In many respects, you “had to be there,” and I wasn’t even there. Bakuen Campus Guardress is a supernatural comedy OVA from 1994 and definitely leans into the comedy/parody aspect in a way that may be jarring at times. Many tropes are sent up in this but you do have to realize it’s a sendup—the ambiguously not-related siblings, the over-the-top action and fanservice, is as much as reflection of the anime landscape in 1994 as anything else.
And when it is funny, it is very, very funny. Not just the entire school, but the entire town, is in on the plan to protect Takumi. School goes on, even after it’s been destroyed. Also, the characters’ emotional lives feel real even if the world they live in is satirical. Indeed, the tone may be so subtle that it can take some time to pick up on. There are certainly dated aspects—the incest teasing and some of the offensive villain designs have aged extremely poorly. There is some gratuitous fanservice, but this is Akahori after all. The ED theme is absolutely dire. But there is some heart here. At only four episodes, it’s not a deep time investment, but that has the downside that there really is no room to breathe. The time allotted is used effectively, but there’s very little downtime to get to know the characters beyond Hazumi.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a hidden gem but it wasn’t a bad way to start my day.
