A few days ago my wife asked for a re watch of one of her all time favorite films, 1986's Highlander, a film I recall watching several times when I was a kid and then some more times once I grew up to afford the DVD release. Now, what makes this film so special to many and yet so lame to many others at the same time? Gee, answering that it's like finding the universal mathematical formula Stephen Hawking has spent his life searching for.
Back then in the 80's I remember my friends and I spending long afternoons pretending to be either, immortals or terminators. Not that anyone cares but, those two films really stuck within some of my most treasured childhood memories. Today, I realized I never reviewed it here, and since it's one of my wife's favorites, I owe this entry to her with love.
I am Connor Macleod of the clan Macleod.
I am Russel Nash of New York.
I don't really have a detailed set of memories from when I first saw this movie, I was a kid and all the sword fighting between immortals was all I seemed to care at that time. Nevertheless, as the film did stick with me for several years to come (until this very day I might add) I realized the struggle of being immortal (a matter of most importance to my wife, since every time we watch it, the subject shows up almost instantly and utterly inevitably)
From the kid point of view I had, this movie was a monumental blockbuster. Years later I realized it didn't do well despite all the 80's cliches the film relied on (Cyber punk, urban fights, Queen, 80's stars, etc) If you visit IMDB for reviews of the film you will find huge lots of people saying it poorly aged, and that it was a childish stupid story disguised as an adult action film. There are very few reviewers who think it was a great piece of art (My wife & I are two of those) it may not aged like wine but I humbly think it is a fair exercise in pursuing an original fantasy story in a time where everything looked and sounded the same.
Victor Kruger, The Kurgan.
There can only be one.
It is always interesting to see different viewpoints, especially when they
are completely contrary to your own. But for me, this movie was perfect. The
premise was intriguing, the story was beautifully told, the joy and pathos
of an immortal amongst mortals revealed with great skill. There was great
action, romance, the tragedy of love lost – and the baddest of bad guys to
overcome.
The casting was excellent, as was the acting. Sean Connery's contribution
was exactly as it should have been, a fine gentleman playing Juan Sánchez Villalobos Ramirez a fine swordsman with 3 surnames! (in Spanish culture there are two family names, one is from daddy and the other from mommy, so having this character named with three surnames is a mistake). Clancy Brown's performance
as Victor Kruger, The Kurgan was joyfully terrifying, he clearly resembles a cold hearted murderer ,very much like The Terminator. Christopher Lambert well, I think he was born to be Connor Macleod.
Who wants to live forever?
Heather's boobs.
The screenplay was excellent, as was the script. I was especially impressed
with the way that flashbacks were interwoven with the ongoing story. In
fact, this is the only flashback movie I have ever liked.
I was also thoroughly impressed with the action sequences. Unlike so many
recent movies, none of the action involved the physically impossible (with
the obvious exception of the fact that the immortals were immortal, of
course). This added enormously to the appeal, in direct contrast to so many
movies made in the last decade. I despair when I watch movies where people
perform the impossible. Even the classic scene `Oh, I'm falling – but it's
OK, I can just grab this rope/branch/flagpole/whatever, and even though I
have fallen 30 feet and am traveling at 20 mph, I can just stretch out my
hand and arrest my fall as though I was no heavier than a feather' destroys
all credibility in the action. I know, this is a fantasy movie anyway, so
what does it matter? Well, realistic action is even more important in
fantasy movies; it helps the audience to willingly suspend disbelief. This
is very difficult to do when you are busy giggling at the latest fantastical
feat you have witnessed. No such concerns in this movie – the action was
perfectly judged to reflect the prowess gained from centuries of experience,
whilst avoiding the impossible and the ridiculous.
Don't lose your head!
Now, moving on into the Soundtrack, Queen was probably the greatest British act in the 80's. I know there were many more playing their part but these guys were the flag of what was going on in UK's pop scene at that time. Personally, I think Queen is a rock band for people who have no idea about what rock music truly is. Nevertheless, "Princess Of The Universe", "It's A Kind Of Magic" and specially "Who Wants To Live Forever?" are tailored pieces made to fit this movie. Each song offers the viewer an extended experience in the most intense moments of the movie. I also understand why the accents in the movie (Christopher Lambert's and
Sean Connery's) are a problem for some. However, I was happy with Lambert's
accent; it was Scottish enough for the Highland scenes, and suitably
indefinable for the modern settings. Sean Connery was, of course, Sean
Connery – he never adopts any accent other than his own. But that's OK – it
doesn't detract from the film, any more than it detracts from any of his
films (such as Red October). I tend to agree with his point that accents
don't matter – emotions are the same, regardless of nationality.
By the Power of Greyskull!
I used to work in the Knight foundation.
Inevitably the film did well enough as to pursue a franchise career in the Highlander world. The first one was the 1991 sequel Highlander II, The Quickening. Despite the efforts of trying to bring new elements to a story that was already finished, the film failed miserably even with the presence of Sean Connery (didn't he die in the first one?), Queen music, futuristic looks & environmental issues. Somehow, producers wouldn't let Highlander rest in peace and the next year we were presented with a brand new Macleod: Duncan Macleod in Highlander, The Series. The show ran six seasons and I was actually quite fond of it for some time. Then, the inevitable happened again: Highlander III The Final Dimension, a 1994 film sequel that completely ignored what happened in the second film in an effort to bring the franchise back to life. Unfortunately, it failed but, since the series wasn't doing that bad they filmed another sequel in the year 2000: Highlander IV Endgame. This film would be the final episode in the series as it promised the ultimate battle between Connor Macleod & Duncan Macleod, but wait, there's more!!!! a 1998 spin off series Highlander The Raven, another film in 2007: Highlander The Source, and there's currently a remake movie in the talks but take my advice, there can only be one Highlander film, and that is the original movie. Still, if you have the guts to watch the sequels, just think of them as being entirely separate stories from the original. If
you haven't already seen them, be prepared for a decidedly tepid
experience.
But Highlander itself – ah, there's a real movie. Sit back and
enjoy!
Here's the film trailer:
Now let's move on to the soundtrack section, courtesy of Queen: Princess Of The Universe.
It's A Kind Of Magic.
And last but not least, the song my wife enjoys the most as it drives her to think about love and eternity:
Hello fellow readers, following the latest trend our team is having (you know the 80's OVA craze) we continue our pursue of happiness with the greatest OVA ever made in the greatest OVA decade of all times: the 1980's! Previously we got our hands into Midnight Eye Goku, a two part OVA for those into noir. Today we continue in the noir genre with another great piece made by the great Kawajiri (Yes, we know we haven't reviewed Ninja Scroll yet but we'll do it some time in the future)
Wicked City(妖獣都市Yōjū Toshi) is a 1987 Japanese OVA horror neo-noir film directed by legendary Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Unlike most of the OVAs around, this piece is not based upon any Manga but on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel of the same name.
The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon world with a secret police force known as the Black Guard protecting the boundary.
Fast cars.
Hot shots.
Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri had just completed his work directing the very dark and gritty segment The Running Man from portmanteau anime Meikyu Monogatari
(1987) and was asked to direct a 35 minute short on Hideyuki Kikuchis
novel. Kawajiri completed the short and after Japan Home Video saw a
screening of it, they wished him to make it feature length. The
producers Kenji Kurata and Makoto Seya expressed their opinion that the
director shouldn’t extend it unless he wanted to. Kawajiri was such a
fan of the world, he saw it as an opportunity to explore more
characterization and created more animation for the start, the middle
and the end. The project was completed in under a year.
The film was released in Japan on April 19, 1987 by Japan Home Video (JHV) and received a western release dubbed by Streamline Pictures under the name Wicked City on August 20, 1993. After Streamline Pictures lost the distribution rights, it was licensed and distributed by Urban Vision. A censored version of the film was distributed by Manga Entertainment in the UK with a different dub.
Seductive women.
Nymphomaniac demons.
Both the Streamline and Manga UK
dubs were released in Australia, with the Manga UK dub being released
on VHS in 1994. In 1995, Manga Video released in Australia a bundle VHS
consisting of Wicked City and Monster City, this version containing the Streamline dub. In 1997 when Madman Entertainment
was named distributor for Manga in Australia, the Streamline dub was
released on a single tape, and the Manga UK version was phased out.
What is Wicked City about?
The existence of the "Black World" is known to very few people. For
centuries, a pact between the Black World and the world of humans has
been observed to maintain peace, and terms must be negotiated and
renewed every few hundred years to continue relative harmony. A militant
faction of radicals from the Black World stops at nothing to prevent
the signing of a new treaty.
Naked women.
Jizzed boobs.
Two agents of the Black Guard, an organisation designed to protect
the relations of both worlds in secret, are charged with insuring the
success of the treaty: The human Renzaburō Taki is an electronics
salesman by day, and a Black Guard agent when needed; his partner Makie,
who masquerades as a model, is a beautiful and skilled woman from the
Black World. Their mission is to protect Giuseppi Mayart, a
two-hundred-year-old man with fantastic spiritual power, whose presence
at the peace treaty signing in Tokyo is critical. The Radicals intend to kill Mayart to upset the peace between both worlds.
Attacks on Makie, Taki and Mayart begin even before the three meet,
and the situation does not improve, despite taking shelter in a Hibiya
hotel that supposedly has strong spiritual barriers to keep people of
the Black World away; on top of this, Mayart sneaks out after a skirmish
at the hotel. Makie and Taki find him at a soapland
in the grip of a Black World woman who has sapped his health, prompting
a frantic trip to a spiritual hospital under Black Guard protection.
a new level in penetration.
Demons like to fuck too.
Halfway there, Makie is taken prisoner by a tentacle
to be punished for her "crimes" against the Black World by being
repeatedly raped, and Taki is forced to leave her behind, but as soon as
he knows Mayart is safe in the hospital, he rushes to where his partner
is being held, despite the threat that he will be thrown out of the
Black Guard.
Taki is led to a dilapidated building far from the hospital, where he
finds Makie being gang-raped. While Taki is successful in freeing Makie
after eliminating a succubus and other demon agents, they are relieved
of their Black Guard duties and are captured by a spider-like woman Taki
has encountered before; both are knocked unconscious, but they wake up
alone in a church (as the Spider Woman was killed), and the two share a
romantic night of copulation, impregnating Makie.
Are women in Japan this stunning?
Too much jizz within.
One last attack by the Radicals comes and is partially deflected by a
surprisingly healthy Mayart, who reveals he was protecting his
bodyguards, not the other way around as they had been led to believe.
Mayart and Taki almost succeed in defeating Mr. Shadow, but the final
blow comes from Makie, who suddenly displays an overwhelming power, a
gift from her joining with Taki. Mayart explains that the two are
essential to forming a new peace treaty, he tells Taki that Makie will
be the first woman to give birth to a half human and half black world
child and will soon make more children , thus ushering in a new race and
hopefully ensuring everlasting peace between the two worlds.
Taki is reinstated in the Black Guard, uncertain about his feelings
for Makie and what is expected of them, but is optimistic about the
future he will help protect as child grows inside Makie's body.
The hero's reward.
Aw yeah, God be with us.
Overall, Wicked City is perhaps one of the best OVA/Animé in which Mr. Kawajiri was involved during his career. The whole noir vibe plus the graphic violence and fan service may not suit everyone but then again this OVA was never made for an all audiences censorship label. A funny thing I learned from watching many OVAs is that every Japanese woman has a tendency for shaving their pussies (LOL) also, they're truly gorgeous! I mean if they're like they're drawn here, hell! we should all be moving to Japan! (not to mention how these women are easily attracted to casual sex, LOL) Anyways, this OVA along our previous reviews do represent la creme de la creme of a decade of creative quality, and for that reason alone, you should give it a try.
Here's Wicked City (with the English dub) for your viewing pleasure:
Yoshiaki
Kawajiri is so fun. You see, there are a lot of stereotypes about
anime, labeling the genre as a shallow excuse to animate women being
violated and blood spurting in every direction. Those stereotypes
developed largely in response to the films of Yoshiaki Kawajiri. And if
you can appreciate his movies for what they are, you'll have a blast
watching them.
Goku: Midnight Eye is no different. It's an
hour-long OVA set in a futuristic city where a sort of female peacock
monster is causing police officers to kill themselves. Then it becomes
sort of a dark superhero story when the lead character gets a bionic eye
and a metal staff that can change to any length (he rams it through
people and uses it to vault himself around like the old monk in Ninja
Scroll). This is all handled in typical Kawajiri fashion, with
well-designed monsters, gore, a cynical hero, frequently nude women, and
a hissably evil supervillain.
Fast cars.
Enhanced law enforcers.
Most modern anime takes a shiny, clean approach to the
future. Apocalyptics are easy to find, but the dirt and grit are
usually missing from the dealings, especially in anything created since
1995 or so. It's nice to occasionally go back and see the grime on the
streets of Megatokyo, and Midnight Eye Goku fits that bill. The love child of Wicked City and Ninja Scroll director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Space AdventureCobra author Terasawa Buichi, Goku
is not the kind of title to take home to Mom. However, the two-OVA
series is a darkly cognizant look at the underside of futuristic society
that was way ahead of its time when it was released in 1989 (The first US release date according to Amazon was the year 2000 and yes, it was released in VHS tapes)
Goku is a studly former cop who wears no shirt, just a
necktie and jacket as his uniform. He works as a private detective for
the meaner crowd of Tokyo in 2014. However, when officers from his old
special investigation unit start committing suicide on the job, he
knows that something is very wrong. Haruko, a vicious crime lord, was
the subject of each cop's work right before death, and Goku is certain
he is somehow responsible. He's right, of course, as he finds out when
Haruko's naked peacock henchwoman nearly hypnotizes him into taking his
own life. In one of the most cringe-inducing moments in anime history,
Goku stabs out his left eye to stop the madness.
Spitting shiny evil semen!
The Fluorescent Throw up attack!
Partially blinded and in incredible pain, Goku drives
off a bridge. Expecting to drown, he instead wakes up strapped to a
table. Somebody somewhere must really like him, because his eye has
been replaced by a new cybernetic implant. This device is not just a
way to see again, though. It's actually interconnected to computers
throughout the world, and any information he wants is immediately
accessible. He could even start World War III, if he wanted, but his
mysterious benefactor trusts Goku to use his gift wisely. Wisdom to
Goku is, of course, taking revenge on Haruko before any more police
officers wind up dead.
Meanwhile, the second episode takes us into a new
case. A mysterious woman believes her brother, declared dead by the
military years ago, is actually still alive, and she hires Goku to find
him. He's been made into a superhuman killing machine by the
government, but he's kept alive by the drugs they feed him. Goku is
tasked with finding the brother, but not before running into various
problems with the government. It turns out the bro could go on an
indiscriminate killing spree without his drugs...and he's gotten loose
right in the megalopolis.
Peeping Tom.
Animé Fact: Japanese woman have no pubes.
Goku is awash in violence and sexuality, which
should come as no surprise to those who've followed Yoshiaki Kawajiri's
rise to stardom. Goku feels very much like Wicked City,
and that's due to a lot of the staff working on both features. We have a
return, too, of the angular characters and darkly lit cityscapes that
made Wicked City a hit back in 1985. The color schemes are muted in comparison to today's brightly lit palate, but that works in Goku's
favor. I really enjoyed going back and taking a look at these two OVAs
to see how well they stood up, and they still look great.
Goku certainly will offend some squeamish
viewers out there. Each episode has at least one scene that can make
the sensitive run for cover. The taking of Goku's eye in the first
episode is bad enough, but there's a scene with the superhuman creation
and a prostitute in the second one that just makes my head spin. That
also leads into another problem in Goku--it's not as misogynistic as Golgo 13,
but it certainly has no respect for its female characters, either.
Most of them are cunning and all of them are deadly, and virtually each
and every one is a sexpot. There's also the matter of characterization.
This show is based on style and plotting, but not on deep development
of its players. A viewer also has to get past the unknown benefactor
willing to risk the end of the world to give Goku an eye that's
essentially a gimmick.
C'mon let's play!
The girl is mine!
However, Goku has some really nice strengths.
First, that eye is an awesome piece of equipment that predicted the
rise of the Internet and works in very much the same way, even though
the Internet as we understand it didn't exist for many years after the
show was produced. It's haunting to see how close Terasawa could be to
reality, even if it's too over-the-top. Meanwhile, the concepts of
hypnosis and manipulation combined with the gritty look and feel make
this film reminiscent of Kathryn Bigalow's Strange Days, which
wasn't made until 1995. Meanwhile, this film has plenty of
well-choreographed action, good pacing, and nice plotting. Though we
may know our bad guys well ahead of time, the show keeps us guessing at
certain things (particularly in the second episode). Fans of Golgo 13 might also appreciate the similar feel but through the eyes of a far more sympathetic and emotional hero.
Midnight Eye Goku is a guilty pleasure show.
It isn't pretty in the conventional sense, and I don't doubt that some
will just dislike it immensely. However, for an older audience wanting
to see a skewed dystopian vision that skims surprisingly closer to
reality than we might think, it's a good night's entertainment.
The coolest 80's space adventure in OVA format you can get.
Gunbuster, known in Japan as Aim for the Top!(トップをねらえ!Toppu o Nerae!), is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax(Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tenku No Escaflowne) in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace! and hit action drama film Top Gun, whose plot inspired Gunbuster 's. To celebrate Gainax's 20th anniversary in 2004, an official sequel to Gunbuster, Diebuster (or Gunbuster 2),
was released as an OVA. The sequel features new characters and mecha,
but retains the format and many of the concepts of the original series.
Gunbuster follows the genre of Super Robot anime, started by the Mazinger Z series, but also contains some elements of the Real Robot
genre by showing mass-produced versions of the titular robot (called
"Sizzlers") as well as previous smaller combat mecha called "RX" which
are used along with bigger battleships in space warfare, elements seen previously in Gundam and Macross. It is notable for being one of the few anime series to deal with the concept of time dilation
in a realistic way, and indeed makes it one of its central plot
elements. Though the scientific accuracy of the series is variable (it
posits the invention of acceleration compensators, artificial gravity and warp drives
by the year 2015) it includes many hard science fiction elements, and
provides a consistent technological frame if one assumes that human
technological progress has been put into overdrive in order to wage war
against the aliens.
Gunbuster is also notable as being a spiritual predecessor to Anno's more famous Neon Genesis Evangelion
in that the themes of space opera and mecha action take somewhat of a
back seat to various romances, rivalries and other relations between the
main characters, made more complex by the differing speeds of their
aging due to time dilation (for Noriko, the 40 year or so timespan of
the major part of the series takes roughly about a year). It is also
similar to the later Evangelion in that it begins as a
high-school anime, with the students at Okinawa space high school for
girls competing for places among the elite pilots sent to fight the
space monsters. This pattern has since become something of an anime
cliché. Noriko also shares many personality traits with Evangelion's Shinji Ikari, particularly in her lack of confidence in herself, and Jung Freud, a Soviet pilot who befriends Noriko and Kazumi, is regarded by many fans as a prototype of Asuka Langley Sohryu, right down to her red hair and arrogant attitude.
This is why women were chosen to pilot the sizzlers.
Boob battle!
The series was originally released in Japan over three volumes on VHS videocassette, with two episodes per volume. It was then released on three laserdiscs with a later boxset containing two new science episodes. Eventually, it was released on DVD in 2001.
A remastered four disc set was released in 2004 with dramatically
improved image, and new extras such as three short animations, a rough
cut of episode five and an unmatted version of episode 6.
The series was first released in English in North America starting in March 1990 on video by U.S. Renditions
as their first release. It was only released in the original Japanese
language audio track and featured some rather loose English subtitles,
especially on the first volume. It was later re-released by verbatim in
1996 on VHS by Manga Entertainment after U.S. Renditions ceased operations.
Not everyone can pilot a Gunbuster.
Measurements.
Tell me more...
Way back, before Evangelion was made, before Hideaki Anno was an idol and
household name for many anime fans, and before Gainax had reached the
status
of fanfavorite, Gunbuster was made. With only Wings of Honneamisemade by
Gainax at that time, and the famous Otakon shorts or course, Gunbuster had
some tough acts to follow up. It didn't make it easier on itself by
picking
out a genre that was already done countless times before, space
opera.
Luckily, Gainax decided to put it out as a six-part OAV (direct to video)
series. This allows the series to have a bigger scope than would have been
possible if it was made into a film. This also prevents it from becoming
too
boring and overly long, with lots of pointless battles and filler along
the
way. Besides that, they made some effort to stay clear from the tested
space
opera mechanics used in Macross or Gundam, and many other popular space
operas.
Noriko, our heroine.
Hey! watcha lookin' at?
For one, the shows starts out pretty light, with Noriko in the Okinawa
High
School for mechapiloting. Noriko is the daughter of a respected ship
commander who died in battle, when she was still a little kid. This makes
her life at the academy quite hard, as some of her fellow classmates start
to suspect that Noriko is favored by the professors. The first episode is
pretty much a comedy drama, with a very tight focus on the characters and
setting of the school. Things quickly change when the threat of an alien
invasion is announced, and Noriko and Kazumi (best girl in class) are
chosen to help the assembled fleet out.
The middle bulk of Gunbuster leaves our female lead in space, focusing on
both personal drama and action. A couple more characters are introduced,
and
parts of Noriko's past are dragged up again. Besides that, the alien
threat
becomes more imminent every minute, and the Gunbuster, mankind's final
hope,
is presented. Smart as writer Okada was, he incorporated the principles of
time dilation, to spice things up a bit. In short, time moves slower for
those who travel at the speed of light. This means that Noriko can be part
of a war that takes almost a century to complete. Also the dramatic aspect
of this is accentuated, when Noriko sees her friends again on her return
to
base, who have aged considerably more than her. The science might not be
perfect, but it's presented in a pretty believable way, with even some SD
science theatre shorts in between the episodes, where Noriko, Kazumi and
their coach give a short description of the scientific principles used in
the series.
Pick your favorite scale.
Boing!
The animation, for a series made in the 80s, is definitely good. The
designs
are retro 80s style of course, but it has it's charm. Animation is fluent
enough and the character designs are nice, although the costumes do betray some of the fanservice fascination Gainax will later exploit to the
fullest.
The mechas throughout the shows are pretty cool too, with the Gunbuster as
the ultimate killing machine, strong and vast. The last episode was
entirely
done in black and white. While it's generally believed (but not confirmed)
that this was done for budget reasons, it lends a whole different
atmosphere
to the series, which is suited perfectly for the latter
part.
The music is very typical space opera fair. Too bombastic in places, very
generic, and definitely not worth buying. It does fit the series for the
most part, but it can become quite annoying at times. Tanaka is not really
a
famous composer, and the only other respectable series he's worked on is
Dragon Half. If you think 80s anime music, you will know what to
expect.
Heroes take baths with friends.
Who farted?
As the series progresses, the focus slowly shifts from drama to space
opera
to epic battle, but in such a way the viewer will hardly notice this. Step
by step the drama will be toned down, and the battles will take the front
row. Neither aspect is ever left completely out though. With the last
episode in sight, Noriko and crew are fighting for the further existence
of
human kind, and with the last battle in sight, certain questions are
presented to the audience, concerning to position of the human race in the
galaxy, and how far it can go to guarantee self-preservation. While they
are
never answered later on, they still present some interesting food for
thought. The last episode is very epic, with a nice, but quite predictable
ending, though not all endings should contain numerous outlandish twists
of
course. Again, it fits the series.
Ginger.
Girl talk.
Gunbuster may sound like your average space opera anime at first, with
alien
invasions, huge battles, and some personal drama, and for the bigger part,
it is. But it is done exceptionally well for a change. Instead of going
for
a steady mix of former elements, six episodes long, Gunbuster presents us
a
change from small scale drama to large scale epic heroism. Along the way
we
meet with some various interesting and well fleshed-out characters, which
mutual relationships changing heavily due to the time dilation phenomenon.
The show is very tightly written, although it does tend to slip up at some
points. Overly dramatic occurrences and too cheesy mecha attacks could
have
been easily avoided. Overall, the trip Gunbuster takes you on is a very
relaxed, sometimes sad, sometimes heroic one. It might not have shattered
the boundaries and limits of the space opera genre, but at least it bend
them a little. Highly enjoyable anime classic, but not without
flaws.
It's OVA theater time!
Episode 1: Shock! Big-Sister and I are Going to be Pilots Together?! (October 7, 1988)
Episode 2: Daring! The Girl Genius Challenger!! (October 7, 1988)
Episode 3: First Love☆First Sortie (January 1, 1989)
Episode 4: Launch!! The Incomplete Ultimate Weapon! (January 1, 1989)
Episode 5: Please!! Time Enough for Love! (July 7, 1989)
Episode 6: At the End of Eternity... (July 7, 1989)
Dominion(ドミニオンDominion) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. Set in the fictional city of Newport, Japan, in a future in which bacteria as well as air pollution have become so severe that people must wear gas masks when outdoors, the series follows a police squadron that uses military-style tanks.
Dominion has been adapted into three original video animation series: the first was released in 1988, the second, New Dominion Tank Policein 1993 and the third, Tank Police Team TANK S.W.A.T. 01 in 2006. The 1988 OVA is four volumes long and animated by Agent 21, The 1993 OVA is six volumes long and animated by J.C.Staff while TANK S.W.A.T. is one volume long and animated by DOGA Productions. Nevertheless, our interest is only within the first OVA from 1988 so today's entry is about Dominion Tank Police only.
Ever played Metal Slug?
Cyber punk future.
In the not-so-distant future, Newport City is the pinnacle of
modernity: The air is perpetually polluted by an ever-present bacterial
cloud, the citizens are forced to wear gas masks in the street, and
crime is so out of control that the police formed a special division to
deal with it: the Tank Police. These are the best, the brightest, the
most sadistic, of the city's police force. Okay, so they're feared by
the general populace, they usually cause more destruction than they
prevent, and they care more about their tanks than catching criminals,
but they do perform a mean interrogation (pun intended). These guys are
NYPD Blue, the LAPD, and Rambo all rolled into one.
Our story follows the newest member of the tank police, Leona
Ozaki, and her adventures in getting used to the Tank Police's rather
unorthodox crime control methods, falling in love (with her mini-tank
Bonaparte), and battling the notorious criminal Buaku and his
beautiful-as-they-are-deadly henchwomen, the cat sisters Annapuna and
Unipuma.
Strange weaponry.
Hands up!
Dominion is an anime classic with a little bit of everything: lovable
characters, fun action in abundance, silly humor with an ornery edge in
all the right places, and (true to Shirow form) a really convoluted
plot laced with philosophy.
Of the half-dozen or so animated incarnations of Masamune
Shirow's work in existence as of this writing, Dominion is probably the
most true to the manga original (one of his earliest). Not to say that
Dominion is the best of the lot, but it captures his comedy-sprinkled
drama and the feel of the manga version (which it is effectively a
prequel to) very well. Most of the other animated adaptations diverge
widely, at least in mood, from the manga they're based on, regardless of
critical acclaim and huge budgets.
It's also worth noting that Dominion is the most humorous of
Shirow's comics, and definitely the funniest of those that have been
animated, although the heavy philosophy that marks his other works does
creep in.
There are two story arcs in this series, of somewhat differing
mood. The first, though it has a few introspective moments, is basically
high comedy: There are tank chases, cheerfully sadistic (if a bit
unsettling, particularly in light of more recent events) interrogation
scenes, and a generally high-spirited mood. The second story arc is no
slouch on fun or humor, either, but it delves more deeply than you'd
expect into the backstory of a seemingly superficial bad guy. This
unexpected philosophical twist will no doubt put off some people who
came looking for empty comedy, but it does match Shirow's knack for
blending comedy and complex storylines together. About the only thing
that bothered me was the very ambiguous ending (heck, the whole story is
pretty obtuse), but even that somehow seems to fit, and of course you
can read the manga to see what happens next.
Free the nipple!
Effective weaponry.
As with any good anime tale, the thing that really makes Dominion
a keeper is the characters. Although it's a comedy series, the cast has
plenty of personality, and in a couple of cases, more depth than you'd
think (how many comedies spend a significant portion of their running
time looking at the traumatic past of the villain?). That unusual focus
on the villains as more than just antagonists--they're more central than
any of the secondary Tank Police members--is a distinguishing point
carried over from the manga.
Other characters, of course, are just silly caricatures, but
you've gotta love them anyway--who can resist the tank-loving Captain
Brenten or lovable anime-everyguy Al. Al, in fact, deserves an honorable
mention in the "poor guy fighting for the heart of the girl who doesn't seem to notice him"
category; this guy isn't up against the girl's dream hunk, her family,
or even her job--he's got a miniature patrol tank to compete with.
Unsuccessfully at that--the ongoing refusal to let human romance ruin
the tank-love is a high point.
The protagonist, Leona, is a scene-stealer--cute and seemingly
innocent at the start, yet cheerfully and willingly committed to the
Tank Police and its psychotic way of getting things done. She's got
enough humanity and personality to keep her above caricature status,
which of course makes it all the more fun watching her tank-devotion
drive her to out-psycho the rest of the psycho squad.
This is not what you think.
and neither this is.
Artistically, Dominion is an older series, but despite showing
some of its age still holds up very well. Its biggest strength is,
again, the characters--memorable character designs, expressive faces,
some hilarious physical comedy, and all-around good character animation.
The only flaw is a few bits of inconsistent character art (almost
entirely on the Cat Sisters).
Also noteworthy is the world itself, both for its originality and
faithfulness to Shirow's original story. Rather than generic futuristic
skyscrapers, Newport City is covered with oddly organic-looking
structures, and even the tanks (most are made of bio-plastic) have a
rather alien look to them. Despite this, the world still seems like a
place where real people live, and the city streets always have an
abundance of pedestrian traffic and extraneous action (car accidents,
people getting run over by tanks...).
The animation, though shy of perfect and perhaps a bit heavy on
slapstick and cartoony flavor, is quite good by any standard, even more
so when you consider its age. The fast-paced chase scenes stand out as
the best of the action, though several musical interludes catch the eye
as well--the funked-up intro animation, a striptease by the cat sisters,
and a couple of Scooby Doo-style tank chases set to music.
Speaking of which, the musical score features a funky (and very
amusing) mix of light '80s J-rock, playful little interjections, and
old-fashioned Japanese themes.
Another shaved beaver.
Who took my nipples! I want 'em back!
USM's old-school English dub doesn't fare so well; all of the
music was re-recorded for the dub (with entirely different tunes), and
the quality is noticeably lower--weaker and more repetitive than the
original. On the same note, the acting in the dub isn't particularly
good, either, although the humor does survive the translation process
relatively well.
The Japanese acting, on the other hand, is hilarious--some great
offhanded humor, lots of distinctive voices, and a few standout
performances. Hiromi Tsuru is perfect as Leona--cute and lively, with
just the right amount of psychotic edge. Yuusaku Yara is spot-on as
Brenten, as are Michie Tomizawa and Yuko Mita as the cat sisters (points
for not using the same voice actress even though they're twins), and
many of the minor Tank Police members are almost as much fun. The only
weak point is Buaku; while the unmistakable Jouji Yanami gives him a
distinctive, gravely voice that fits his look, the comparatively quiet
delivery of his lines doesn't really match either the general mood of
the series or the apparent amount of screaming being animated--the lack
of really over-the-top yelling in particular was disappointing. On the
bright side, his acting is fine, some of his more offhanded humor comes
across quite well, and his style works better in the quieter moments in
the second story arc.
In all, Dominion is well worth your time if you enjoy light,
wacky, occasionally sadistic comedy mixed with a stiff dose of
convoluted plot and philosophy. The second half of the story is a bit
slower and more philosophical than the first, so come prepared, but it's
good fun all the way through. If you're a fan of Shirow's manga work,
you definitely shouldn't miss Dominion, and it should be worth adding to
your collection.
