Maddo Buro Sanjuyon: Mad Bull 34

an animated exploitation tale.

 Mad Bull 34 (マッド★ブル34 Maddo Buru Sanjūyon) is a manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Noriyoshi Inoue, serialized in Shueisha's Young Jump between 1986 and 1990, and collected in 27 volumes.However, today's entry is not about the Manga but about the four-part original video animation released from December 21, 1990 to August 21, 1992. My original idea was to start reviewing obscure Animé/OVA from the 80's only (like we did a few weeks ago with Lensman) but since I recently re-watched it I thought, what the fuck! after all, it is based upon 80's material anyways. 

Now, what makes Mad Bull 34 so fun to watch? Maybe the show tries too hard to be serious that it ends up being comical as a result. Maybe the show has a terrible, over-the-top English dub that’s so inept that it’s charming, instead of grating. Regardless of why the show is seen this way, anime of this nature is an acquired taste. One of the poster children for “so bad it’s good” anime is Mad Bull 34, an OVA that gleefully tramples the boundaries of good taste bordering the likes of cult sexploitation films from the 70's.

New kid in town.

Diabetes cop!

Daizaburo “Eddie” Ban is a rookie cop that was recently assigned to the NYPD’s 34th Precinct. Seasoned cops know that the 34th is the roughest beat in the city . Shortly after his arrival, Ban is assigned to be the partner of John “Sleepy” Estes, better known as “Mad Bull” due to his violent brand of street justice . Together, they set out to clean up the mean streets of New York” or something.

The story sounds simple enough: a buddy cop story about two police officers cleaning up the streets of New York. New York City is portrayed as a crime ridden city full of drug dealers, ladies of the evening, and assassins. One the surface this does not sound very impressive, but the stories and the content within the stories that makes Mad Bull 34 infamous. While it is not uncommon for anime or even Western media to get the United States or parts of the United States incorrect, the way NYC is shown here in Mad Bull 34 is both groan-worthy and hilarious at the same time.

Prostitution and rape, all everyday stuff in the 34th precinct.

Sleepy's world, Sleepy's rules.

Over the years, the series gained a degree of notoriety for its portrayal of women. Most females are shown to be prostitutes that purely exist as a source of Tits & Ass . The few females who are not prostitutes in this series end up having stories revolve around being rescued by Daizaburo and Sleepy from an attempted rape. That isn’t to say that there are not strong females in the series, though. For example, Perrine is a lieutenant in the police force who helps Daizaburo and Sleepy during their cases, as well as the antagonist in the last episode.

The animation quality is OK . The character designs range from decent to downright ugly. While there is some fanservice in Mad Bull 34, it is a small aspect of the series that pales in comparison to what modern shows usually dish out. The real attraction comes from the series’s extreme levels of violence. After all, the show is set in America, and what American city does not have gruesome acts of violence on a daily basis? The gore levels don’t measure up to shows like Blood –C, but it is enough that the displays could upset some audiences.

Whatever it takes to uphold the law.

Naked justice.

Discotek’s release features both the original Japanese dub and the Manga Entertainment dub. The Manga dub was recorded in UK using British voice actors. What makes it unique is the fact that the voice actors make an attempt to sound more “American” by performing with American accents. While it is not impossible for non-Americans to pull off an American accent (for example, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Dr. Stranglelove pulled this off), Manga’s attempt does not come anywhere close to convincing. The accents for the majority of the cast are forced and sound fake. On top the hammy performance, the script for the English dub is laced with more profanity than in the Japanese script. In comparison, the Japanese dub is better, but still not great. While this reviewer prefers the Japanese audio, the English dub simply must be heard to see how hysterical it can get.

Although only four 50 minute OVA were made, the stories chosen give you enough time to like the lead characters. Here's a brief description on who's who in Mad Bull 34:

John "Sleepy" Estes (a.k.a. Mad Bull)

The titular character. A giant-of-a-man police officer who works for the 34th precinct police department. He runs a prostitution ring in the 34th precinct which makes him a target by other gang bosses wanting to take over the territory. Despite Sleepy's penchant for going beyond the law and doing things that would classify him as a crooked cop, he always has good intentions within the law in his otherwise unusual ways to fight the war on crime. When Sleepy was only fourteen, his family was murdered by gangsters, and since then, he made it his mission to kill every gang boss in New York and rid the city of organized crime. His name is a reference to blues guitarist Sleepy John Estes.  

Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese), Allan Wenger (English)

Graphic violence: Sleepy's tag!

Bang bang!

Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban

A Japanese-American who is Sleepy's partner. Daizaburo is the foil for Sleepy as he rather does things by the book whereas Sleepy would rather stop crime using brute force. In the beginning of the manga, Daizaburo is used mostly as comic relief, but later on this role is transferred to Sleepy as his antics become more and more absurd. Daizaburo quickly falls in love with Lieutenant Perrine Valley. His name is a reference to Japanese guitarist Eddie Ban. 

Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Alan Marriott (English)

Perrine Valley

A lieutenant of the 34th Precinct, she helps Sleepy and Daizaburo on some of the more difficult missions. She eventually marries Daizaburo, first in a scheme concocted by Sleepy in an effort to bring a critically injured Daizaburo out of a coma. Later, she, Daizaburo, and Sleepy are kidnapped by cowboy assassins and are married once again after the previous marriage was presumably annulled. 

Voiced by: Gara Takashima (Japanese), Liza Ross (English)

Perrine in the line of duty.

Perrine under attack.

Chief Alan

The chief of the 34th Precinct. He and Sleepy often butt heads due to Sleepy's "creative" police work. Chief Alan often fantasizes about Sleepy being murdered because of all the trouble he causes him.

Nickels the Electrician

An inventor with a vendetta against Mad Bull and has ties with the New York underworld. Develops bizarre yet deadly devices ranging from guns built into hard hats to shotguns that strap onto cats. A diabetic addicted to canned coffee that has a particular odor that smells like a mix of sugar and urine. Although his name is romanized in the manga as 'Nickels', his name could be translated as 'Nichols', perhaps a reference to actor Jack Nicholson who the character closely resembles. In the English dub of the anime, he is renamed "Nickels the Mechanic."  

Voiced by: Garrick Hagon (English)

Every girl in town wants a piece of Sleepy.

Police men know how to have fun, don't they?

Although, you may have a hard time trying to find an official release copy on DVD, you can watch the entire uncensored OVA through You Tube. Each OVA comprises a single story, the first one is "The Scandal" which is about prostitution and pimping. The second story, "Manhattan Connection" is about drug dealing and corrupt police men. The third story, "City Of Vice" is about murder & rape while the final episode, "Cop Killer" is about a high tech armored assassin.

Mad Bull 34 will work wonders with those viewers who enjoy pun intended humor and over the top situations, including graphic violence, gratuitous nudity (Perrine has her blouses torn to pieces every episode, so that you can get a glimpse of her gigantic tits) and language. Despite the fact the product is Japanese, the references to American pop culture, and to the exploitation/sexploitation genre are everywhere in every frame of the animation.

Mind blown!

Green Goblin's cameo.

Overall, if you like ultra violent  Animé from the 80's & 90's like I do, this should be a good watch for you. Of course there are a few letdowns, for instance in terms of characters they are pretty bland. You have the by-the-book cop, the bad ass anti-hero cop, the tough chick, and a bunch of people you won't even remember. The best thing I can do now is break it down episode by episode. The first episode has some fun gore, a nice ghetto atmosphere, and parodies several action movies including the James Bond franchise, but the villain is lame. 

Episode 2 is probably the best because it has the same great atmosphere, gore that is even more awesome than the first episode, and a little bit of humor, but there is this stupid subplot about a dirty cop which is forgettable. 

The third episode is so bad it's hilarious. The animation is laughable and the most annoying and stupid character in the series is introduced, but like I said it is like an Ed Wood film. 

The fourth episode makes the horrible decision to play everything straight. There is some humor, but the gore and action are worse than ever. The main villain and her relationship with one of the cops could have been interesting if it was actually done well, but it wasn't. I enjoyed this series because the whole thing kept my attention and had some genuinely clever and fun moments, but I just can't bring myself to give it an average rating because of all of its flaws.

Episode 1 "The Scandal"

Episode 2 "Manhattan Connection"

Episode 3 "City Of Vice"

Episode 4 "Cop Killer"