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U-Jin Brand: Tales of Seduction
Studio: ANIMATE/J.C. Staff Format: 3 OVA Released: 1991 Written by: Face 
U-Jin is notorious in Japan for his controversial adult-oriented manga, and has even had some of his works censored for their content. But, what sets him apart from other adult manga artists are the risque stories his manga tell, satirizing aspects of adult life. Despite U-Jin Brand's adult content, there is a lot to be said about the societal undertones in the show. In three short, separate stories, U-Jin Brand takes us into their pragmatic world where level-headed behavior is something no one seems to have.
The first episode follows the life of a troubled songwriter, who writes songs for up and coming pop artists. His obsession with "lady luck" always provides him with the important answers in his life, and when he is invited to come on a game show to meet the love of his life, he sees this as a sign from "lady luck" herself. The second and third episodes switch focus to Toyama no Benbei, a hugely successful businessman who has an odd obsession with video games, and will do anything to get them. If I were to classify U-Jin, I wouldn't call it a hentai; I wouldn't even call it pornographic. It may contain sex scenes, but you hardly see anything - Hollywood movies have more graphic sexual content. Nevertheless, it still contains much of the typical ecchi fare. But what makes U-Jin so appealing, is how it presents itself. Stereotypes of men, and women alike, are embellished and played upon extraordinarily well. The men are portrayed as people who believe in the concept of abstention, but very often they are lead around by their own desire for self-indulgence. Conversely, the women are shown as stereotypical females with a school girl's dose of naivety, yet they are infinitely shrewder than the men. U-Jin ridicules the male audience by showing men at the lowest of the low: seducing women simply to get a video game, and being utterly obsessed with a woman your entire life until finding out she was obese. Being a man, I found most of these situations absolutely absurd, but at the same time, very amusing. The level of implausibility is what makes this parody of everyday society so funny; everything is shown to the extreme, rife with melodrama, and helps to show us just how nonsensical people (more specifically, men) deal with their dilemmas.  As an author, U-Jin preys upon cultural idiosyncrasies to create a large portion of the comedic situations. Consequently, not being familiar with the Japanese culture will result in a lot of the humor feeling out of place, or you will completely miss out on it altogether. There's always the chance that the type of humor in U-Jin may not appeal to you, even if you are culturally savvy. It's a unique type of humor, very subtle effects, but shoved in your face so blatantly, you can't miss it.
Ultimately, U-Jin Brand is an amusing parody of adult life, done in an adult fashion, and meant for adults. It's unique approach of putting men and women into laughable relationships, purely for grins, makes for a very interesting experience. However, after I finished watching it, I couldn't help feeling as if I watched a show that didn't really end, and never really begun. It was as if I jumped into a movie 20 minutes into it, and had to leave before I saw the ending. Fermented, and saccharine, there are two very different, potentially enjoyable aspects of U-Jin Brand, and I encourage you to give it a try. * * * 1/2 (Above Average) Posted: December 2003
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