"Dream Hunter Rem" (Dorīmu Hantā Remu) is a 3-episode fantasy/horror anime OVA released in Japan from 1985 to 1987. The first episode was released by Orange Video House.
Basic plot: Rem Ayanokoji seems to be an ordinary high school girl. But actually she is a "dream hunter". Together with her pet cat and dog (Alpha and Beta), she can enter the dreams of any sleeping people in order to fight demons who cause nightmares on the people, and eventually kill them.
This short OVA series is just so great as it could be. The plot itself is very original, unlike most other 80s anime I've seen. The animation style and the character design in general are pretty typical for an anime being made in the 80s, which is one of the reasons I enjoy watching this kind of anime. Besides from the violence which tend to get gory in times, as well as several scenes of nudity, the team behind this anime have also managed to throw in mystery and humor in it, making this OVA series to be overall great and unique.
Another unique with this anime is the fact in the middle of each episode, the titular character Rem interrupts the main story so she can teach us (the audience) some science about dreams, and how it works when we the people go to sleep. This kind of intermission is not something you see in anime in general.
Interestingly, the first episode of this OVA series was originally made as a 23-minute short "hentai", a pornographic anime released in Japan by Orange Video House. But because of high popularity of the anime, the production team made a "special version" which got the pornographic scenes removed, and got new scenes and elements and a second part thrown into this episode, making this at least 45 minutes. This one was also released by Orange Video House, but mixed in Dolby Surround as it's logo seems to be hinting. Episode two and three was released during the next two years, these times by King Records.
As if it wasn't enough, "Dream Hunter Rem" has also been released in Japan as other kind of media like music CD, books and novels to name a few. It was in late 2000s the anime got to be released on Japanese DVD. However, there are no English dub of this anime.
Anyway, two OVA sequels exist: "Shin Dream Hunter Rem: Yume no Kishitachi" (1990) and "New Dream Hunter Rem: Satsuriku no Mugen Meikyuu" (1992).
In general I love watching fantasy anime having been made in the 80s and the 90s. When it comes to "Dream Hunter Rem", I give this nice little OVA series an overall rating 9/10.
An another anime similar to this anime includes: "Dream Dimensional Hunter Fandora" (1985-1986), also released as a 3-episode OVA.
