I thought the theme of wanting to escape your circumstances was a good one that Dezaki also explored in a couple of his other works. Each of the main characters remain stuck searching for their freedom in the end, even if they escape their initial shackles.

Akiko is left chasing after Taka, who is at first is what she sees as her freedom from the arranged marriage. But after leaving the marriage, her obsession with Taka becomes what keeps her stuck. The same with Sara. Even though she's free from having to sell her body for money, she's still stuck in poverty looking for Taka and her brother. Taka does obtain freedom from the Yakuza, but has to spend a life on the run in Shanghai away from Sara. Kiyokuni is a bit different, because he resides to his fate, but is the only one left somewhat free in a weird way.

The Great Kanto earthquake ties this together nicely, because it's the large event that breaks the main characters out of their initial cages in the worse way possible. Punishing the characters in a “be careful for what you wish for” kind of way. I think the twist of the earthquake was really well foreshadowed through the constant mentions of dates and time. Since I had previous knowledge of when it happened, I was wondering the entire time watching if they'd actually show the event or just gloss over it. I'm glad Dezaki did include it.

Since it is Dezaki, the overall framing and art of the show is amazing. Very good, highly shaded still shots, which I would consider a specialy of Dezaki, is one of the highlights for me. The only thing I would complain about is the somewhat stilted animation that make's some of the more “intimate” scenes very awkward. The action scenes where great though, they where very dynamic despite the limitations the I could only assume the production staff faced.

Overall, I recommend this OVA. I think that you can ever go wrong with a very melodramatic Dezaki work.