Crimson Climax: Island of Sin

Just when Ryo Inasa thought she was free, the island drew her back in. Answering to Hotaruko’s plea, Ryo could not take the final steps to break the stranglehold the island has over her, despite all the atrocities she witnessed during her stay. As the priest had once told her, the residents always come back to the island. Based on the hentai game Hotaruko by Tiger Man Project and animated by the popular studio Green Bunny comes Crimson Climax: Island of Sin, the final volume from Anime 18, to finish off the battle between Hotaruko and Ryo Inasa.

Stats
DVD: Crimson Climax: Island of Sin
Release Date: 3/7/2006
Release Studio: Central Park Media / Anime 18
ADR Production: Handheld Post

MSRP: $29.99
Audio: English 2.0 DD, Japanese 2.0 DD
Subtitles: English, Signs-Only
Episodes: 2
Runtime: 60mins
Extras: Art Gallery, Crimson Climax Trailers, Anime Artform, Anime 18 Trailers

Notes: Review is based on a Screener copy of the final product.

Crimson Climax: Island of Sin comes with two options. You can watch the third episode on its own or watch a recap of the first two episodes before beginning the final episode. The recap episode was put together by Anime 18 so it is dub-only with Ryo Inasa (Likki Dee Split) providing a voice-over narration to a mix of storyline and sex scenes. The scenes don’t play in the order they originally happened in the series and shouldn’t be considered a useful replacement if you were trying to skip watching the first volume of the hentai with this thirty-minute recap.

Our third episode begins with Ryo Inasa trapped within a world she was forced into. Hotaruko hangs off of her delectable cousin, waiting for Ryo to utter those words she wants to hear, “Hotaruko.” Yes, until Ryo gives in and calls out Hataruko’s name, she is stuck in an endless sea of sexual need which can’t be satisfied no matter how long and how much she plays with herself. Master Mizuno’s mannequin body is wearing out again and Kasumi knows that she will be the next sacrifice to save their master. With Bungo now dead, Kasumi has no real reason to live and tells Ruka where Bungo kept a special sword that could kill even a god like Mizuno. Ruka can’t stand seeing her lover trapped under Hotaruko Kizuki’s control and heads off to find the weapon. Meanwhile, Ryo cracks under the constant fingering and squeezing of her own hands to scream out Hotaruko’s name. In an instant the two are together, but Hotaruko makes sure to tease and torture Ryo first for having fallen for Ruka before herself. Ryo bucks and grinds beneath Hotaruko as the evil girl fingers her cousin on the red flower cliff under the stars.

Koshi Ashihara, the high priest, stands at the well desperately trying to clean Kasumi’s blood off his fingers after sacrificing her. As Ruka enters the temple grounds, the confused priest thinks he sees his daughter Kasumi and tells her to use the holy sword she found to seek revenge on the Kizuki family. Ruka runs off as Koshi maniacally laughs behind her. Meanwhile, Hotaruko grinds her pussy against Ryo’s in an attempt to cum together. Hotaruko repeats over and over that she wants to hear she’s far better in pleasing Ryo than Ruka was. As they cum, Ryo passes out and enters a strange dream-world of memories from her past and elsewhere. She remembers from Koshi that Itsuki gave birth to two children, Hotaruko and Mizuno, before waking up in Kasumi’s bed. The Priest brought her inside after Hotaruko left her in the field of flowers. As Koshi moves closer to use Ryo himself, Ryo manages to find an opening and run away. As Ryo heads down the hall, Ruka confronts the priest with her sword. Koshi changes his mind at the sight of Ruka. If Ruka can satisfy the priest, then Koshi will let Ryo leave the island.

Ruka is used repeatedly while Ryo finds herself trying to figure out the how and why of all of this. The priest picks up the holy sword so that he may kill all of the Kizuki family, including Ryo, when mannequins burst into the room. Naked and scared, Ruka grabs the sword as Koshi is taken down so that she can find Ryo before it’s too late.

Crimson Climax finishes with a weird ending, but given the other two episodes I can’t say I’m very shocked by this news. Ryo manages to get in two big sex scenes while Ruka squeezes in one more with the priest. Ryo and Hotaruko’s girl-on-girl scene in the beginning as Ryo squirms and arches under her own fingers for awhile remains the best of the bunch. They’re not bad, but not as memorable as some of the earlier scenes in comparison. The Japanese cast continues to provide some well done moaning with the unlisted seiyuu for Ryo and Ruka. The English production by Handheld Post is a regretful waste of time, despite having most of the same voice actors as the previous volume. The change in studio, director, and script writer turn the good dub for the series into a trivial collection of swear words and poor acting.

Crimson Climax: Island of Sin wraps up the Hotaruko story with more sex than violence, unlike the last two episodes. The final episode seems more like a last-minute squeeze by the Japanese to get the final five minutes of story to last for another thirty-minute volume. Ultimately, it fails to deliver what was so well done the first two episodes. The video remains solid and no noticeable subtitle errors were found. The DVD extras, not counting the recap episode, are limited to the US trailers for the series and a slideshow of screencaps. Crimson Climax: Island of Sin is for the completist and those wanting some additional sex scenes with Ryo, Ruka, and Hotaruko. If you’re coming into this title for the storyline, you’re probably better off staying with volume one and grabbing volume two in a sale.