Mezzo Forte

The Danger Service Agency is a shady outfit run by three mercenaries who take jobs nobody sane would touch, and their new contract is simple: kidnap Momokitchi Momoi, a crime boss who murders baseball players for losing games. Straightforward enough, until it isn't. Because Momokitchi has a daughter named Momomi, and she is genuinely unhinged in a way that makes her father look like a disappointed little league coach. The job goes sideways fast, and now the DSA — pragmatic ex-cop Kurokawa, gadget-obsessed Harada, and the extremely violent Mikura — are just trying to survive the fallout. This is a two-episode OVA from 2000, directed by Yasuomi Umetsu, the same person behind Kite. If you've seen Kite, you already know what you're signing up for: fluid, almost uncomfortably well-animated action, a retro-cyberpunk city that feels lived-in and grimy, and content that is very much not safe for work. The adult scenes are there, they're explicit, and they're easy to skip if that's not your thing — the action alone holds up. Mikura is genuinely fun to watch in a fight. Her hand-to-hand style has this chaotic, improvisational energy that pairs well with the dark slapstick comedy running through both episodes. If you liked Gunsmith Cats or Black Lagoon — competent women with guns in morally gray situations — Mezzo Forte scratches a similar itch, just with a harder edge and a shorter runtime.