Strait Jacket

""I challenge the laws of nature and reason by summoning the power of destruction!""

Strait Jacket is a 2007 OVA based on a series of light novels that can basically be described as Hellsing with the magic system from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and dashes of Steampunk.

To put it in more detail, it's about Leiot Steinberg, wearer of a Badass Longcoat, who fights demons along with his partners: Isaac Hammond, Kapelteta and Nerin Simmons. The premise is simple: In an Alternate History of 1899, sorcery is now a common technology, whose use has crept its way into every industry. However, those that use it run a risk... that they may become demons. Despite armor known as Molds designed to prevent this, there is always a chance. Thus enter Tactical Sorcerists, those that use sorcery to battle demons, while running the risk that they may become demons themselves.

Not to be confused with a digital straitjacket, better known as DRM.


 * The Ace: Leiot
 * All There in the Manual: The light novels, to most western viewers; they haven't been given official translations, and if scanlations exist they're nigh-impossible to find.
 * Exclusively Evil: Demons, by way of Ax Crazy.
 * Applied Phlebotinum: Magic in general acts as this.
 * Ax Crazy: Demons are always this. The only exception is, and we see him as a demon for all of five minutes before Leiot turns him into bloody chunks.
 * Badass: Pretty much everyone at some point or another.
 * Badass Longcoat: Leiot
 * BFG: The magic wands used by Tactical Sorcerists.
 * Bifauxnen: Filisis. Aside from a barely-noticeable bust, she could pass for a White-Haired Pretty Boy.
 * Blood-Splattered Innocents: . Interesting in that   Later used for a Gory Discretion Shot when  . He wears it like war-paint until the end.
 * Body Horror: Every demon. EVERY demon. Even the one that looks (sort of) like a pretty flower.
 * Calling Your Attacks: Justified as its the only way to get the spells activated.
 * Celebrity Is Overrated: Both Leiot and Isaac.
 * Cool Old Guy: The Sorcerist who saved the young Isaac and Rachel and who taught a young Leiot to kill demons. Vulnerable to Mentor Occupational Hazard and The Plot Reaper, as.
 * Creepy Child: Kapelteta
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Leiot.
 * . Likely  going by the pre-battle talk.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Leiot's "Accelerator" technique.
 * : Literally, for.
 * Death by Materialism: Or, why you should never, even if it seems like a good business opportunity.
 * Duel to the Death: The finale.
 * Dungeon Bypass: Leiot's somewhat infamous preferred form of quick-entry.
 * Dungeon Punk
 * Dying as Yourself:
 * Expy: Strait Jacket features an orange-haired, green-eyed female scientist who, while associated with what's purportedly a military-powered organization, seems to distinctly lack martial ability herself. Although she carries a weapon, she's much more suited to motivating the other characters and moving the plot along, characterized by an apparent naivete and a stubborn streak. She wears a military uniform, with a skirt, but wears her hair long, and has glasses. Now, am I describing Nerin Simmons or Shion Uzuki?
 * Fallen Hero:  after the Start of Darkness noted below.
 * Fan Nickname: "Blumdam" for Leiot; he's voiced by Steve Blum in the English dub and his Powered Armor kind of resembles a Zaku.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong: Overdosing on magic turns humans into into terrifying Biological Mashups.
 * Government Conspiracy:
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Watching the dub, you will wonder what Spike is doing with purple hair and Powered Armor.
 * It's also not Blum's first time shouting Magna Blast.
 * Holding Out for a Hero: Played brutally straight. A jumpy SWAT officer fires a shot, attracts the attention of a demon the police can't even hurt, and all hell breaks loose.
 * Instant Runes
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Isaac, even to the point where he saves a kid and takes off his helmet while spotlit by sunlight.
 * Lolicon: Depending on how you view the relationship between Leiot and Kapel.
 * Madness Mantra: All demons (save for ) have them, to unnerving effect; see High Octane Nightmare Fuel.
 * Magic Bullets: Literally, as we're given a scene where techie Sorcerists somehow cause a glowing ball of light to become ready-made bullets for the wands.
 * Men Don't Cry: Subverted; despite.
 * Morality Pet: Again, depending on how you view the relationship between Leiot and Kapel.
 * Morality Chain: Apparently, Kapel is the only thing keeping Leiot from killing lots of people for no apparent reason.
 * Mundane Utility: Magic either kills things quickly or powers various modern utilities. In the OVA, we see more of the former.
 * Naughty Tentacles: One of the demons is essentially a face with tentacles who asks an injured girl if she "wants to play doctor" while slinking a tentacle towards her.
 * Not So Different: When Isaac accuses Leiot of giving all Sorcerists the reputation of murderers, Leiot replies that they're all killers. Later repeated in a Flashback Echo.
 * Possible Fridge Logic since it's stated that once a human enters the 'gibbering madness' state they're a demon through-and-through. Since demons are mindless and horrific abominations that prey on humanity, Leiot's maintaining that killing demons makes them murderers is... maybe a little not right.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Isaac, to Leiot.
 * Powered Armor: Molds are powered armor with the function of preventing the wearer from turning into a demon.
 * To be fair, Molds and the underlying rune array vastly decrease the likelihood of the user turning into a demon, so long as said Mold is properly maintained and functioning as intended. Using powerful spells repeatedly is still not a good idea. Plus, what with the
 * Redshirt Army: The police.
 * Retirony: A variation:
 * Rule of Cool: Yes.
 * Steampunk: Steampunk Powered Armor is used by most of the Tactical Sorcerists.
 * Suicide by Cop:
 * Superpower Meltdown:
 * Tired of Running: Or, why . Prompting Nerin to give a Rousing Speech.
 * Token Mini-Moe: Kapelteta.
 * Trauma Conga Line: Isaac. He realizes that, possibly due to   because No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. His beloved younger sister and only family implores him to leave the job he loves, shortly before being  . He finds out that his Corrupt Corporate Executive boss, whom he trusted and was apparently friendly with,  . Then he   after all of that.
 * We Can Rule Together:
 * We Help the Helpless: The Mold-armored cops, supposedly. Particularly applies to Isaac, what with his Chronic Hero Syndrome.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Demons are about five times as large as humans, and significantly more powerful. They're also Ax Crazy and Exclusively Evil.
 * X Meets Y: Hellsing, Iron Man, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
 * X Meets Y: Hellsing, Iron Man, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.