Ask John: Can You Explain the Urotsukidoji Video Releases?

Question:
I have a question about Urotsukidoji. I want to purchase this complete title, but I don’t understand which parts I need. What parts are in the Perfect Collection? Is there a censored version? Or is the Hell on Earth boxed set the most complete and uncensored version?

Answer:
First of all, allow me to make it clear that there are no existing totally uncensored versions of Urotsukidoji animation available. Urotsukidoji part 3 does not contain overt, visual censoring because it’s simply not graphic enough to need it, but all other Urotsukidoji animation is old enough that the censoring is not digital censoring laid over the animation but actually a part of the animation itself and therefore cannot be altered or removed.

Urotsukidoji was originally released in Japan as four series of individual OAV releases over a period of several years. There were 3 episodes in the first series, known as “Legend of the Overfiend.” There were 2 volumes in the second, “Legend of the Demon Womb” series. There were 4 separate episodes in the third “Return of the Overfiend” series, and 3 OAV episodes in the fourth, “Inferno Road” series. The third and fourth series were released in America in their original, uncut separate episode format only on dubbed VHS. The only DVD releases of the third and fourth Urotsukidoji series are in their dubbed, combined and spliced together “movie” versions. The “Hell on Earth” DVD boxed set includes the dubbed, compiled “movie” versions of all four Urotsukidoji series. The Perfect Collection includes the original uncut, but still censored, subtitled Japanese language individual, original 5 episodes of the first two Urotsukidoji series.

For ultimate purists, the only way to get all of Urotsukidoji in its original, albeit partially dubbed, uncut Japanese format is to purchase the Urotsukidoji Perfect Collection DVD and the individual VHS volumes of “Return of the Overfiend” episodes 1-4 and “Inferno Road” episodes 1-3. The next step removed from the individual separate episodes is the Perfect Collection DVD and the “Return of the Overfiend” and “Inferno Road” DVDs which would provide the individual episodes of series 1 & 2 and the “movie” versions of series 3 & 4. Fans that simply want to see all of the Urotsukidoji anime and don’t mind minor editing and only having the option of English or untranslated Japanese dialogue are best off with the Hell on Earth DVD boxed set.