Following our trend of forgotten 80s OVAs, AKA postponed reviews I had in store for months, We'll take a look at another 1980s Ecchi movie, only this time, this one is a comedy and features adult characters in adult situations with the obvious dated clichés from 40 years ago.
Junk Boy, or The Incredible OK Video Junk Boy, is a 1987 direct to video OVA directed by Katsuhisa Yamada, based upon Kunitomo Yasiyuki's manga. The manga was published on Weekly Manga Action magazine from 1985 to 1987 spawning 18 volumes. Obviously, you can't tell a whole 18 volume Manga in a 45 minute one shot OVA. However, the adaptation is not that bad.
23-year-old Ryohei Yamazaki has just one thing on his mind: sex. And
with his sweet-talking, honey-voiced ways, Ryohei has no trouble finding
interested ladies. But none of them is just what he wants... none of
them is PERFECT. Then he charms the beautiful editor of a hot magazine
into hiring him. Journalism will never be the same again...
A scene 80s teens can relate to.
That smile only porn can bring.
The Anime explosion from the late 80s and early 90s spawned hundreds of direct-to-video Animé. Some were one shots and some ran for 6 episodes or so. Truth be told: The increasing western interest in the genre had Japanese (and occasionally Korean & Chinese) studios producing as many shows as possible. Money was the motivation, and Americans were craving this content regardless of quality. So hundreds of OVAs were made during a frantic 5 year period. Hentai, Ecchi, and Gore were amongst the most popular genres because of the graphic content that led many viewers into thinking "Anime is not kids stuff". We have to admit it was quite a novelty to see adult situations, nudity and sex in the animated format, although it had already been done in the late 70 by the same Japanese industry of animation, it totally became a thing in the late 80s and early 90s.
Junk Boy may or may not have been inspired by American B-movies the likes of Blue Money and others. The premise feels quite real for an 80s production: A horny man's dream job is to work in a porno magazine, and meet all the models and eventually get some of that sought after wild sex promise with a perfect woman.
Obviously, this is an Ecchi comedy meant to not be taken seriously.
Photography is an art.
Don't miss the money shot!
So what does Ryohei Yamazaki do in Potato Boy magazine? In a nutshell,
he has to approve the image sets that will be published in the monthly release of the magazine. Now, how he chooses the perfect set may be a tad too much for some people: If he gets a boner, the set will go to the print room. As simple as that.
Plot wise, I can't say much. The first half is our "hero" lending a hand to a model that isn't in the mood for a nude photo shoot session. Yamazaki gives her a
speech about how he used to jack off to her
and how her pictures stopped him from being a potential rapist (WTF?). After the heartfelt speech the model realizes he has a big boner and forgets about philosophy and goes straight to business with him. I'm sure in real life, a woman would call the cops, runaway or the beat the shit out of someone saying "Hey, I thought about you whenever I masturbated". Same with seeing an unsolicited man's boner in your place of work.
The odds are out.
C'mon! diddle that skiddle!
The second half is very similar to the previous one. Only this time Yamasaki is not swet talking to a model but to a journalist he thinks he's in love with. The results are the same: All he wants is sex, and while he does achieve his goal, the journalists reply isn't very welcomed: She tells him he's terrible at sex.
So begins Yamasaki's neverending quest for convincing the lady, she's wrong and that he can satisfy her gallantly. Obviously, this is a comedy OVA, so there are no morals to learn here. Yamasaki gets the journalist one final time but he doesn't exactly evolve from where he was before: He's still a depraved stalker obsessed with sex and women.
Up yours!
Who is this piece of shit guy?!
While Yamasaki's boners, tits and asses are all that's shown, the OVA could fit the Hentai genre better. However, the lack of plot, and/or unrealistic situations we're presented with, do not improve the overall quality of what you're watching even if your interest is solely based upon T&A.
Another problem the anime has is that it seems to try too hard at stating a point. In addition to being ecchi, it's a comedy. The problem is that there isn't much to laugh at. Perhaps the facial expressions some characters make could be labelled as "funny". In addition, to make matters worse, Junk Boy tries to become a romance in the second half. With
Ryohei being nothing more than a depraved creep that hunts for every woman he sees. The fact that
after getting the girl, he decides to
harass his boss again just drives the point home that the romance plot
was shallow or simply a bad pun. Moreover, it doesn't help that the first half moves briskly while the
second half is a massive 20 minute yawn.
The reason you rented the VHS.
The reason you downloaded the VHS-Rip.
Junk Boy could have worked, honestly. More time focusing on Ryohei's walkabouts and show off a few more scenes of him getting raunchy material
for his job. You could dial back his personality to make him bearable
and you'd have a pretty decent ecchi. If you actually want to root for him, you'd need to have a few more episodes or an
entire series. Obviously, the limited 45 minutes cannot translate well what you can read in the original 18 volumes.
Overall, while Junk Boy isn't anything special, it's not
terrible. It has that sleek, 80s anime look, the music is decent, it's funny at times, and the women
look nice if that's your thing. If you're just looking for a goofy
ecchi, you could probably do worse. If you're looking for anything else,
you could definitely do a lot better.
An early 1987 review.
What's that junk?
Here's Abunai Sugar Dance the ending theme song as sung by Noriyuki Asakura:
Today'sentry will take us back to our "Animé for the retired & soon-to-be-dead" audience that visits our place frequently. The undeniable success Super Dimension Fortress Macross had when it came out in 1982 generated a list of followers & imitators, some worth remembering, some worth forgetting.
Background
機甲創世記モスピーダ AKA Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (literally "Armored Genesis MOSPEADA") is an anime science fiction series created by Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma. The 25-episode television series broadcasted from 1983 to early 1984 through Fuji TV in Japan. While the series features a fair amount of original characters and plot, some people think it borrowed a few features from the above mentioned SDF Macross.
MOSPEADA stands for Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor,
one of the transformable motorcycle-armors the series features. The
other primary mecha featured in the show is the three-form transformable
fighter called the Armo-Fighter AFC-01 Legioss, which is somewhat
similar in design to the VF-1 Valkyrie from you already know who.
Amazing mechanical designs.
Shinji Aramaki knows what he's doing.
The original working titles for MOSPEADA were: "Descent Machine Soldier Vector" (very similar to Armored Trooper VOTOMS) , "Super Immortal Fortress Reflex Point" (Really?) and "AD Patrol", which had nothing to do with what years later would become the prequel OVA to Bubblegum Crisis. The main character designs were
created by Yoshitaka Amano, who would later gain renown for his character artwork for the Final Fantasy series.
Each of the Japanese episode titles contains a musical reference. This style of titling would later be used by Cowboy Bebop.
Mechanical designer Shinji Aramaki came up with the transformable motorcycle-powered exoskeleton design while working on the Diaclone series (which later became part of that franchise still selling toys). When riding his Honda VT250 250 cc motorbike he thought to himself that it was the right size for a person to wear. The bike design was inspired by the Suzuki Katana. The black and white stripes on the Legioss and VR ride armor are a tribute to the Allied invasion stripes in World War II.
The incidental music was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who would later gain renown for incidental music for the movies of Hayao Miyazaki,
though it is accidentally credited, because of a misreading of the name
characters, to a "Yuzuru Hisaishi." MOSPEADA is the first anime series
to have a jazz-based theme song (Blue Rain)
Our heroes are watching every move the Inbit make.
Fucking humans! you polluted the Earth!
Story
In the 21st century, Earth's pollution problems result in the
development of a new hydrogen fuel called "HBT" as an alternative to
fossil fuels, while mankind colonizes Mars. In 2050, a mysterious alien
race called the Inbit invades Earth. Unable to fight off the Inbit,
Earth becomes desolate with only a few pockets of human beings scattered
throughout the planet. Many of the refugees escape aboard a few
remaining shuttles to seek shelter on the Moon. The Inbit set up their
main base of operations on Earth, called "Reflex Point", in the Great Lakes area of North America.
However, the Mars colony, dubbed the Mars Base, does not forget
about the plight of Earth. Troops are sent in to fight the Inbit from
the Moon, only to fail miserably. The Inbit do not attack Mars and show
no interest towards the other planets. Surprisingly, the aliens show no
hostility towards humans unless they are directly provoked. The Inbit
can also sense the presence of HBT and use of the fuel is limited under
their supervision, as HBT is a common component in weapons technology.
Mars Base becomes a gigantic military factory, producing vast amounts of
advanced weaponry and trained troops. In 2080, Mars Base sends in the
next wave of troops called the Earth Recapture Force - but it is
virtually destroyed despite a technological advantage including the
deployment of transformable mecha.
Houquet won't take your shit.
Amazing fan artwork by Suppa Rider.
Mars Base deploys the Second Earth Recapture Force three years
later but suffers a similar fate as the first fleet. Legioss pilot Stick
Bernard turns out to be the only survivor as he crashlands in South
America, but his fiancée, Marlene, is killed in the chaos. A holographic
recording of Marlene given to Stick just before the operation began
gives him the strength to move on and avenge her death. In his quest to
reach Reflex Point, he meets the other main characters of the show,
forming a group of ragtag freedom fighters in a quest to rid the planet
of the Inbit.
As the plot unravels, the purpose of the Inbit invasion is
revealed: to find a suitable place to evolve into more complex beings.
However, the Inbit do not know that their endeavor actually threatens to
cause the extinction of both humans and Inbit and thus, it is up to
Stick and his group, with the help of humanoid Inbit (Aisha and Solzie),
to convince the supreme ruler of the Inbit, the Refless, to flee from
Earth.
The Blu Ray looks so clear, you can see the animation cells margins.
Did I mention how much I love Houquet Et Rose?
Review
If you weren't a kid living in Japan in 1983, chances are you were like me, and like millions of "Japanimation" craving fans from countries outside of Asia. So? The very first time you watched Genesis Climber MOSPEADA was in 1985 in the brand new Harmony Gold epic Animé saga Robotech. The series produced by Carl Macek (love him or hate him, he was there) used MOSPEADA as the third and final act of their westernized view on Animé. So, "The New Generation" was 機甲創世記モスピーダ's official introduction to the world, outside of Asia.
Plot wise & character wise the modifications made by Harmony Gold were minimal. The only notorious changes were basically scenes that were censored due to graphic violence, nudity or revealing moments that would have us 80's kids complaining "wait! that's not how you write his name!". The other big change made was the fact they replaced the entired original soundtrack in order to help us get a sense of continuity between the three original Animé (the two others being SDF Macross & SDC Southern Cross). Sadly, the music from the three original series is far better than what Harmony Gold went for instead.
Moving on with the review, I can tell you, seasoned fans have already seen the original Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, and while it may seem like an obscure Animé from the 80's to some, well, like many other old Animé and Cartoons, they're still selling toys, which means there's an audience that refuses to let go of the fond memories this little 25 episode adventure created.
The extra cool looking Legioss.
The MOSPEADA. Don't leave home without it.
I remember back in the 80's hating having to go to school in the afternoons. My sorry schedule never gave me the chance of watching The New Generation from start to finish. I had, and still have this neighbor friend who'd go to school in the morning, so he would tell what I missed right after school. So not only did The New Generation become a frustration but, the whole rising Animé scene turned me into an obsessed fan looking for ways to quench my Animé thirst in some of the most obscure ways a primary student can think of: Skipping classes!!!! There were a couple of times were I said "Fuck it! I'm watching Robotech no matter what" so while that didn't become a norm, I'd still find other ways to skip classes. Imagine how great I felt when I got the flu, or a stomach ache, or whatever symptom! because it was the chance of at least watching one or a few episodes I'd never watched before. Moreover, my family hired a math tutor to, you know, help me raise the bar in the subject and, well, I fucking hated the shit out of him too! The schedule was a whole hour lesson at the same time Robotech would air! Argh! This sadness would follow my sorry ass for around four years. Robotech was such a big thing back then, reruns were mandatory, but I was destined for failure. Once my school shift was moved to the morning section, the reruns were fucking done. I seriously contemplated suicide back then, LOL.
Moving on from the Robotech version of today's review, I can pretty much assure you, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA is one of the best mecha Animé from the early 80's. People have criticized the series as being "episodical", "lacking in character development", "rushed" and even "childish". To each his own, even if they're wrong.
You're never too busy to not appreciate flowers.
GTFOD in style.
First, MOSPEADA is not episodical. Everything taking place in an episode, will immediately affect the following episode. The same can be said about character development. There are episodes where we learn the background story of the main characters, revelations from the Inbit and even the stories of other characters that have suffered the Inbit invasion in first person. However, I kinda agree with the "rushed" label some people have assessed this Animpe. Nevertheless, there were a lot of excellent Animé that fell into the same category. While the reasons behind it may vary, it usually has to do with running out of budget or kids not buying the toys/kits anymore. The first 20 episodes feel like there's a very long distance from where our heroes start the quest, and yet the final episodes speed the action up quite a bit. Still, I don't think that's a bad thing. Characters have grown enough, and their mission has to end some time.
Now, let's take a close look at the main characters:
Stick Bernard (Voiced by Bin Shimada):
A 20-year-old Mars Base lieutenant who becomes stranded on Earth as the
Inbit obliterate the defenses of the Second Earth Recapture Force. As a
result of the overwhelming force of the Inbit, Stick's fiancée, Marlene,
is killed when her ship attempts to land on the planet surface, leaving
Stick angry and bitter. Even after he gathers his freedom fighters
together, he often allows his hatred and blind fury towards the Inbit to
distract him from the responsible decision-making his friends know he
is capable of. In the end, however, he finds his peace again as he
becomes aware of his growing feelings for Aisha, despite her Inbit
background.
Ray(Voiced by Hisao Ōyama):
A 17-year-old scavenger who plays the role of the historian, optimist,
and wisecracker of the group. Originally, Ray was a loner who actually
enjoyed teasing the Inbit as they chased him around the territory, but
he joins Stig in order to deal a serious blow to the invaders. Extremely
resourceful and with a good intuition, Ray is the first in the group
who gradually manages to figure out important clues about the Inbit's
true nature. He is a huge fan of Yellow Belmont until he learns that the
female singer is actually a man. Over the course of the series, he
develops deep feelings for Houquet, but she is slow to warm up to his
affections. According to the show's creators, Ray is partially telepathic. In
earlier versions of the storyline this was much more predominant.
However it is still present in the series as it was made, which explains
the bizarre hallucination that he has at one point (which revealed
several true facts of the Inbit's history and purpose) and his
inexplicable understanding of what the "genesis pit" they fell into was
for.
Can't see a man about a dog without the Inbit fucking around!
Well, uhm, you know, there's a bed & sheet section in this mall.
Mint La Bule (Voiced by Sanae Miyuki (credited as Miyuki Muroi)):
A spirited and precocious 13-year-old girl who was abandoned by her
parents. She tags along with the group in order to find a husband, but
ends up becoming part of the team. Often considered an annoyance to the
rest of the group, Mint is nonetheless loved by her fellow freedom
fighters, and proves herself valuable to the mission on several
occasions. Her trademark attire is the E.T. cap that she wears. It is
not known whether the E.T. stands for the science fantasy movie of the same name or something else.
Houquet et Rose (voiced by Mika Doi): A 16-year-old former motorcycle gang member and girlfriend to gang leader, Romy. She was severely beaten and abused
by a rival gang when they cornered her away from her group. Houquet
initially fights for the helpless and refuses an alliance with Stick,
but joins the team after realizing that she would be stronger with them
than without them. Eventually she comes to respect her companions enough
that she offers to sacrifice herself in order to save the others. She
eventually falls in love with Ray, but for most of the series is unable
to open her heart and express her feelings to him.
Annoying as fuck.
Useful as fuck.
Jim Warston (Voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura):
A 32-year-old maintenance mechanic. Jim initially comes off as the
"stupid lunk" of the group, but is soon revealed to be quite
intelligent. Jim was once a member of the Mars Base forces, but deserted
after failing to save a friend from the Inbit. Though he labeled
himself a coward and often sees himself as a liability to Stig's team,
the team is quick to object to this, noting Jim's courage and
dependability during their repeated encounters with Inbit forces.
Yellow Belmont (Voiced by Mine Matsuki and Hirotaka Suzuoki): A 22-year-old soldier from the Second Earth Recapture Force. Now disguised as a female singer (thanks to his bishōnen
appearance) in order to hide from the Inbit and certain locals, Yellow
has made quite a name for him/herself as an entertainer, but upon
meeting Stick and his friends, Yellow decides to help free Earth from
the Inbit. His ability to completely change both his physical appearance
and personality (in the Japanese version, this also included his voice)
adds to the team's ability to infiltrate towns and cities in order to
gather supplies or complete missions. His stage name in Robotech was Yellow Dancer.
Jem's favorite singer.
Me bad guy, me kill.
Aisha (Voiced byMiki Takahashi): A female Inbit changed into humanoid form as part of an experiment to adapt the Inbit to Terran conditions. (In Robotech,
she was given the name Marlene by Scott (Stig) and the others, named
after his old fiancée, because when they first met her, they were
unaware of her real name.) Suffering from amnesia when Stig's group
finds her, she gradually develop human feelings and sympathies, and ends
up falling in love with Stig.
Refless (Voiced by Noriko Ohara): Supreme ruler of the Inbit. Her only goal is to terraform the Earth in order for her race to take it over. Considers humans to be genetically and socially worthless.
Solzie (Voiced by Waka Kanda):
Another female Inbit transformed into humanoid form. Accidentally
encounters Yellow as he is bathing in a waterfall, and the encounter
leaves her resolve shaken as she slowly begins to fall in love with him.
Eventually, she becomes the first Inbit to independently sympathize
with the human cause.
Battlar (Voiced byHōchū Ōtsuka):
The sole male Inbit in the series changed into humanoid form. Unlike
Aisha and Solzie, Battlar's experiences with Stig's team leaves him
angry and insulted. His repeated defeat in combat by Stig causes Battlar
to make his mission of stopping Stig's group a personal vendetta.
Aisha is not shy.
Fantastic original artwork.
Plot wise, MOSPEADA is slightly different than Robotech. There's no protoculture here, no admiral Rick Hunter coming to Reflex Point, and most of the deleted scenes are either comical fourth wall breaks, mild nudity and a tad of graphical violence. However, some plot details are different. First, the Inbit aren't THAT bad. They're actually looking for a fit environment to evolve into their ultimate form, unaware in the process they may end up wiping out the species already on Earth. You see, the real reason behind mankind leaving Earth is because of pollution. Also, they ran out of fuel, so the HBT was developed on Mars as an alternative to fossil fuels. So while, a lot of humans were conquering space, the ones that stayed home were caught off guard and outnumbered when the Inbit invasion took place. Sadly, the Inbit can easily detect HBT vehicles and weapons, so the surviving mankind go south most of the time they want to fight their invaders. Last but not least, Rey doesn't say "get a job!" and Stick doesn't name Aisha after his dead girlfriend because that's fucking creepy.
While some may think this Animé borrows a few aspects from SDF Macross (idol singer, three mode transforming mecha, alien invasion, love confusing aliens, etc) my answer to them is simply, no! MOSPEADA is its own thing. However, like Macross, MOSPEADA has a fantastic soundtrack. One of the best ever recorded in the early 80's if I might add. Yellow Belmonte has a varied selection of songs that go from R&B, to funk, to soul, to Blues, to rock and to 80's synth pop. Please! do yourself a favor, and buy this fantastic vinyl!
Don't trust this guy.
This lady works for The Sun newspaper.
Overall, seasoned fans have probably seen the show many, many times. Fans have probably replaced their DVD set with the high definition Blu Ray box set, and Robotech fans, well, they have replaced their DVD sets with newer DVD sets, LOL. Is it worth watching? abso-fucking-lutely. Bonus pictures of my MOSPEADA Toys and Vinyl soundtrack:
The original Gakken toys.
Spinning the original soundtrack.
Stay tuned for more! Check our video section below!
Here's the opening: Here's the ending: Lonely Soldier Boy live with Andy Koyama (original singer) boy! this song is in my top 5 Animé songs of all time! A fan made tribute to Shinji Aramaki (sadly featuring the Robotech soundtrack) Gakken & Imai MOSPEADA TV ads: The opening made completely on MS Paint: The Korean opening: Fans covering the legendary opening theme:
