Megazone 23 Part III "Some Secrets Never Die"

The disappointing finale.

All good things must come to an end and in the case of Megazone 23 this couldn't be the exception. The final chapter of the trilogy was released in 1989 in Japan and it was divided in two episodes. For years, fans of the series had to look for VHS bootleg copies of the final installment of the trilogy until in 2004 (yes, 2004!) the final installment was re-released in North America on DVD format. However, Megazone 23 Part III was not received very well by fans of the previous OVAs. As a matter of fact some people even deny the existence of the third and final entry in the Megazone saga. 

If you remember the ending of Megazone 23 Part 2, we're clearly talking about the end of the mission. Both E.V.E. & A.D.A.M. systems have ensured the survival of the fittest to repopulate Earth so if that didn't look like an ending why are talking about a third part?

There's a new Garland in town.

Why update an already perfect design?

Episode 1: The Awakening of Eve

Eiji Takanaka is a hacker ("netjacker") and expert virtual gamer that hangs out in the virtual arcade, Psycholand. He starts working at C•X (E=X), the company, under the leadership of a mysterious Bishop Won Dai, that controls the shield and the city's information network, known as "The System." His friend Bud starts working at Orange, C•X's rival. Both friends play Orange's spacecraft simulator Cyber Game "_HARD ON¯" (possibly a reference to the Sega game Hang-On), that is actively sent updates and new levels by the company. Orange seeks to complete a network independent of The System, and it uses its games to train fighters unconsciously for its cause. My oh my, if this plot doesn't scream The Matrix to you, I don't know what else will.

Eiji goes out with Ryo Narahara, who works at the arcade; together they discuss life in Eden and the songs of Eve, whom Eden's population knows to be an artificial intelligence. She lures him to use his hacker skills to find her contact information. He finds her information deleted when using his terminal, so he and Bud try to find it by hacking the network in Eden's alleys.

Finally! EVE full frontal nudes!

No pubes for EVE's twat.

At C•X, director Yacob Halm gives a speech about the importance of The System and decries netjackers. Operator Miura Simka privately warns Eiji about his activities, about which she has evidence, but she lets him go because of his invaluable skills. Yacob directs Eiji to use a Garland to catch netjackers. He takes it home to customize it.

Ryo visits Eiji, and they discuss Sion, an operator at Orange that has been challenging Eiji with new versions of the game in real time. His apartment heats up and before it explodes, they escape through the window using the Garland. Sion hacks into the C•X network and finds a program called "Project Heaven." He and his HARGUN units attack Eiji and their Garland units in a battle that Eiji predicted would happen between the two companies. Eiji and Sion end up joining forces as Sion explains that he was testing Eiji to see if he can awaken Eve. The company forces still battle. Eiji takes the Garland under the city and finds Eve's capsule. Eve awakens and addresses Eiji as "Operator 7G."

Once EVE awakens, things get pretty bad.

World leaders are powerless.

Episode 2: Day of Liberation

Eve takes Eiji outside Eden to the ruins of Megazone to check on Bahamut and explains its control of Megazone and guidance back to Earth. They see Eden's outside machinery stretching out further to maintain the city. Eve activates Bahamut to run diagnostics on Eden, which reports status as normal. Eve wonders why Shogo did not wake her and asks Bahamut what happened to him. Bahamut directs her to the last remaining file on him in the next room, which contains the original Garland (from Part II) and a disk.

As Eve and Eiji go back to Eden, Sion is ready to take over Orange from its leaders who only want to crush C•X. In the battle, Bud is brainwashed and fights for them but is killed in the process, despite Eiji's attempts to save him. They reach Bishop Won Dai, who they now know to be a Megazone survivor, to stop Project Heaven, which was planned to launch Eden into space to save Earth from humanity again. As the city starts to rumble in the execution of Project Heaven, Eiji shows Won Dai the disk, and he recognizes it and snaps out of his trance, realizing he has been connected to the system for too long. From his last words it is hinted that Bishop Won Dai actually turns out to be Shogo, though how he ended up in the system after Part II remains unknown. As he dies while Eiji attends to him, Eve takes the Bishop's place to stop Project Heaven as the program is within her. She kisses Eiji (and "Shogo") goodbye through the glass shield that now surrounds her and brings the city back down, opening it back to nature. The city core, now controlled by Eve, launches into the sky, leaving the rest of the city on Earth. Eve tells Eiji that she will pilot the core to the Moon to destroy ADAM as well, thus freeing humanity from all of its artificial computer overlords. After watching Eve rise into the sky, Eiji returns to the streets to find Ryo waiting for him...

Strange vagina.

Yeah, let me take a shower before the world ends.

The problem with continuously making references to other franchises is that the parallels have to be consistent. The Matrix analogy may go well with Megazone 23 and Part II, but only goes so far for Part III. Despite its cyberpunk environment, system crashes, and chosen one mumbo jumbo, the last edition of Megazone distinguishes itself from The Matrix Revolutions by actually being good.

Being the sequel of a movie with bad characterization, which was the sequel of a movie with good characterization, the obvious route for this OVA to take is an attempt at stronger characters once again. And yes, while Megazone Part III does have weaker development and chemistry from the original, it is only by a hair. This time, Aramaki Shinji takes over as director, who gives his baby the treatment it deserves. Granted some things like the relationship between Eiji and Ryo come off as artificial and unnecessary. However, whenever Eiji is in the same room as Eve, the writing is practically perfect, intellectually and even emotionally.

To kill a franchise...

They killed the legend! they killed it!

There must be a proscribed amount of mature content any anime franchise is allowed to have, and Part II must have used it all up, because this installment is beyond tame by ‘80s OVA standards. Aside from some brief scenes of nudity, there is no sex. The same goes for violence. This time, it is probably all for the better because it leaves extra time to focus on the thematic elements rather than the superficial. The final chapter of Megazone focuses on the idea of a self-destructive system, and how it warps the minds of its followers. Sounds like any number of old Star Trek episodes. However, the topnotch writing and use of the system fighting against itself, makes it all the more worth it. I’m typically not a cyberpunk person. But that is where Part III shined the most.

When all is said and done, Megazone 23 is really an anime that deserved more. It deserved a better middle part. It deserved greater expounding on the situation. It deserved a bigger budget so that its conclusion didn’t meander between OVA and TV quality animation. But after that, when all else is said and done, Megazone is still a monumental anime. And Part III is still a satisfying conclusion for this historic piece in the direct to video market.

 

Here's a fanmade AMV for the awful final episode of a legendary 80's OVA series that could have been awesome from start to finish but...