This is a strange series (not “Eiken” strange, more strangely strange or oddly weird). Kekko Kamen is a parody of Gekko Kamen. It was originally a joke that Go Nagai, the original manga artist for this, expected the production company to deny. Instead, they embraced it whole-heartedly. Rather odd for 1991, both in idea and content. And all accomplished in a mere four episodes.

We find ourselves at the Toenail of Satan’s Spartan Academy of Higher Education (and try and get THAT on a bumper sticker if your child was an honor student), where students are put through rigorous educational and testing travails that serve no real purpose other than to abuse and denigrate. Our heroine in question, Mayumi Takahashi (topless, lower right), is really not that good of a student. Whether she lacks the wherewithal to be a better student or the academic structure does not allow her to thrive or perhaps she is misdiagnosed and really has ADD or some other learning disability, she is constantly at the bottom of her class. When the Midnight Test Session goes badly for her, she is removed by her teacher (the man dressed in hospital scrubs, including the face mask) and confronted by the Principal (The Toenail of Satan, another masked man who wear a jester mask; the two guys in upper right) who then proceeds to sexually humiliate our hapless scholar. She is trussed up with chains, spread-eagled across a wall, frantically awaiting her fate.

A new female teacher of discipline (who looks suspiciously like a Nazi of some caliber or ilk; that is her getting clobbered in lower left) comes in and proceeds to remove Mayumi’s clothing with a whip, stripping it away lash by lash. Before the final action can be done, before she is completely denuded, the Teutonic Terror is stopped by….Kekko Kamen! A statuesque woman, she wears red boots and a red bunny hood (think of Mexican wrestlers). But the rest of her is naked, naked, naked! She will not allow this degradation to continue and she proceeds to defeat the perverted forces that run this school.

OK, this anime is as silly as it gets. And though she is naked, for the most part, you do not see too much. One problem is the Flying Pubic Shot, where Kekko basically stuffs her crotch into the face of the perpetrator after she has flung herself across the room. She sends him into unconsciousness with a smile on their face. But the shot is pixilated out or there is a modesty bar, so you do not see anything grointacular…not that you need to.

But this is one perverted show, believe you me. It may be tagged as hentai, but there is nothing sexual as you might see in “Milk Money” or “La Girl Blue”. It’s just nakedness and truckloads of suggestiveness. OK, there is a huge amount of weirdness, like when electric tentacles are used to shock the nipples of our naked heroines and the fact that the teachers are open in their harassment of the female population, while the boys can fall into a big hole. And poor Mayumi is the constant brunt of their attention.

Rarely have you seen a show with so much nudity. Even Ikki Tousen would have a hard time keeping up (although they have had surges of success), but, as I said, that for all the nudity and perversion which is presented, it still is not as bad as other shows I have seen and not nearly as fun. At least it doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is and this rather loose and freewheeling attitude adds to the head-shaking activities that occur on campus.

We never find out who Kekko really is; it probably doesn’t matter. The only thing you can be assured of is whomsoever you may think it is, it isn’t. And a lot of the plot work is thinly designed to be able to get girls naked (not that we have seen that great of a change with this approach in 20 years), so it will fall apart under the slightest of scrutiny. It really is a guilty pleasure, and if you already like things that come from Go Nagai, you will enjoy this. I laughed at it for the off-the-wall, willfully perverted good time that it is. And why none of the parents complain about the caliber of education their children get is beyond me.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork            6 (Indicative of its time, but not up to current standards)
Plot                   2 (Hyuk, hyuk! Don’t fool yourself, junior)
Pacing               7 (Gets a bit sluggish as you wait for Kekko to show up)
Effectiveness     5 (Double hyuk, hyuk)
Conclusion        7 (More of a save point than a genuine conclusion)
Fan Service       8 (A similar show would “Sekirei”)

Overall              7 (Still a good time to be had)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. But don’t bother looking for anything deep, OK?