Deimos no Hanayome: Ran no Kumikyoku

Trapped in a dark abyss, the once-beautiful Venus is rotting in her own despair. Unhappy with her fate, she calls on her twin brother Deimos to find her a new body.

Meanwhile, Minako Ifu is in a predicament, as her friend Hisamatsu has gone missing while searching for a master orchid grower. On her way to locate him, she encounters Deimos—who declares that she will become his bride and return to the underworld with him. Fleeing in disgust, Minako discovers the house her friend was pursuing and meets the endearing siblings Touko and Kaname Ooba.

However, the situation is not as it seems, and Minako quickly becomes entangled in a nefarious affair—all while being followed by the charming Deimos.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Deimos Main

Nozawa, Nachi Japanese

Ifu, Minako Main

Shou, Mayumi Japanese

Ooba, Kaname Main

Shiozawa, Kaneto Japanese

Venus Supporting

Fujita, Toshiko Japanese

Hisamatsu Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Ooba, Touko Supporting

Mutou, Reiko Japanese

Rintarou Director

Kawajiri, Yoshiaki Key Animation

Hamasaki, Hiroshi Key Animation, Animation Director, Character Design

Koike, Takeshi Animation Check

Reviews

Sep 18, 2025

lithiumflower

Recommended

"Oh Orchids, that which is born from ashes should return to ashes."

...Oh yeah, for sure, gotcha.

I can't decide whether it was gutsy or just bonkers for Rintaro and Madhouse to adapt a single chapter from the middle of a seventeen volume manga into a half-hour OVA and provide only the barest of context for who the main characters are and what they have going on before we enter this particular storyline. Who is Deimos? Why does he apparently stalk Minako? And why does he appear so little in an anime with his name on it? Only the manga -- and Wikipedia -- knows! Into the ... deep end with you, no water wings allowed.

But enough about the story -- the animation is the real draw! (Pun intended.) Lovely character designs that lean into that '80s shoujo goodness? Check. Beautiful flowers, scenery, and backgrounds? Of course. Every frame oozes shoujo melodrama in just the right way. The catch? Deimos no Hanayome was only ever released on VHS, so it kind of looks like you're watching it through the dirty window of the house across the street on a dollar store telescope. Personally, I had the joy of watching it in a whopping 480p. Irony, thy name is Deimos!

The '80s truly were the wild west of shoujo OVAs. Was Deimos no Hanayome good? I mean, not especially. But did I enjoy every second of this lovingly over-animated, paradoxically potato-quality, melodramatic mess of no context? Oh, you know it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Sep 3, 2025

Caerys

Mixed Feelings

Wow, this production spans around 30 minutes, without credits, and yet somehow being pursued by an incestuous fae bishounen feels like a minor side-plot. And so we end up with too much, so that everything means too little. Reading other interviews, I have been made aware that this is based off of a manga series and not, like I for some reason thought, an original project going straight onto the (small) screen, but even so, I am struggling to forgive a lack of any context whatsoever. This is made somewhat worse by its title centering the Deimos plot line - while Deimos spends, what, two ... minutes on screen and receives no mentions whatsoever throughout. All in all, I'm just wondering whether, given the right extent of resources in case that was an issue, this OVA could have been more hooking for an uninitiated watcher, encouraging one to read the manga for the joy of it. In terms of delivering on the promise of the title and intro, and being internally coherent, it's a cock-up.

Visually, on the other hand, DnH emerges victorious, simply stunning. While nondescript, Deimos' aesthetic scratches that emo/sad boi itch. The heroine's outfits are equally alive and lively, flowers bloom beautifully, some satisfying "camera" work. As a series of images, it is a very pleasant watch.

You can't really get to know any characters in the course of such a short run, so there isn't much to score here. However, I enjoyed a moment with the female protagonist, specifically her confidently carrying herself on her self-imposed investigation, her stoic expressions in the face of some danger. It reminds me of how (predominantly male) detectives are shown nonchalantly sauntering across corrupted cities and onto crime scenes, calm, collected, and for a change, it's somehow fun to see that for a fictional woman on a mission. I wouldn't call it characterisation, it might not even be an intentional choice. At any rate, from my perspective, it merely made for an interesting sequence I enjoyed in this messy little show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jun 14, 2022

Sapphireloid

Not Recommended

Perhaps it was dumb for me to watch this without the context of the manga, but I'm so used to being able to watch something without reading the manga that this just put me off, to be honest.

It feels like they tried to fit some sort of exposition in at the beginning of the OVA but I found myself quickly lost and bored. Some scenes cut so suddenly and weirdly that I became confused and had no idea what was happening anymore. While the mystery aspect of the plot is nice, there are various things and points I found myself laughing at in how ... ridiculous they are.

Overall, this OVA is unremarkable. If you've read the manga it's probably more enjoyable, but other than that it's a snoozefest.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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