Desert Punk Volume 3 - Vixen of the Desert   Starring (voice): Chihiro Suzuki, Tomoko Kotani, Chiwa Saito and Jiro Saito MVM RRP: £15.99 MVD2251 Certificate: 15 Available 08 June 2009

When Junko shows up with a shady job and a shadier benefactor, Desert Punk wants nothing to do with earlier. Finally convinced by the well-endowed reward, they set off in search of treasure. Sure that Junko is up to no good, Kosuna keeps her eye on the desert vixen. But with a secretive and possibly deranged employer and her mentor distracted, Kosuna better use both eyes. A bizarre turn of events leaves Junko their captive, and Desert Punk decides to show mercy. Taking a few days to "deal with" the traitor, our amorous hero is convinced that his day has finally come. But be careful Desert Punk, for what goes around, comes around...

Desert Punk (Sunabōzuis) is based on Usune Masatoshi's manga series. Volume 3 features episodes 9-12 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.

Life and Game sees Desert Punk and Kosuna working with their rival, Junko, on a new job for a wealthy businessman who claims to know the secret location of a mysterious city packed with treasure. For Desert Punk's help, he will receive 10,000 Yen. But when they finally reach the deserted city they discover that it's littered with the corpses of past treasure hunters and is guarded by a seemingly indestructible robot warrior.

Guardian and Treasurer Hunter continues the story from the previous episode. We learn about the old man's past and the real reason why he's so keen to enter the mysterious city full of treasure. Junko, not surprisingly, betrays Desert Punk, and our hero faces off against the robot guardian.

Crime and Punishment and for her betrayal in the last episode, Desert Punk takes Junko back to his secret love dungeon in order to get her to agree to have his child. But when he accidentally locks them in a room and forgets the combination to allow them to escape it looks like the two will die together.

Little Girl and Rescue sees our hero employed to rescue the daughter of a wealthy businessman. However, Desert Punk gets more than he bargains for when he discovers that the little girl is a spoilt individual who doesn't realise the danger she is in.

Extras include Survival Game Course (19 min, 18 sec Japanese featurette that sees two presenters go to a survival shop to check out what equipment is available to purchase. It's basically a huge ad for the store); Desert Punk Side Story (4 min, 35 sec black and white comic strip (without sound) which was originally from the Ultimate 2004 Air Gun Catalogue); textless opening and closing titles and trailers for other releases.

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Darren Rea