Just after watching Midnight Panther's intro sequence, I was awestruck by the three incredibly beautiful ladies who make up the group. There's a panther / pussycat for every taste -- from the sultry brunette Sonya, to the playful blonde Kei, and to the sensuously dark-skinned Lou. The Midnight Panthers are paid assassins who eliminate their targets smoothly and mercilessly. Sonya does the job through seduction -- she kills after sex. Kei transforms into a panther and devours her victims. And Lou, well, she always gets stuck with non-human targets. Much to her dismay, she ends up having to slay various monstrosities with her trusty sword.

Character development is very weak. We never get any background on the girls, except for Lou. Half the time, we also don't have any information on their targets. An anime which capitalizes on assassins and bounties should be more detailed with regards to those areas. Alas, it is not so with Midnight Panther. While the sexual content isn't so explicit, there is a considerable amount of violence, blood, and gore. The bad guys are very sadistic. On one occasion they punished this old man by crucifying him with large nails and stabbing him repeatedly with a spear on the stomach. They finally ended his life by cutting his body in half. Midnight Panther is not for the faint-hearted fan.

The sex consists mostly of upper body nudity and a few peeks at the pumping lower extremities. Visually speaking, the artwork is nothing less than exquisite where the three girls are concerned. Otherwise, everything else looks so-so. The animation is basically okay, but some parts could use more fluidity. The English dubbing is tolerable. At least they retained the original Japanese versions of the Pussycats' songs. Be warned that watching the girls is the best thing about this title. As it is, Midnight Panther is little more than rather entertaining eye-candy. If you want something with more depth, you may want to look elsewhere.

Back to Hentai Movie Review Section