It’s the not too distant future. The scientific basis of magic has been discovered and sorcery has become just another scientific phenomenon. It creeps into every aspect of human activity, and therefore must be controlled and regulated. A government bureaucracy is established, the Bureau of Sorcery Management. That institution is also deemed necessary since those who practice sorcery – and almost all professions do – run the risk of spontaneous transformation into demons bent on death and destruction.

When such a demon is set loose, the Bureau will counterattack with one of its stable of sorcerists; they are the equivalent of magical S.W.A.T. team members. Sorcerists must be licensed, but there are rogues, those who operate for hire outside the regulated confines of the Bureau’s regulations. Such a rogue is Leiot Steinberg, who is accompanied by an odd young girl with the striking feature of four eyes, Kapelteta Fernandez. She seems to have special sight (no pun intended), able to detect the presence of a demon psychically. She and he also have a history together, one that makes her motives suspect and one that burdens him with deep guilt.

Steinberg is tolerated by the Bureau rather then arrested, since he’s so effective at helping to destroy the bloodthirsty demons when Bureau sorcerists are in short supply. (Leiot Steinberg reminds me of Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel, both physically and their slightly depressed personalities. I’m forced to digress for a fascinating tidbit. Keanu Reeves is reported to be planning to play Spike Spiegel in a live action film based on an episode of Cowboy Bebop. It’s been alternatively reported that the episode is either Asteroid Blues or Red Eye. I’m curious to know who’ll be cast as the well-endowed Faye Valentine. Back to the film at hand…)

Since the sorcerists must use tactical sorcery to defeat the demons, they must protect themselves. That’s accomplished by encasing themselves in very special suits of armor known as strait jackets. Also called molds, they serve a dual purpose, helping to protect the wearer from attack by the demon and somehow preventing the use of sorcery to transform them into demons. It does not always work.

What follows is a lot of action, a subplot about yet another conspiracy (a plot device so popular in the Japanese action Anime films I’ve watched), and only a modicum of character development. Alas, the English dubbing leaves much to be desired. In an effort to match mouth movements, the dub is self-conscious in its grammar and expression. The female lead, voicing an agent from the Bureau named Nerin Simmons, sounds too young and immature for her important position. And the demons’ giggles and laughs seem inconsistent with their violent, bloodthirsty natures.

The production values are fine. The death and destruction, from the bloody slicing and dicing of the film’s many victims to the fiery explosions that destroy buildings or demons are the best parts of the animations. I just wish the story had been a bit stronger. A quick visit to the IMDB reveals that this was a three-episode limited run television series subtitled The Relief, The Convicts, and, The Cast. I’m not sure I understand the connection of the titles to the onscreen action, but I can attest to the transparency of the edits that fused those three stories together for this presentation.

The cel count is limited, so you’ll see quintessential Anime jerkiness in character movement. I will once again ask the question, why don’t animators use computer morphing techniques to generate fill frames to smooth out the animation with one image per frame instead of photographing the same cels repeatedly for a 1:2 or, worse, 1:3 cel to frame ratio?

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s aspect ratio of 1.78:1 is presented in a fine looking anamorphic transfer. Perhaps because there is so little material on this disc, the bit budget could be dedicated to the film and with less compression comes fewer digital artifacts. I saw no halos, no mosquito noise, and no macroblocking. Chroma cannot be compared to anything absolute, but with the exception of an intentionally subdued palette, the color rendition seemed quite natural, with persuasively red blood. The video dynamic range is well represented, although blacks come up a bit shy. I noticed no white crush or blooming. Shadow detail is fine. Small object detail, thanks to the absence of halos, is very good, while finely grained textures are good enough.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is excellent. There’s deep bass, satisfying sound effects, dryly recorded English dialog, a forgettable score that telegraphs the feelings the audience should have, and a nice application of surround effects.

The alternative audio track is in Japanese stereo. The optional subtitles are in English.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

There are none on this disc, not even a trailer.

The 76-minute film is organized into twelve chapters.

Final Thoughts

Not up to the quality of Anime produced for the motion picture screen, Strait Jacket has an interesting premise and a reasonable but unexceptional execution. The video and audio qualities excel, but there are no supplements at all.