At some point, I told myself I would be reviewing
Appleseed: Ex-Machina as part of the Netflix Diaries, but I felt like before doing that, I should refresh my memory regarding the first two movies. So here we are at the 1988 OVA, the first attempt of three to adapt Masamune Shirow’s manga into anime. Subsequent efforts were bizarre hybrids of CGI and cel animation, all full of the gray and black battle armor that has become so predictable in today’s futuristic paramilitary forces. But back in the 80s, the future was being defended by towering cyborgs in frilly pink silk smoking jackets and hot-headed tough girls in baggy, tapered, pleated acid washed jeans.
The story is pretty rote for sci-fi anime: in the future, Earth has suffered some sort of terrible apocalypse, and the survivors now live in paradise-esque cities controlled entirely by computers -- because anyone who has ever used a computer knows that they never get anything wrong. While life in general seems OK, an underground resistance feels that humans are nothing more than songbirds in a gilded cage, and that a nice prison is still a prison. Amid this turmoil we meet officers Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos, who become involved in a case that includes the kidnapping of a robot chick (the controllers of the city are robots designed to look like sexy humans) who proves to be the key to shutting down the city so a group of rebels can commandeer a high-tech flying spider tank thing and blow stuff up.
Appleseed was one of the first anime titles I saw, as it was one of the handful of things available on VHS in the early 1990s. It was one of the best of the bunch, and I hadn’t watched it since around 1992 or so. I still found it to be hugely entertaining, if for no other reason that a giant cyborg struts around in frilly robes and ruffled tuxedos and other outfits chosen from the
International Cyborg Male catalog. But even without that, there’s plenty of action, a decent plot, quality old school animation, and fine voice acting talent.
Labels: Anime and Animation, Country: Japan, Creator: Masamune Shirow
At some point, I told myself I would be reviewing Appleseed: Ex-Machina as part of the Netflix Diaries, but I felt like before doing that, I should refresh my memory regarding the first two movies. So here we are at the 1988 OVA, the first attempt of three to adapt Masamune Shirow’s manga into anime. Subsequent efforts were bizarre hybrids of CGI and cel animation, all full of the gray and black battle armor that has become so predictable in today’s futuristic paramilitary forces. But back in the 80s, the future was being defended by towering cyborgs in frilly pink silk smoking jackets and hot-headed tough girls in baggy, tapered, pleated acid washed jeans.
It's pretty good, but I remember being disapointed that the huge armored cyborg got taken out by a reletively weak shot to the knee. Also, the "end boss" went out like a punk.