With his reputation on the rise, Desert Punk finds himself the honoured guest of a village in need of protection. True to his nature, he wears out his welcome by abusing both their hospitality and their women, turning the villagers against him. But Desert Punk's not finished playing yet... From double-crossed to double whammy, our hero finds himself with an annoying apprentice who quickly puts him back into debt and a cursed job no one else will dare attempt...

Desert Punk (Sunabōzuis) is based on Usune Masatoshi's manga series. Volume 2 features episodes 5-8 of the 24-episode series and is directed by Takayuki Inagaki (Black Cat), with character designs by Takahiro Yoshimatsu (Ninja Scroll; Slayers; Trigun).

In today's politically correct society Desert Punk is either a breath of fresh air or a relic of the past depending on your point of view. Relying heavily on Benny Hill style innuendo, mainly centring around Desert Punk's obsession with large breasted women, the series is a bombastically comic celebration of juvenilia, filled as it is with sarcastic put-downs, explosive action and plenty of lechery and lewdness.

Episode 5, Water Well and Trap, sees Desert Punk arrive in a village that expects to have an abundant source of water once its drilling operation is completed. Realising that once the village is a main water source every raider from miles around will be trying to take control of it, the village leader hires Desert Punk to fight off any gangs. The drilling isn't going as quickly as thought and Desert Punk is annoying the villagers by consuming their rationed food and water at an alarming rate. He also has his eye on the village chief's daughter - who he's tricked into sleeping with him if he is successful in beating off (if you'll excuse the pun) any potential raiders.

Rocket and Wandering: Desert Punk successfully chases off a gang of raiders, but accidentally knocks himself out. The villagers take the opportunity to drive him, and a village spy, out into the middle of the desert. On awakening, and realising he's been tricked, Desert Punk vows to walk back to the village and claim what is his. But with limited water rations the chances are not looking great for our hero.

Master and Disciple: After being saved from Death by a gang of men from his village, Desert Punk returns home to discover that people are starting to question how much of a hero he actually is. A familiar face appears, Taiko - aka Kosuna - who still wants to be trained in the art of being a bounty hunter. Swayed by the fact the young girl will one day grow up to have huge breast like her mother, Desert Punk agrees. But first he sets her a test - doing chores around the village in a bid to repair Desert Punk's image.

The Dog-girl and Rock: Desert Punk and Taiko are on a mission to destroy an ancient rock which has a curse on it. Desert Punk thinks it's an easy way to make money and improve his reputation, but Taiko is scared of the curse. As things start to go wrong at every turn, even Desert Punk starts to wonder about the curse and the mysterious Dog-girl who is supposed to protect the rock.

Extras include Scenes From the Studio (11 min, 37 sec look at video footage recorded in the studio of the Desert Punk radio programme); Desert Punk Campaign Caravan (9 min, 06 sec featurette that follows someone dressed as Desert Punk and a Japanese model as they travel to magazine studios to promote the series); Textless Opening and Closing segments; and trailers for other releases.

Another almost faultless collection of episodes packed with wall to wall juvenile humour.

9

Darren Rea