Megazone 23 is probably one of the most groundbreaking animé along with Akira, Macross and Ghost in the Shell.Originally titled Omega Zone 23オメガゾーン23(read as Omega Zōn Tsū Surī) before the title was changed just before release to Megazone 23. Written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, and directed by Noboru Ishiguro, Ichiro Itano, Kenichi Yatagai and Shinji Aramaki.
Megazone 23 was conceived as a 12-episode television series, but it was changed to a direct-to-video project after the sponsors withdrew their support mid-production. According to Noboru Ishiguro, the end result was a "compilation movie" of already produced episodes. Megazone
was not conceived as a multi-part story. As such, the original release
of "Part I" lacks the subtitle that has been added to subsequent
re-releases.
The Garland is the main character in the trilogy.
The best Mecha design of all times.
Original mecha designs for the OVA series were created by Shinji Aramaki, while character designs were made by Toshihiro Hirano and Haruhiko Mikimoto, who would provide Eve Tokimatsuri's character designer for all three parts. For "Part II", Yasuomi Umetsu was the character designer, and for "Part III", Hiroyuki Kitazume took over.
The original planned title was "Omega City 23," then "Vanity City"
and "Omega Zone 23," but trademark issues compelled the producers to a
title change. The number "23" was originally a reference to the 23 municipal wards of Tokyo. In the retroactive continuity established by Part III, the number refers to the 23rd man made city-ship, with Megazone 1 named "Big Apple".
However, the title is pronounced "Megazone Two Three" as referenced by
several reference books and anime magazines published during the release
of the series, the Japanese Wikipedia entry, and even within the series itself in "Day of Liberation".
Bad guys feel love too.
Yui & Shogo's after sex ritual: television!
The
movie (OVA) was released on March, 9, 1985 and licensed for distribution to
ADV Films for the USA, and Canada and for the UK it was distributed by
Manga Entertainment. However, the first official western release date came ten years later in 1995.
Harmony Gold, (you know, the instigators of Robotech) got interested in the OVA, so they bought the rights and turned it into the awful Robotech: The Movie AKA The Untold Story.This "original" film would tell the story of a secret weapon (the Garland) while The Southern Cross army would fight the Robotech Masters in space. Also, Harmony Gold commissioned a new ending (because the original was uhm, maybe too dark and sad?) more on the side of what could be called a happy ending (not the happy ending from porn films) The nude, sex & graphic violence scenes were removed as well.
The film was a disaster from start to finish but it allowed many growing Animé fans to look for the original film in which the Robotech movie was made upon.Nevertheless, the growing Animé fandom allowed some lucky people to get their hands in import tapes where there were no dubs or subs of any kind, just plain Japanese language.
Garland or "Bahamut" in action
Eve: AI.
The
events in Megazone 23 take place in a post-apocalyptic future, where Tokyo only exists
as a simulated reality (The Matrix has you Neo) The story follows
the main character Shogo Yahagi, an apparent delinquent motorcyclist
whose possession of a government prototype bike leads him to discover
the truth about the city and the human race destiny as well. I'm sure you've all seen The Matrix by now. The creators of The Matrix
say that it is 'anime inspired'. Just from watching the trailer to this
classic, you can see where they took the plot from.
The film is sort of set in 1980's Japan, and it really shows. The
costumes, music and words(in the recent English Language version by AD
Vision) are all like they've been directly lifted from the era. I
believe it was made in that time also, but due to certain plot points,
this doesn't date the film!
As you probably guessed by my referencing to The Matrix, the world
isn't real. It's not really the 1980's. In fact, it's something more
like the 2480's. After a nuclear war, the Earth AKA Biosphere Prime's
ecosystem was destroyed. The survivors were forced to escape into
space, where the conflict continued. Once the planets (or "Biospheres")
were all abandoned, people began to live in space fortresses known as Mega Zones - cities inside
of spaceships, where, via hypnotism techniques and Truman Show-esque
illusion, they were made to believe they we're back on earth, in the
most peaceful time in recent memory... The 1980s. When young Shogo
obtains a mysterious advanced looking motorcycle, it leads him to find
out more than he's supposed to know... The Garland(a bike which becomes
a mecha), a weapon from the 2400's, aids Shogo in his escape from the
pursuing military. As more and more is discovered about the MegaZone,
the war comes closer to home, and due to conflicts between the military
and the computer, the war comes to the MegaZone too... I apologize if
those points are seen as spoilers, but the plot is outlined basically
that way on the synopsis.
Operator 7G, the chosen one.
the Garland, a masterpiece.
Emotions run high in this movie, more so than The Matrix. You really do
believe the war is going on, and Shogo really does become quite scarred
by what he's discovering. What starts off as an uber-happy cool 80's
flick becomes a tragic tale of war and unreality. These characters are
real people, not the cardboard cutouts we saw flipping around in
bullet-time in The Matrix. There really is the sense of the suffering
people can go through after being caught up in such a conspiracy, and a
war. It may just choke you up towards the end... I know it did me.
When it comes to character development, the film doesn't fall short either. Shogo Yahagiis a youngster who's living a life of ease sharing with friends, and clearly enjoying being a fan of the pop diva known as EVE. Obviously, this changes once he discovers the secret weapon his new bike is. Shogo wants the world to know the truth and despises war or violence of any kind. BD, The antagonist, is a top gun who will stop at nothing to ensure the truth doesn't come out. While he seems to be the bad guy, the second film reveals him to be more human than previously seen on part 1. Yui Tanaka, is a hot dancer and Shogo's love interest. Mai Yumekano & Tomomi Murashita are friends in common with both Yui & Shogo. They're planning to film a science fiction romance movie, so they rely on Shogo's Garland for the action/adventure supply. While other characters appear, the previously mentioned are the ones with more on screen time.
Better than Lynn Minmei.
Girls from the 80's.
Animation is pretty impressive for it's day, and the picture quality on
the ADVision DVD is unbelievable for it's age. The artwork style is
beautiful and reminiscent of traditional anime, very cultural. Be
prepared for quite a lot of violence and blood, there's also an erotic
sex scene.
The ending can be seen as a 'there can be no ending', similar to the
Matrix, or, supposedly can be followed by the sequel.
I have to say that this is one of the best Animé I've seen, in fact,
one of the best movies I've seen, and considered by many to be one of
the greatest Animé of all time.
Sex in an OVA!
Boobs!
Overall, Megazone 23 Part I is definitely the best out of the three OVAs as it sets up an original story with great characters, action, music and high quality drawing style. This film raises the bar in what comes to standards in animation and despite being a 1985 OVA new generations can enjoy as much as the original target audience.
I must recommend the ADVision DVD, as their take on the English
Language is incredible, and does the movie justice, and can be
purchased with an artbox for holding the two sequels when they are
released, which will have the same vocal cast. All in all, MegaZone 23 is an incredible movie, and deserves to be held
highly, and should be an essential in any anime fan's collection.
Here's a fan made video which shows the most important fragments of the plot and it's accompanied with the main song sung by Eve "Sentimental over the shoulder":
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...
