Tournament of the Gods: Title Match

A young swordsman named Sid enters a brutal martial tournament for the most relatable reason possible — he wants to marry the girl he loves, and winning is the only way to prove himself worthy. The Toushin Tournament runs on high stakes: fighters battle one-on-one, and the loser surrenders their partner to the winner for a day. Sid brings along Selena, his childhood friend, as his partner, which already creates an interesting tension before anything else goes sideways. Then things go sideways. After early victories, a fallen angel named Aquross curses Sid with a disease that requires him to drain life energy from angels just to stay functional. The only painkiller available comes with its own complications. Now he's fighting through a tournament while managing a curse that's slowly unraveling his life. Don't go in expecting a clean fantasy adventure — this is a 3-episode OVA from 1997 with mature content woven throughout, produced by AIC with that distinctly late-90s aesthetic that fans of the era will recognize immediately. If you've watched something like Wicked City or Demon City Shinjuku and appreciated how those blended dark fantasy with adult themes, this sits in similar territory. It's closer to Ikki Tousen than a straightforward sword-and-sorcery story. Based on a visual novel, so the character dynamics and world-building carry more weight than you might expect from three episodes. Niche, but it knows exactly what it is.