When I started doing these Short Run reviews, I asked myself “When is an OVA not an OVA?” After a couple of years, I came up with an answer that I can work with. It is an OVA if there is a full show that it can be tethered to. So, when “Attack on Titan” or “Sword Art Online” have their little things, those are OVAs, as there is a show that it can be tied to. If it is something like “Eiken” or “Jungre de Ikou”, it is a short run series, as there was no show for it to be based from and is a stand-alone short run.

Now, with all that being said, I comment about this short-run item, “Holy Knight”. It comes in at a mere two episodes but leaves a lot on the table, kind of like going to an All-you-can-eat smorgasbord and then, after getting all of it to your table, you get up and get out after one bite. What? You’re leaving that all behind? What gives? What gives, indeed.

The tale starts out simple enough. An entire village is killed off, save for the child, Lilith Kishimoto. There is something odd or special about these farm folk, thus triggering their massacre. Here’s where the first problem occurs. The raid appears to have taken place during mediaeval times, as we are wielding swords and wearing armor. When Lilith grows up, in what appears to be a span of 10 years, it is certainly the modern times, with cell phones and airplanes and Justin Bieber posters. Lilith has grown into the fine woman you see before you, but she has a task. This is a three part task. I can only tell you the first part, as the other parts are major plot points.

That boy she is with, Tokoroten Mizumara, is very important to her overall plans, so what she must do is get him to get her pregnant. She must bear his child. But she comes off like gangbusters and he does not like aggressive women. Ahhhh, but Lilith is also being targeted by the forces that wish to destroy her. In the center of all this is Chizuro Makimura, a childhood friend of Mizumara and a kinda sorta girlfriend. She feels Lilith is being far too demonstrative and is totally confused as to what it going on. Chizuro sees them coming out of the library and Lilith is buttoning up her blouse. Mizumara spends a huge amount of time trying to explain away these shenanigans, but Lilith merely coos, flips her hair and strides away, leaving behind puzzled looks.

Yeah, me as well. I had problems, not because of the plot (I have left out key points that explain everything for you, in case you wish to see the show on your own), but that we go to all this effort, put everything into motion and then grab the next train out of town. The first two episodes are set up magnificently, so we can see how all of this will unfold to a savage and disturbing conclusion filled with death and destruction and murder and mayhem and snacks. There will be snacks, right? I’m not going to the end of the world if there aren’t any snacks. Nope, it becomes ta-ta, see you later, alligator.

Then why have the series? It would make sense if there was a show, but there ain’t zip-a-dee-doo-dah. If you want a show to be a quick fix as you wait for something else to show up, fine, but you will be disappointed and angry as to the results. *sigh* and such promise, too, despite a character that speaks in made-up acronyms to the point you want to KHD (Kill Him Dead).
On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 8 (Interesting use of tricks and tropes)
Plot 6 (A good plot, but it went nowhere fast)
Pacing 6 (Slow, as we were in set-up mode)
Effectiveness 2 (Lost out because of the quick ‘end’)
Conclusion 2 (It reaches a ‘place’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 5 (A similar show would be “Maburaho”)

Overall 4 (Total bail out)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Let’s have sex now.