The six-episode anime
OVA Devil Hunter Yohko (
Mamono Hunter Yohko) follows the life of a boy-crazy sixteen-year-old schoolgirl named Yohko Mano...who also happens to banish demons from the Earth as a
Magical Girl Warrior.
For centuries, the Mano family has worked as a tribe of demon slayers. Yohko's grandmother, Madoka, served as the 107th Devil Hunter; Yohko's mother, Sayoko, would have become the 108th — but since a Devil Hunter must remain a virgin
until she comes of age to take on the responsibility, Sayoko's pregnancy meant the Devil Hunter lineage would continue with Yohko. While she sits on the cusp of her fated birthday
and remains a virgin, Yohko could follow in her mother's footsteps — and the demons infiltrating her school would
love to help her break the lineage once again.
ADV Films released all five episodes of the series (and the music video special) in the United States — it made the first OVA its very first anime release — and the series became a
Gateway Series for many anime fans of
the early 1990s. The series also proved somewhat more successful in the States than in Japan: the producers made the last episode with the foreign market in mind.
Do not confuse this series with
Demon Fighter Kocho, a similar tale which takes place at Heian University.
Devil Hunter Yohko contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl
- Adjective Noun Fred
- Aliens Made Them Do It: In the first OAV, the Director brainwashes Osamu into almost raping Yohko. Right before he assaults her, Osamu speaks to Yohko and hypnotizes her as well. The Mind Control over both of them breaks only via Madoka's Big Damn Heroes.
- All Your Colors Combined: In Devil Hunter Yohko 6, the Monster of the Week's Time Stands Still only effects either Yohko or Ayako (Color-Coded for Your Convenience); this happens when they team up to defeat the monster.
- Amanda Winn Lee: The English VA for Yohko.
- Aya Hisakawa: Yohko.
- Badass: Yohko may be the most badass "Magical Girl" ever after she transforms.
- Badass Grandma: Madoka.
- Beta Baddie: Ayako.
- The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Averted and played straight in episode 1.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Azusa.
- By the Power of Grayskull!
- Cartwright Curse: The guys Yohko has crushes on don't tend to live very long. Poor bastards.
- Cassandra Truth: Sayoko simply can't believe that Yohko's "young new friend" is really Madoka.
- Clothing Damage: By the wazoo.
- Cross-Dressing Voices: Genderflipped, believe it or not. Yohko's grandmother Madoka was voiced by a male (Yuji Mitsuya), not counting the OAV where she reverted to her prime age (and Satomi Koorogi took up the young Madoka role).
- Dark Magical Girl: Ayako.
- Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday
- Demon Slaying
- Disappeared Dad: Yohko's father is never present or even mentioned in the entire series. Though her mother is shown talking to someone she loves on the phone in episode one, the man's identity is never revealed. It's rather implied through her delinquent and irresponsible behavior that Sayoko was a single teen mom.
- Evil Twin: Ayako, Yohko's identical cousin from Devil Hunter Yohko 6.
- Femme Fatalons
- Filler / Four is Death: The producers refused to make an actual fourth OVA episode; instead, they put together a number of music videos as a special release in lieu of an actual episode. Since the episode wasn't released with an actual number in Japan (it was called "Super Music Clip"), ADV came up with the title Devil Hunter Yohko 4-EVER as a way of working the number four into the series.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Yohko and Ayako's voice actor, Aya Hisakawa, would later reprise a role as a Magical Warrior Girl — Sailor Mercury.
- Hot Mom: Sayoko, who had Yohko when she was about 15.
- Hotter and Sexier: Inverted; the OVAs became less focused on sexy fanservice and more on story as they progressed.
- How Much More Can She Take
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Madoka. Thankfully, it happened only when she was temporarily de-aged.
- Invocation
- I Want Grandkids
- I Was Quite a Looker: Madoka.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Yohko wins her first battle.
- Yohko herself at the claws of Tokima.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Yohko again.
- Kappei Yamaguchi: Osamu Wakabayashi.
- Let's Get Dangerous: Yohko when she first receives her ring. Complete with Theme Music Power-Up.
- Magical Girl
- Male Gaze: Take a drink every time the camera focuses on Yohko's exposed breasts.
- Near Rape Experience: First OAV, when Osamu is Brainwashed and Crazy and Yohko is mindwiped.
- Never Mess with Granny
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nice job leading your family's greatest enemy right to the seal on its powers, Yohko.
- The Ojou: Reiko.
- 108: Yohko is the 108th Devil Hunter.
- Role Called
- Sidekick: Azusa.
- Time Paradox: It would have been averted if, during the episode 5 climax, Yohko's ring summoned the previous generations of Devil Hunters instead of Haruka's.
- Fridge Brilliance is in play when the two connect their rings together before traveling back to the present, so Yohko's would have transferred its accumulated power back into Haruka's.
- Transformation Trinket
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Osamu Wakabayashi.
- Virgin Power: Played straight and subverted. All the girls in the Mano family must remain virgins until they become Devil Hunters — but once they gain the Devil Hunter power, they no longer have to stay virgins (and Madoka wants great-grandkids!).
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Ryuichi seems to be the only one of Yohko's love interests who doesn't die, but he gets nothing more than a token mention at the end of episode 5.
- Osamu disappears after the 1st episode too.
- Who You Gonna Call?
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