Hayama is far from done in toying with Natsumi and has decided to push her limits just a little bit more.
What They Say:
This feature details the life of a happy housewife. She however lived on the edge in the past meeting many people and therefore experienced a dark chapter in her life. She has worked hard to forget her dark past but her mind and body will not allow her to do so completely. She has done a good job of controlling herself until one day her husband brought a friend over to the house and that particular friend happened to be someone that she had a fling with during her wilder, darker days. The lust that was caged for so long has now broken free…there is nothing holding her back now!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the show in its original language of Japanese. The stereo mix included is the only language track available on the disc and it’s done in a PCM 1.5mbps format. It’s pretty decent but there isn’t a lot involved with it beyond dialogue. Other than some ambient music in a few places and some incidental sound effects, this is pretty much a dialogue and moan driven mix and it carries that job off pretty well and without much issue. We didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally released in 2005, the transfer for this OVA is presented in its original full frame aspect ratio. The source materials for this look to be in good shape with a clean and clear look to it and one that is free of problems such as cross coloration or much in the way of aliasing. The transfer here does look a bit soft though and not too detailed in some areas but a number of shows from Milky tend to exhibit this. Colors look good throughout and the pinks and purples in particular have some good depth to them. Only a few areas such as some of the background scenes looked like they had much in the way of posterization or minor blocking/gradient issues.
Packaging:
The cover for this release looks quite good with the visual of Natsumi in her little pink sweater pushed up so we see her bra and cleavage as well as the sexual look on her face. The cover is very heavy on the shades of pink and they, along with most of the other colors, just look really great here. It’s an attractive and eye-catching design particular for those who favor this kind of material. The back cover is a bit more mellow though it keeps with the pink and has a lot of soft white and yellow space as well. There are a few shots from the show, nothing explicit, and a decent summary of the premise as well as mentioning its manga origins. The production information is clearly listed and the technical section is spot on. No insert is included with this release nor is there a reverse side cover.
Menu:
The menu layout is simple but effective as it uses the artwork of Natsumi from the front cover and plenty of pinks and whites to soften the overall image to good effect. The navigation is quick and easy to navigate, especially as they do a good job of making it as seamless as you can with the DVD menu software. Access times are nice and fast and due to there being only one language and set of subtitles, our players’ presets were pretty much a non-issue with this.
Extras:
There are no extras included but the extras menu does feature the digital copy instructions.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The first installment of Insatiable was fun as it was reminiscent in ways of Taboo Charming Mother with the character designs and being an entry in the “housewife” subgenre for hentai. The opening episode set things up in an interesting way where you had the very sexual housewife who was pushing down her wants and desires to appear more innocent in order to please her loving but somewhat basic lover of a husband. It’s something that fits into a lot of marriages to varying degrees and it was different to see a show that has the husband somewhat actively involved and not just off on some business trip while she gets taken advantage of repeatedly.
The second installment, which does bring the show to something of a close, has Natsumi really having conflicted feelings about the previous encounter. She’s deeply in love with her husband, but he’s not giving her what she really wants and she’s simply not asking for it. She feels warm, close and connected with him, but her mind is wandering to when Hayama simply did her in a way that made her lose complete control. And since she doesn’t want him to know what she did for him, and for herself, she’s giving in to Hayama’s request to visit him on a rented boat with a few of his friends for an afternoon. Forced into wearing a very revealing (and not all that attractive) bikini, she finds herself with Hayama and three male friends as well as a female friend who is the wife of someone else. Another of his playthings, which makes her feel uneasy because Eriko seems interested in Natsumi as well.
What makes her really uncomfortable is that one of the men with Hayama has his face hidden by a mask and he seems to just be interested in watching everything. When Eriko starts playing with Natsumi, it turns into a situation she manages to get out of which allows Eriko to be manhandled in the way she really wants. But she can’t avoid the men altogether, partially because she wants to be used roughly and hungrily by them. They all do so, sans the masked man who Eriko plays with lightly, and Natsumi just revels in it even as she asks Hayama for it to not happen again. Of course, it’s patently obvious who the masked man is and the situation resolves itself in a fairly obvious and neatly tied up way that sort of makes you roll your eyes, but it all fits together in a clumsy way that will work for anyone who realizes that they are watching hentai.
Plot aside, Insatiable makes out pretty well when it comes to the actual character designs and sex scenes. The main appeal is of course in the women and Natsumi and Eriko are certainly well animated and designed. Natsumi gets the bulk of the attention and she fits that good modern housewife look pretty well. The guys are fairly bland overall, and I really had to laugh at Natsumi’s husband who managed to wear a pair of glasses underneath the mask he was given since it so completely doesn’t work well. The sex scenes are decent and with several guys working the girls over at once, there’s a bit more creativity with the camera angles and how they pull it off than it would be with a one on one encounter.
In Summary:
The first installment of Insatiable was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it for what it was. The second volume feels a bit more forced when it comes to the actual plot of the show and the entire setup that’s exposed in it, but in the end we’re just watching it for… well, the ends. They do a decent job of capping off the show with a plot that makes sense in the world of hentai and everyone finds the happiness that they want. This isn’t high art and it’s not the best of adult material out there, but it’s good simple fun in the housewife genre that makes me smile as it avoids some of the really sick or demeaning things that some other shows do. It’s pretty much scat free and that’s a big plus in its favor right there. If only it didn’t take so long from the first volume for the second to be released.
Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles
Content Grade: C
Audio Grade: B
Video Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A-
Menu Grade: B+
Extras Grade: N/a
Released By: Japan Anime
Release Date: January 29th, 2009
MSRP: $24.95
Running Time: 30 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
