I was browsing through my feed last night when I came across this anime. Supposedly I'm watching another anime series right now, but again I sidetracked and ended up watching an old OVA from 1988. At first, I couldn't believe that it's from 1988 because the art style was pretty decent. After stumbling into it, I realized that I'm really into dark romance, so this morning I watched it, and since it was just a thirty-two minute-long OVA, I finished it just before my breakfast. So now join me as I share with you a brief look at the life of a girl betrothed to a demon—her life as a Bride of Deimos.
About the Anime
Bride of Deimos: The Orchid Suite (Deimos no Hanayome: Ran no Kumikyoku) is a shoujo OVA that aired on August 31, 1988. It was animated by Madhouse, and its genres are drama, fantasy, horror, mystery, and supernatural. The main themes of this anime were mythology and psychology. It's only a thirty-two minute-long OVA adaptation of a popular shoujo manga from the 70s that was written by Etsuko Ikeda and illustrated by Yuuho Ashibe. The manga is episodic, so this OVA is based on one of the many stories of its manga titled The Orchid Suite.
So it started by giving a vague backstory on the male lead, Deimos. He is living in the underworld with his sister, and there his sister suffers an eternal rot in despair. In desperation to escape that dismal fate, she begs her brother to look for a beautiful human body in which she can be reborn—and with that he departs the underworld. On the other hand, Minako Ifu was the last one who was seen with her missing friend Hisamatsu; that's why she felt obligated to find out where he is. Hisamatsu is an enthusiast about orchids, and just before he had gone missing, he mentioned that he would visit the house of the master orchid grower.
With that lead, she went to the address where that renowned yet aloof grower lived, but just before she could arrive at that house, she encountered someone. It was Deimos! He declared that she would become his bride, and he would bring her to the underworld. After hearing that, Minako was enraged and refused that idea. She harshly struck his face with her shoulder bag and ran away. But the devil knows everything—and he certainly knows that something bad is bound to happen once she steps inside that house.
Little did she know that as she entered that remote house she'd get entangled in a dangerous situation—but fret not, for Deimos would surely not let his bride be in peril.
So after watching, I can say that I was quite unsatisfied with how it ended. I know it's just a thirty-two minute OVA, but since it's a shoujo one, I thought it would focus on the romantic development of Deimos and Minako, but it seems they left that one half-baked. I'm not really familiar with the source material, so at first, I struggled to grasp what exactly was happening with those two. If I hadn't searched for the summary of the manga, I wouldn't have known some crucial backstory that wasn't explored in that OVA. The mystery of the story ended well, but what really made me unsatisfied was how the romance didn't become the main focus of its plot.
Nevertheless, I liked how they succeeded in building up the tense and mysterious environment. The way they build up the plot—from the suspense and mysterious environment that incites thrill, the consequences of the past that were haunting their present, the drama that's mostly about passion and anguish to characters that featured the flawed (red-flag!) male lead and the damsel in distress female lead—everything definitely screams gothic tone. It's basically portraying the classic gothic plot with the usual dark and twisted romance, which wasn't that common in the shoujo demographic.
As for its art style, I somehow anticipated that it would be beautiful despite how old it was because it's animated by Madhouse. I really like how they succeed in portraying the drama in the backstory of the mystery through those still frames. It's really just unmoving frames, but I'm surprised at how they're able to manage to portray such emotions in those parts. The animation was quite impressive for an anime made in the 80s. It portrayed well the mysteries and shoujo-like expressions of the characters, so for me it indeed succeeded in adapting both the romantic and eerie look and feel of the manga.
Like the previous soundtracks I've heard from the movies or series I've watched, it's pretty dramatic and also nostalgic. The voices behind the characters were also dramatic—to the point that it's quite unsettling for me—but nevertheless they enhanced the high emotions they wanted to portray. Overall, it's really a nice adaptation, and watching it piqued my interest about its manga. I tried to search if it has a sequel, but unfortunately, it turns out that it's the first and last adaptation of the whole Bride of Deimos manga. That somehow disappointed me because its plot was intriguing, especially for me, who's a dark romance enjoyer.
Anyway, my personal rating for this is 8/10. The story progressed quickly, leaving me no time to speculate on what would happen next. I can't say it was rushed because it's basically just thirty-two minutes long, and for me it really did a good job in making an end that's not hanging. I wish it could have lasted longer so that it could delve further into the romance between Deimos and Minako, which I think was cast aside to focus more on the mystery. I looked up a little about its manga, and I read that Deimos was supposed to be her lover, but the Deimos that I watched in that movie wasn't that much of a lover—more like a mentor or guardian. Putting that aside, its plot was really intriguing and gripping, and for me it really deserves more than just an OVA adaptation.
The recent announcement about the new adaptation/remake of Rose of Versailles somehow gave me hope that this too will be adapted in the near future. It's spooky beauty was definitely something else, and for a lover of mystery and dark romance, I was certainly thankful that I encountered this underrated gem. So if you're up for gothic horror with a hint of sinister and intriguing romance, then you definitely need to watch the Bride of Deimos.
Before I end this review, I gladly share with you a sneak peek about it, so—
Have you already seen this anime before? Or is this your first time encountering this anime? If you watched it already and, like me, you also wanted more, then you better read the manga because I'll definitely read it too! That's all for now, Hivers. I hope you enjoyed reading my anime review.
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne minna-san~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the OVA while the first and last picture was edited in Canva.