Baoh the Visitor (OVA)

"It lives in your brain... and it won't let you die!"

- Tagline

Baoh (バオー来訪者) is a single-episode adaption of the manga series Baoh: The Visitor by Hirohiko Araki. It was produced by and was released on September 16, 1989. It was distrubuted by and Shōnen Jump Video.

It was released in English for VHS and laser disc in 1995 by, and then licensed for DVD release in 2001.

Summary
The story begins on a running armored train of the '''Doress Secret Organization. '''A little girl named Sumire has escaped her cell and is pursued by Sophine, one of the Doress' agent. Sumire is a psychic and uses her power to break into a fortified wagon where the containment of Baoh is overseen by Dr. Kasuminome. Sumire then turns a valve, causing a failure of the containment system which reveals a young boy with extraordinary strength and resilience. Sumire and the boy then escape from the train in the ensuing chaos.

Hours later, Sumire and the boy take a rest. The boy named Ikuro reveals that he's amnesiac while Sumire explains her past as an orphan. Suddenly, an assassin from the Doress organization stabs Ikuro from behind. Ikuro and Sumire then flee on a motorbike with the assassin pursuing them. The assassin eventually ambushes Ikuro and inflicts mortal wounds with his combat knife, but Ikuro partially turns into Baoh, heals his wounds and kills the assassin. Meanwhile, Kasuminome demonstrates the potential of Baoh to the sponsors of the Doress organization and Dordo, an elite enforcer of the organization, also shows that bullets to the head and fire can kill the Baoh. Dordo is then deployed with a death squad to hunt down Ikuro.

Ikuro and Sumire take refuge in an abandoned building. Ikuro remembers a car crash and the subsequent experimentations Kasuminome has performed on him. Sumire senses the death squad coming and a battle ensues. Sumire is knocked out in the struggle but Ikuro fully turns into Baoh and decimates the squad. When Dordo takes Sumire hostage, Baoh uses his stinger hairs to melt Dordo's skin, only to reveal that Dordo is a cyborg whose loss of skin is a minor inconvenience. Fleeing with Sumire, Dordo goads Ikuro to come to the Doress HQ to take her back.

Back at the HQ, Kasuminome torture Sumire so that Ikuro can sense her suffering and lure him closer. Ikuro scales a cliff leading to the HQ and is ambushed by Dordo on a helicopter who tries to shoot him with an explosive bullet. However, Baoh manifests a new ability and projects an energy field returning to bullet to Dordo, destroying the helicopter and killing the agent. Baoh enters the HQ but a psychic on Doress' orders confronts him. Walken is a powerful psychic but Baoh eventually throws a sharp arm-blade into his skull, taking him out. Desperate, Kasuminome engages the self-destruction of the building.

Ikuro breaks into Sumire's cell, disables the laser defense set up in the room and revives her. Meanwhile, Walken has regained consciousness; the arm-blade has destroyed Walken's bandana which was a psychic limiter, driving him berserk. Walken confronts Ikuro and opens a hole on the ground, making everyone fall into a cavern including Kasuminome and Sophine who were in an escape pod. Ikuro silently points out to an escape route and Sumire leaves him after a tearful goodbye. In the ensuing battle against Walken, Baoh prevails by using a laser to his advantage, and Walken, Kasuminome and Sophine die. The cavern collapses.

Years later, Sumire is still free and is shown waiting by the beach near the HQ, knowing that Ikuro is slumbering in the depths of the ocean.

Trivia

 * Hirohiko Araki thought the OVA was really well made, especially considering the limitations on its production. However, he felt that it was a bit of a waste that it adapts both manga volumes into a single VHS. He would have liked to see the two volumes of the manga adapted separately.