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by Luis Reyes  
Bio Hunter Box Cover
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synopsis

In the middle of orgasmic glee, the young Marie becomes consumed by a ravenous hunger so intense that the demon within her, literally, wells up and chomps off her lover's hand. Infected with a disease that bio-chemist/freelance demon hunter/campus playboy Dr. Koshigaya describes as a demon virus, Marie is only one of many victims in this nondescript metropolis. Fortunately, this hapless victim receives Koshigaya's anti-demon serum in time.

Koshigaya's partner, Dr. Komada, another bio-chemist, and who has like so many others contracted the disease, controls his inner beast, using his first hand insight into the affliction to aid the duo's mission of exorcism. But doubts about the chance for a normal life aggravate his longing to meet a woman and settle down.

Searching for the vera causa of the epidemic, Koshigaya and Komada have a chance encounter with the grand-daughter, Ms. Murakami, of a reclusive mystic, Bokudoh Murakami. The old soothsayer eventually unveils an elaborate conspiracy headed by a high-ranking government official who, himself, only seeks a cure for the demon virus.

However, in his pursuit to return to humanity, Komada discovers a greater truth to being.

review

Nightmarish beasts, corrupt political figures and a hapless, sexy innocent who bares her mamms more than once in "Bio Hunter's" hour of footage adorn this sci-fi/horror adventure, which makes up for in philosophic introspection and surprisingly sympathetic characters what it lacks in pacing and flimsily treated science.

Stepping into hackneyed terrain from the very beginning, manga writer Fujihiko Hosono does manage to subvert conventional notions of demonism by turning to the not-so-exact science of geneology, debunking any types of mysticism. Scriptwriter Yoshiaki Kawajiri has Dr. Koshigaya narrating "Hunter's" scientific premise:

"Let's, for a moment, dismiss Darwin's theory that the evolution of any species requires hundreds of thousands of years of very slow evolutionary change and assume that a virus could bring about sudden, drastic change. Then perhaps we can assume that stories of ghostly apparitions and monsters throughout this world were all caused by an evolution of virus contamination."

Kawajiri stands inexorably behind this conceit even when the token wise old psychic spouts portents and warnings. Koshigaya, an eternal skeptic, explains how this second sight stems from a chemical arrangement in the body not, from an otherworldly sixth sense. Molding the elements of the fantastical into tangible concepts, Hosono keeps his creation rooted in terra firma.

Koshigaya's partner Komada also bastes this well-served bird with a savory flavor. Infected with the very demon virus he's committed to eradicating, his body becomes the stage for a classic Jekel/Hyde battle to save his soul. But as the story progresses, doubts surfaces as to whether his humanity even still exists. In maudlin scenes scored with tearful music, Komoda's feelings for the younger Murakami heighten his sense of desperation and poignantly draw parallels to how real life diseases such as AIDS repress passionate desires.

"Bio Hunter" doesn't necessarily infuse these loftier themes into its derivative plot. But stylistically, director Yuzo Sato's keen sense of tone and humor forgives compromises his team has made to the hack-boys in management who were probably worried about marketing this one to the masses. Koshigaya, university professor by day - demon hunter extraordinaire by night, slides like a glove into the role of noir detective. Character designer Hirotsugu Hamazaki cuts "Hunter's" hero from the mold of the classic, weathered dick. His continuous voice-over feeds the film with a tongue-in-cheek narcissism; he has a womanizing personality; he's awkwardly armed with a gun that shoots anti-viral capsules; his unkempt visage belies an obsessive compulsion to know. He is the portrait of a man who will always be alone and like it, a campy, complimentary match for Komada, a man tortured by his longing for love.

A mix of the bizarre, noir and sappy romance, "Bio Hunter" drives its themes, if not its plot, boldly into the hyper-real, fusing mythical lore with earthy science to tantalize fears of both.

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