Dream Hunter REM - OVA #1 Synopsis
Synopsis by Jason Huff
Special Thanks to Dave Endresak (aka AiTenshi)
PART 1
A cab door opens as its passenger, a mustachioed man, looks around for an address. He heads through an alleyway and into the residence of Ayanokoji Rem, a "dream guardian." He enters and is entranced by Rem, a beautiful young woman, although her pet cat and dog, Alpha and Beta, aren't too thrilled with him. He explains the situation...he is the servant of a wealthy family whose daughter has been attacked by vicious spirits. She is in a dream-state not unlike a coma, and the family is afraid she is about to slip away. Rem takes the case and drives with the servant to the estate, where we see a monk watching from the hills who takes an interest in the beautiful girl in the car. (Though we see little of this monk, Enkou Nazomo, in this section, he becomes important later.)
When Rem arrives, she meets the father and mother and heads upstairs. She sees spirits floating all around the girl's bedroom, who are quickly dispatched by Alpha and Beta. Her special goggles reveal that the girl is being devoured by lots of small ghosts and creatures, who seem to be following the lead of a spirit encased within the dream world. She checks the equipment set up by a young specialist (who also finds Rem rather attractive) to make sure that the girl is stable. Rem and her two furry companions fall asleep by the bedside, and soon are in the girl's dreams. When they arrive, they find themselves attacked by small ghosts, but they are quickly subdued. They are nothing compared to the main attraction of this evil fantasy world--a tentacled demon-beast who attacks with the girl still in his clutches. A huge battle ensues between his forces and Rem. Rem changes into her "warrior" outfit and takes the demon head on with Alpha and Beta, who turn out to be a little more than ordinary pets. The bad guy transforms his shape, but she still wins their huge swordfight...but unfortunately, the bad guy still has control over this dreamworld, and he threatens the girl's life with a drill. Rem is forced to surrender, and Alpha and Beta are overcome by tiny spirits.
The demon warrior ties Rem and her pets to various objects in the dreamworld and boasts of his victory. Rem's not been defeated, however - she's got a watch with a timer beeping in the real world, and she can wake up, free of the evil being. As she, Alpha, and Beta wake up, the demon releases his grip on the girl, furious that Rem has gotten the better of him. Rem races outside the house as the demon leaves the girl's dreamworld and attacks Rem in a fury. He takes on the form of a huge dragon and attempts to crush her. It appears that her handgun won't take him out, so Rem shoots him down with her car's handy-dandy built-in rocket launcher! (Don't you wish you had one of those on those bad traffic days!) After the commotion is over, the family comes outside, and the young girl thanks Rem for saving her life. To finish the case, Rem kisses the girl, sealing a mystical protection on her...she will never again be troubled by evil spirits. Rem and her friends drive off as the new day begins.
INTERMISSION
Rem and her pets explain the brain and how it works, along with how it is affected by dreams, in this cute little short.
PART 2
Screams roll down the street as a young woman runs away from a predator in the night. Just as she thinks she's safe, a mysterious old magician with a crooked top hat and an evil grin appears from a blue mist behind her, and soon she's dead, a beheaded victim of the man's bloodied scythe. The police quickly arrive, and the evil magician vanishes down an alleyway. He is shot several times to no effect as he races away, barely escaping. The police, led by Inspector Sakaki, find the villain's residence. It's filled with huge containers... containers holding the remains of several young girls who had vanished over the years. Apparently, the evil being had been conducting experiments...as the police look around, the nasty guy appears once again, gets shot at point blank range four times, and feels no side effects. Using a liquid he empties onto the floor, he disintegrates/vanishes before their eyes.
The next thing we know, Dream Hunter Rem is visited by Inspector Sakaki. Several unexplainable murders, all remarkably similar, have occurred within the last several weeks. They are unexplainable in that people are winding up dead--beheaded and the like--but there is no physical evidence. Inspector Sakaki's daughter dreams of the killer, who goes by the name of Mephisto Ferris and was responsible for the rash of murders seen at the beginning of the episode. Now, it seems, he can attack people within their dreams, able to pop in and out of the dreamworld at random. Inspector Sakaki's daughter's been injured by Mephisto and is unconcious...and apparently trying desperately to survive her dreams while under attack by Mephisto.
Rem agrees to help, quickly "drops" from her office into her car ala Batman, and drives to the Inspector's residence. There is already a monk there--Enkou Nazomo, who we saw briefly in the first section--praying over the girl for protection. He introduces himself to Rem, explains his powers, and they seem like quick friends. Rem quickly falls asleep and enters the dreamworld, where Mephisto is pretending to be the girl's boyfriend. When Rem arrives, however, Mephisto shows his true colors. After a huge fight, Rem is captured after exposed to a special device Mephisto has created.
Rem wakes up to find herself tied to a steel plank under a swinging pendulum. It comes closer and closer to slicing Rem, Alpha, and Beta in two...but Enkou the monk is able to stop the pendulum at the top of its swing, right before it slashes the trio. However, he can't hold it forever with his power on the outside. Rem tells the girl, who has been watching the whole time, to take her gun and to shoot Mephisto Ferris. Mephisto reverts to the appearance of her boyfriend, however, and she hesitates shooting him, not certain who to believe. "It's no good," Rem cries out as she helps the girl remember what happened in the real world...that her boyfriend was killed months ago in a horrible motorcycle accident. Sobbing, the girl realizes the truth and fires. It appears that Rem's bullets do have an effect on Mephisto Ferris, and his weakened power cannot hold Rem and her furry friends any longer. After a few more shots from Rem's pistol, Mephisto exits the girl and attempts to escape through a window with Enkou in hot pursuit. Sakaki wakes Rem, and the threesome fly through the window after Ferris. Rem gets in her car and picks up Enkou. Although Mephisto fires rockets at our heroes, Rem survives the blasts and chases after him, finally taking him out with a special bullet to the head. As half the known police in Japan arrive to clean up after the battle, however, a mysterious, wicked laugh floats through the air as a shadow darkens the night sky...we certainly haven't seen the last of Mephisto Ferris, have we?
Note for parents: although this show contains many "cute" characters that children may find attractive, this show contains partial nudity and violent situations, some of them extremely graphic. This is not particularly unusual for comics and animation designed for girls in Japan, but you may find some of the imagery disturbing for young children. Considering what the MPAA uses for guidelines, this show would garner a PG-13/R rating.
