Fullmetal Alchemist's Edward Elric, Attack on Titan's Hanji) plays Omasa, a female spy who loves Heizō. Daisuke Namikawa (Lupin the Third's Goemon Ishikawa, Persona 4 The Animation's Yū Narukami) plays Heizō's son Tatsuzō.

The historical novel series depicts Heizō Hasegawa, who metes justice on wrongdoers and supervises the crackdown on arsonists and robbers in Japan's Edo period (1603-1868). Maruyama commented that the anime will not just follow the original novel's story, but will show the unique appeal of anime.


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