Video Backlog: Week 2, 2011

"Himiko-den (Legend of Himiko)"Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 12 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1999
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

I remember getting the fansubs of this show over a decade now. I recall loving the opening animation and being quite disappointed with the episode animation. Looking at the show now, it’s not as bad as I thought it was. Being a late 1990’s anime screened in the wee hours of the night, you know Keiji Goto is involved somehow. Although the character designs are very much Goto looking, it’s actually his protégée Megumi Kadonosono (of “Kiddy Grade” fame). While the show is indeed based of a game, somehow the writers have made quite a decent plot that manages to remain interesting throughout the 12 episodes. However it does get a little bit silly at times, especially with some of the secondary characters. Two of them seem to be really misplaced. It’s as if they’re just filling in time and are only there because they were in the original game. Also the character of Himiko is rather annoying the beginning of the series. However she improves quite quickly. But the show is quite well written for what it is and the ending was also quite good. Though that last shot or two weren’t really needed. It was as if the writers thought that the audience was a bit thick and had to hammer home the point. Overall surprisingly good, but a little forgettable really. 6.5 out of 10.

"M.D. Geist" – Director’s Cut and "M.D. Geist Death Force"
Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 47 minutes (original), 44 minutes (Death Force)
Production Date: 1986, 1996
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes (ADV Films re-release)

Surely one of the contenders on anyones worst anime ever made list. It’s obvious that the OVA was influenced by “Mad Max 2” or more likely “Fist of the North Star”. Except there is very little plot here (yes, even less plot than “Fist”) and it’s mostly about gore and fighting. But that’s exactly on the reasons why it became so popular. This OVA was a favourite of CPM head John O’Donnell for some unknown reason. So much so he co-funded a director’s cut (which adds some additional footage and annoyingly removes some of the animation mistakes which added to hilarity of the OVA – albeit these fixes are poorly done) and a new sequel OVA called “Death Force”. “Death Force” is somewhat of an improvement over the original, but it’s still pretty crap. It’s still death and exploding people in a futuristic post apocalypse landscape. I’ll give the director’s cut OVA 3 out of 10, because it was animated OK in some spots and some of the designs were good, and 5 out of 10 for the second OVA.

"Cybernetics Guardian"Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 45 minutes
Production Date: 1989
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

This one was quite a surprise. I bought the “Mecha Masters” CPM box just after the company fell to bits and I really expected nothing of this show because it was coupled with “M.D. Geist”. Boy I was wrong. Sure it may be a disposable late 1980’s OVA, but it’s pretty fun one. There’s a bit of cyberpunk mecha, a shadowy mystical religion based in the slums of a megalopolis, a ton of action and it’s animated by AIC. No wonder Manga Video released this one back in the mid 1990’s. Yes it’s completely silly and turns into a demon slugging match, but it’s one hell of a ride. Probably the downsides are the lack of details in the character designs (they look a bit bland) and the story is paper thin a lot of the times, but what the heck, it’s fun. Going to give it 6.5 out of 10.

"Genocyber"
Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 46 minutes (OVA 1), 4 Episodes x 25 minutes (OVA 2 - 5)
Production Date: 1994
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

The last disc in the “Mecha Masters” box (well, besides the soundtracks) is this five part OVA from Artmic. This is yet another show that Manga Video in the UK picked up, so you know it’s going to gratuitous violence. And it certainly has that. Tons of it. The OVA series is in three arcs. The first is the longest OVA which tells the story of how two girls who are experimented on a by a crazed scientist in a corporation in in Hong Kong and then later form the Genocyber and proceed to destroy everything in sight. The second and third OVAs move to a war with a fictional middle eastern country. One of the girls is mistaken as a refugee and is taken aboard an aircraft carrier which has another experimental esper-like pilot with similar powers as the girl. Naturally all hell breaks loose. The final two episodes are set about 100 years after an apocalypse in a totalitarian city surrounded by wasteland. An underground cult worships the remains of the Genocyber, and you know something bad is gonna happen. There is a great core story in this show. Lots of fantastic concepts based upon Hindu culture. The opening “video diary” gives an exciting tease into a larger more complex story. The animation is also top notch. However It’s pretty clear by the 15th minute or so that gore is the order of the day. I don’t think I’ve seen so many flying animated intestines in my life in one show. It’s also pretty downbeat with nothing but death, destruction madness in store for everyone except the two girls that form part of the Genocyber. And gee, they don’t have much fun either. Also compared with the first three episodes, the change of tone in the last two lets the show down a lot, especially after the excitement of episodes 2 and 3. It just takes too long to set things up and too much time is wasted on two characters that just die needlessly in the end anyway, and have no real connection as such to the Genocyber. I’m still going to give it 6 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).