Complete UK Anime Guide -1995
UK-PAL
By Geoff Cowie
Comprehensive A-Z listing and reviews of Japanese animation commercially released in Britain during 1995. An impartial guide for the more discerning viewer.
Approx 60 videos
The essential guide - don't buy any anime without it!
Edition 1.0
Author's Note:
This publication includes all anime released in the UK between Jan 1 and Dec 31 1995 (excepting some series reviewed in last year's volume) Some of the reviews appeared in a different form in the magazines MATRIX and CRITICAL WAVE.
Definitions:
Anime = Japanese animation
Manga = (1) Japanese comic, (2) part of a trademark used by Manga Entertainment Ltd. for their "Manga Video" animated videos.

Notes:
Length of review is at the whim of the writer; some listings commence with general remarks on a series.
Most UK releases are dubbed into English. A minority are subtitled, and even fewer are available in both formats. Controversy continues on whether anime should be treated as popular commercial material and dubbed for ease of viewing; or as a cultural artefact whose nuances should be preserved by subtitling. The titles actually released are biased towards the popular.
Note that the review tapes are generally not the version sold to the public but uncut promotional tapes. This is significant in the case of cert. 18 videos where obnoxious scenes of sexual violence or blood spatter are regularly removed by the British censors. Anime-loving youths may whine about this practice but having had the misfortune to see some of the scenes in question I have no sympathy with them whatsoever.
Please note that this compilation is in no sense a listing of the best of Japanese animation; although it includes some fine material, it is no more than a list of the videos that some British companies thought they could license and sell at a profit.
PRICE: Prices vary between retailers. British videotapes are among the cheapest in the world. Few full- length anime tapes cost more than £13.99 (R.R.P). Some distributors price according to length, with many tapes under 50 mins costing less than £10, and half hour tapes costing from £5.99.
Earlier releases may be available at reduced cost from distributors' promotional clubs etc.
Copyright G. Cowie 1995.
Edition 1.0, Dec. 1995
No part of this publication may be stored or copied without the permission of the author and publisher.
One copy may be downloaded for personal use at home.
Trade enquiries welcome.
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Alphabetical Index of Contents (Series Names):
AD POLICE
ADVENTURE DUO
ANGEL COP
BABEL II
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS
THE COCKPIT
CYBER CITY OEDO 808
DANGAIOH
DOMINION - TANK POLICE
DEVIL HUNTER YOKO
EIGHT MAN AFTER
GREEN LEGEND RAN
HEROIC LEGEND OF ARISLAN
HUMMINGBIRDS
KEKKO KAMEN
KISHIN HEIDAN
LADIUS
LEGEND OF THE FOUR KINGS
LOVE CITY
LUPIN III
MACROSS PLUS
MADOX 01
MEGAZONE 23
OH MY GODDESS
ORGUSS 02
PATLABOR
PEEK-THE WHITE WHALE
PLASTIC LITTLE
PROJECT A-KO
ROBOTECH
SALAMANDER
SLOWSTEP
SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA
SPACE FIREBIRD
STEEETFIGHTER II
SUPER DEFORMED DOUBLE FEATURE
TENCHIMUYO
URUSEI YATSURA
USHIO & TORA
WINGS OF HONNEAMISE
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THE REVIEWS
A
AD POLICE 1
AD POLICE 2
AD POLICE 3
AD POLICE #1,2,3 (Manga Video) 26 mins ea., cert 18, £6.99.
The 3 part series is set in the same world as Bubblegum Crisis, released by rival subtitling label Anime Projects.
However for no sensible reason MV have dubbed the androids "Voomers", rather than "Boomers". This is quite a
decent series, taking as its theme (as in BLADERUNNER, to which it owes an obvious visual and thematic debt)
the uncomfortably narrow boundary between human and machine displayed by advanced androids.
In #1, policeman Leon has to deal with Boomers which lose control and go on destructive rampages. It turns
out that the Boomers have been abused. There is only the slight suspicion that the plot has been written so as to
let the hero shoot some women. In #2, a female executive, subjected to competitive stress, replaces too many of
her female organs with synthetic Boomeroid substitutes, with violent and tragic results. A young policewoman
too is tempted to undergo replacement surgery for a minor eye complaint. When I saw an American subtitled
version of this, it struck me as one of the most sophisticated and moving pieces of animation I had ever seen,
showing a female perspective on the future, but the dubbing diminishes it considerably to something rather
average.

ADVENTURE DUO
A.k.a. ADVENTURE KID - the title was changed at the insistence of the British censors on the grounds that the videos were totally unsuitable for kids.
ADVENTURE DUO (Kiseki, cert 18
By no means a great piece of anime, but has aroused much interest. I have only seen part 2 which is seemingly
typical of the other two. Nominally SF, it's purely an exercise in pornography, and an ill-judged misture at that.
The UK shop versions are probably substantially censored; but the original has a particularly disgusting sado-porn rape of the scientist's wife, and on the other hand also has some amusing erotica that should not offend the averagely broad-minded.
Not recommended unless you like erotica.
ANGEL COP vols 1-6
The first three volumes were made in 1989 and the last three in 1992; there is an obvious difference in the quality
of the two sets.
ANGEL COP 1 (Manga Video, 29 mins, cert 18 £5.99)
A stylish episode with unusually realistic backgrounds depicting modern Tokyo, and some violent action
involving a special licensed to kill security unit with, officially at least, no names, ranks or records. Only in the
final scene is there a hint of the supernatural.
ANGEL COP vols 2 & 3 (Manga Video, 29 mins ea, cert. 18, £5.99
An archetypal 'Cert 18' Manga Video series, full of lethal violence. Volume 1 of this stylish police series looked
interesting but the next two volumes step into a higher gear. It has crisp realistic designs and an increasingly
convoluted plot involving a communist terrorist outfit, a shoot-to-kill Special Security Force, a shadowy group
of Hunters with supernatural powers, governmental corruption and anti-Japan plots, and the kind of heroine who
when faced with a hostage situation elects to open fire anyway . With adequate dubbing, heart-stopping action
and a plot that is all the more alarming for having some basis in fact, this one really grips. Recommended, but
only for viewers who like seeing blood spatter the walls while spent cartridges tinkle across the floor.
ANGEL COP vols 4-6
Loses all credibility; more violence, tedious supernatural powers, major characters wiped out.
BABEL II ep.1
BABEL II ep.2
BABEL II eps 1 & 2 (East2West, 29 mins, cert.15, £5.99,)
Young Ko-ichi has strange dreams and hears voices in his head. Soon he is battling a group of Psychics who are
bent on world domination, and in the process discovers his own formidable powers. Obvious wish-fulfilment stuff
for studious schoolboys, and a more than usually typical piece of Japanese animation. I vaguely recollect seeing
these episodes in Japanese. Not bad, but nothing to get excited about either.
(see also article in ANIME FX no.8)
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS 1-8 (dubbed versions)
Note that the subtitled versions continue to be available at the same price of £12.99.
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS part 1 (Anime Projects/AnimEigo), dubbed,
cert PG, £12.99.
The popular science fantasy/cyberpunk series, reissued in pink
& green sleeves and in a new American-dubbed edition.
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS is, judging by the number of column feet
devoted to it in fan publications, one of the most popular
anime series. For those new to anime; this is set in a violent
future Japan, where Tokyo is dominated by a powerful
industrial corporation, GENOM, which builds 'Boomers',
industrial androids and robots.
The story features the battles of the high-tech battlesuited
all-female KNIGHT SABRE vigilantes against the robots of the
GENOM corporation. One strength of this series is the pains
taken to depict the Knight Sabers as real women with real
daytime jobs; one, Priss, is a singer, another, Nene, a
policewoman, another an aerobics teacher. The battle scenes
are overly fantastic for my taste; though #1 eventually
redeems itself by surreal excess. Some quite good rock music
features prominently in the soundtracks. BGC is a vivid,
well-animated and energetic series very popular with teenage
and adult fans alike; the subtitle was one of the tapes rated
low enough (PG in this case) to be lent to my 14 year old
nephew, Sam, who says: "I think this video was extremely good
and my friends who saw it agreed with me."
The music seems to be mixed at a low level compared with the
subtitled tapes.
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS #4 -Revenge Road (Anime Projects/AnimEigo, 40 mins, dubbed, £12.99)
A self-contained episode that does not mention Genom or Mason, but instead is concerned with the deranged driver of a powerful car. The dubbing is quite satisfactory and a lot of work clearly went into it.

C
THE COCKPIT
Three OVAs by different directors.
Re-scheduled for Jan 1996 but I've written the review now and I'm leaving it in.
THE COCKPIT (Kiseki, 70 mins, cert15, £12.99)
Do buy THE COCKPIT; it contains one of the best and most moving short anti-war films ever made, about a
pilot of a WWII rocket-powered suicide plane, the Ooka. It's particularly moving at the beginning, where the
subtitles explain that once the pilot is launched, he will never return alive. There are dramatic aerial battle
sequences, and a fine music soundtrack. It happens to be animated, but please, don't let that put you off.
This triplet of OVAs is adapted from THE COCKPIT manga by Leiji Matsumoto (also known for creating 'Space Cruiser Yamato'). The manga show Matsumoto's deep love for mecha and mechanics. The three episodes, The Stratospheric Current, The Sonic Attack Team, and The Iron Dragoon, are animated by three different directors, Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City) Takashi Imanishi (Gundam 0083) and Ryosuke Takahashi (Armoured Trooper Votoms). All three have as their theme the horror and futility of war, and the first two in particular, unlike most war movies, which make it look jolly exciting, have a grimly sobering effect. In The Stratospheric Current, an unpopular German fighter ace has to decide whether to guard a bomber carrying the Nazi atom bomb -and his friends - or allow it to be shot down. In the second, the pilot of a supersonic suicide rocket-propelled bomb, the Ooka (=cherry blossom), survives his first mission while the crews of the mother plane and escort fighters are killed. He knows he has to fly again. You may not have heard of these planes, but they really existed (I saw one in a museum in Manchester.) One cannot read subtitles like "a fallen cherry blossom can never return" and "once dropped, the pilot can never return alive" without feelings of horror and sadness. This video goes a good way in explaining the psychology of kamikaze attacks.
I cannot recommend this video highly enough; it is beautifully made, with dramatic flying sequences, and has more to say than a whole shelf full of lesser anime releases.
CYBER CITY OEDO 808 File #1
CYBER CITY OEDO 808 File #2
CYBER CITY OEDO 808 File #3
CYBER CITY OEDO 808 File #1,2,3 (Manga Video) ,43 mins ea, cert 18, £9.99.
A three-part series, set in a high-tech future, about three convicts, Sen Goku, Benten and Gogul, who have
special skills and are pressed into service as expendable cyber-cops with the promise of sentence reduction. The
action is violent and the air blue with four-letter words, but the technology which pervades Part 1 is
unconvincing. Verdict: contains the usual ingredients calculated to appeal to Manga Video's target audience.
Part 2 is better and Part 3 (which I haven't seen) may be the best.
D
DANCOUGAR
DANCOUGAR (Western Connection, 80 mins, £10.99)
I haven't seen this; I don't think I missed much.
(But see article in ANIME UK (new series) #4, p.38)
DEVIL HUNTER YOKO Part 1
DEVIL HUNTER YOKO Parts 2,3
DEVIL HUNTER YOKO Part 1(Western Connection, subtitled, 45 min, cert 18, £8.99.
Sixteen year old schoolgirl Yoko finds life getting rather weird, when her granny tells Yoko that she is 108th in a line of traditional devil hunters,and provided she remains a virgin will inherit the role of Devil Hunter. Yoko is unconvinced till she is attacked by strange forces and the headmistress starts conducting demonic ceremonies. The day of the Devil's Moon approaches, when Yoko must defeat the demons or the world will face disaster.
And of course in anime, when heroines undergo a magical transformation, it oftem means that their their clothes fall off... This is a hilarious and sexy romp, the 18 cert being due to scenes like the one where the demonically posessed schoolboy nearly has his way with Yoko, and that where her mother gives the dismayed Yoko a chat about the facts of high school life and presents her with a string of condoms.
DEVIL HUNTER YOKO Part 2 (Western Connection, subtitled, 60 mins, cert 18?, £10.99)
This tape contains two 30 min episodes; the first being another demonic adventure in which Yoko acquires a cute 'assistant'. Fun, but less ambitious and not quite as good as the first video. The third episode is quite different and much more romantic in character. Yoko is transported to another world where dangerous and romantic adventures ensue.
(new)DOMINION TANK POLICE - Acts 5 to 10
mostly Cert 12 or PG
New DOMINION TANK POLICE - Act 5 (Manga Video, 28 mins, cert.12, £5.99)
A continuation of the series previously issued by Manga Video as two 70-min tapes. The new series is being
issued, Japanese fashion, as six short 28-minute single-episode tapes, at a pocket money price. It is set in a future where the police have to use tanks to contain criminality and terrorism (a splendid idea, just the thing to deal with a Newcastle underclass riot). The first episode involves police girl Leona in a mix of comedy, general destruction and ineffective gunfire. Alas, the character vignettes, comic panache and the ecological subtext that distinguished the earlier series are all lacking. It's not that bad, but fans of the best-selling earlier series may suffer disappointment, and those tempted to buy it as a low-cost introduction to anime may wonder what all the fuss was about.
Acts 6-10 are much the same; mildly entertaining and entirely brainless anime.
E
EIGHT MAN AFTER vol.1
EIGHT MAN AFTER vol 2
8 MAN AFTER vol. 1 (East2West), 55 mins, cert 18, £10.99.
Based on a 1960's comic book and TV series, this has very much the look of an American 'tec/superhero thriller cartoon. 8 Man is encased in a super cyber shell that gives him "awesome strength and near light speed travel".
His adversaries are a gang of drug crazed criminals who have cyber-activated weapons grafted onto their bodies which cause maximum carnage when they run amok. The main characters are a private eye, a street urchin, and the girlfriend of the original '8 Man'.
With good quality animation and design, interesting characters, and effective dubbing, this is gripping stuff and undeniably entertaining, if more than a little blood-spattered.
GENOCYBER 1
GENOCYBER 2
GENOCYBER 3
GENCYBER (Manga Video) #1: 46min, #2: 23min #3: 23min, cert 18/18/15, £9.99/£6.99.
From a manga (Japanese comic) by Tony Takezaki, who also
penned the AD Police manga. The visuals in #1 are often
quite stunning, with an unusual range of backgrounds, graphics
and character designs of surprising beauty. It's very violent
and bloody, and there are scenes where the screen looks like a
butcher's shop. In common with OEDO 808, the dub incorporates
gratuitous swearing. As for the plot, it's the usual rubbish
of powerful and secretive corporation developing a cyber-
weapon which gets out of control and demonstates homicidal
tendencies. The only novelty is that it looks like a young
girl. #2 has inferior visuals and more of the same nonsense.
Worth seeing #1 (in any language, it doesn't matter) for
the visuals.
GHOST IN THE SHELL. (Manga Video, 1hr 15m) Cinema tour Dec '95
video in April '96.
This very new anime is a big budget joint production between
our Manga Entertainment Limited, Bandai Visual, and Kodansha.
It's adapted from a manga by the famous Masamune Shirow
(Appleseed, Dominion,Orion), who is to manga what Kim Stanley
Robinson is to SF. So the result was, to put it mildly,
eagerly awaited. Briefly, it is about special forces personnel
who are so heavily augmented as to be part, or almost
entirely, cyborg. The year is 2029. A dangerous computer
criminal, the 'Puppet Master' , named for his ability to hack
into and control the minds of innocent victims,and suspected
of stock market manipulation, illegal data gathering and
terrorist acts, has surfaced in Japan. Section 9, a covert
secret service group, is called in to capture the criminal,
only to discover that the trail leads to their own
government's Foreign Ministry.
The result, at a cost of some £2.5 million - is impressive,
with highly realistic animation likely to appeal to the
uncommitted viewers, a wealth of striking effects and a
thrilling music sound track. SF fans should appreciate the
serious SF content, and there is some heavyweight
philosophising, and art-oriented scenes, as well as frequent
passages of violent action. The main problem with the movie
in that in trying to appeal to various tastes the makers have
produced one in which the various elements do not sit entirely
easily together. It is also addressing the same question as
ARMITAGE III - what is a human being? But ARMITAGE III does it
more simply and to greater effect. The plot is also too
cynical and labyrinthine for its own good. For all that, it's
one of the most exciting and impressive animated movies to
appear to date. The one anime movie every one had heard of is
AKIRA. With all the money and expectations riding on this new
movie, in future it may well be AKIRA and GHOST IN THE SHELL
that every one has heard of.
By the way, the 'ghost' is, more or less. a soul, without the
religious connotations.
Verdict: Pawn your CDs so you can get to see this.
GREEN LEGEND RAN
GREEN LEGEND RAN (Pioneer) vols 1 to 2, 45 mins ea, £12.99.
An all-action SF adventure series with an 'eco' message,
this is set in a future where there is no longer free water or
clean air. Six large mysterious aliens control the only water
sources. It never rains and the "oceans" are giant dustbowls
roamed by armed landships. The aliens are worshipped by the
elitist "Rodoist" class. Opposed to them are the revolutionary
"Hazzard" faction. A teenage orphan boy, RAN, longs to join
the Hazzard, and to avenge his mother whom he saw killed by a
man with a scar, in factional fighting. He meets the beautiful
Aira, a girl with silver-blue hair who seems to hold a key to
the alien mysteries.

GREEN LEGEND RAN vol 3 (Pioneer, 52 mins, cert 12, £12.99.)
Concluding volume of the thrilling SF eco-adventure. Aira is
imprisoned in the holy shrine at Green 5 being interrogated by
the Rodoist Bishops. Ran is looking for Aira, and for the man
with the scar. Meanwhile the Hazard are plotting "Operation
Fireball" to destroy the alien Holy Mother. Brilliant and
beautifully produced; if you don't view this series you're
missing some of the best screen SF around.
This is a highly original series, at once SF adventure, love
story and cautionary tale, and guaranteed to entertain. The
animation contains some superb 'vision' sequences experienced
by the characters, as well as some striking background
artwork, and the videos have enough depth and subtlety to
satisfy the more discerning adult viewer. Deserves to become a
classic; a "must" buy for anyone interested in screen SF or
animation, and infinitely superior to Star-trek, Star-wars and
their ilk.
GREEN LEGEND RAN vol 3 (Pioneer, 52 mins, cert 12, £12.99.)
Concluding volume of the thrilling SF eco-adventure. Aira is imprisoned in the holy shrine at
Green 5 being interrogatist by the Rodoist Bishops. Ran is looking for Aira, and for the man with the scar.
Meanwhile the Hazard are plotting "Operation Fireball" to destroy the alien Holy Mother. Brilliant and
beautifully produced; if you don't view this series you're missing some of the best screen SF around.
H
HEROIC LEGEND OF ARISLAN 3
HEROIC LEGEND OF ARISLAN 3 (Manga Video, 56 mins, cert PG, £11.99)
Third in the heroic fantasy series; not as good as the first, and not a great deal happens, but interesting if you have seen the previous episodes. It was billed as "3&4" in the press release but there was only 1, 30min episode on the preview tape, and the box says "Part III". You could visit a shop & check it out if you're that curious. A fourth episode exists in Japan and should appear eventually.
If you've not seen it, check the first volume; it's quite good, and as there are handsome heroes and not much violence it should also appeal to girls.
HUMMINGBIRDS
HUMMINGBIRDS (Western Connection, 80m, £10.99)
This is about a girl team of display pilots/idol singers. I only saw the Japanese version and it didn't make much
impression.
(See also ANIME UK 3 [new series] p.50)
KEKKO KAMEN vol. 1 (East2West, 45 mins, cert. 18, £10.99)
This title has achieved a small notoriety in some anime fan circles, as a very naughty video, which is how the distributors are trying to market it. Essentially, the story is about a school where all the teachers are sex perverts and have a torture chamber in the basement which is used for discipline The frailer pupils are protected from the worst depredations of the perverts by a female crusader, Kekko Kamen (=Beautiful Mask) , the "Messenger of Love and Justice", clad in a mask and boots AND NOTHING ELSE. In fact the video turns out to be much milder than I imagined it might be, as it scarcely goes beyond smutty adolescent humour. "Schoolboy humour" sums up the whole thing, though a few scenes are indeed very funny. That said, I thought parts of it were in rather poor taste - do we need any jokes about Nazis and concentration camps, and is tying up schoolgirls and hurting them supposed to be entertainment? Some anime does not travel well, methinks. But I think I've said enough for you to know what to do next; fume with outrage , ignore it, or go out and buy it.
KISHIN HAIDIN vols 1-4 (7 episodes)
KISHIN HAIDIN vols 1,2 (Pioneer, 60 mins ea, cert 12, £12.99.)
An astonishing SF anime series from Pioneer, set in an alternative 1940's period world where hostile power blocs face each other AND an alien invasion is in progress! The alien invaders are mostly androids, and with some difficulty several rival groups from Japan, Nazi Germany, etc (one of these being the KISHIN Corps) capture a few of the control components or 'modules' with which they can animate their own fighting robots; crude, gigantic, but still, in a 1940's world, highly effective war machines. At the outset, the hero, young Taishi Takamura has one of the modules, but it is soon seized from him and the Kishin Corps fights to get it back. There is a fascinating cast of characters ranging through children, Nazi spies, soldiers, inventors, heroes and villains, and the 'mecha', the robots and the special trains also have to be seen to be believed. There are elements of real history, and real issues such as the responsibility of scientists. The fast-paced action never lets up and, coupled with some transparent and well-scripted dubbing, makes for riveting viewing. Do watch this, and if you do, you may not want to return to mental chewing gum like Star-Trek.
KISHIN HEIDAN vols 3 & 4. (Pioneer, 60 mins ea, cert PG, #12.99)
Continuation and end of the fascinating SF series, in which an alien invasion occurs in the 1940's during an alternative Second World War. These later episodes are worth seeing if you bought the others. It has to be said that the production becomes increasingly rushed and confused, with plot elements left dangling. The climax is the Kishin Corps' effort to stop the Americans nuking the alien base, for motives which may remain incomprehensible to those whose country has never suffered nuclear attack..
LADIUS
LADIUS (Western Connection, 48 mins,
I couldn't remember a thing about this till I dug the tape out and re-ran it.The characters are all looking for a
mythical something hidden at a secret location. The setting is the future after the fall of civilisation; though the human and near-human characters seem to live quite comfortably and use a variety of vehicles. There are also some nasty androids who have some BIG robots. The scene on the cover appears nowhere in the video. It's quite pretty in places and mildly diverting, but I couldn't advise you to spend your money on it unless you are a completist or need it to research your dissertation.
LEGEND OF THE FOUR KINGS vols 1-6 (12 chapters)
LEGEND OF THE 4 KINGS (Manga Video) Chap. 1 &2, 94 min, cert 15, £13.99.
This is a twelve-chapter modern fantasy adventure based on an original novel. The four Ryudu brothers are descended from an ancient lineage and appear outwardly normal, living quietly in a Tokyo suburb, but have inherited spectacular supernatural powers. In the first chapter, powerful corrupt forces learn of the brothers' legendary dragon-king lineage and subject them to threats, kidnappings and harassment. The brothers respond with a display of their powers, and the eldest is taken to meet the evil power behind the scnes, Gozen. Subtle it isn't, but this action-adventure is a lot of fun, with well-realised caricatures, and the lively dubbing for once captures well the humorous tone of the videos. I was hooked into viewing the whole tape at one sitting.
The series goes rapidly downhill after the first tape, to the point where I never got past tape 3.
LOVE CITY (Western Connection, cert 15, 100 mins,£12.99)....
An odd movie made in 1986 that tries to be a poor man's AKIRA, complete with psychics, motorcycles, genetic manipulation and so forth, but on a low budget fails to carry it off. It's all rather under-explained, and more than a little surreal, with apparently solid cityscapes developing torn holes into somewhere else when under psychic attack. but the theme is one of genetic manipulation, with the main characters fighting over 'Ai' a cute-looking young girl who has been artificially created and whose body contains a secret code (I think).
There are some characters called 'Frauds' (don't ask). The 'Headmeters' are psychics with digital readouts on their foreheads which display the intensity of their psychic powers. The "Tuned Men' are (Ithink) androids. If I"d been more interested I would have tried to find out the answers to all these questions.
'Ai' also means 'Love'; while AI = Artificial Intelligence, so the title is a pun that can means "love City" or "AI City". It does not, with a British cert 15, means what you thought it meant, you dirty lot...
It's interesting in places but in others it just gets lost in cheap looking effects. One for completists or anime
journalists; others should be able to find a better video to spend their money on.
LUPIN III -Fuma Conspiracy
LUPIN III - The Gold of Babylon
LUPIN III-The Fuma Conspiracy (Western Connection, subtitled, £12.99)
Wonderfully colourful 73 minute cops'n robbers caper featuring the longest and most over the top car chase you've ever seen. The Fuma Clan steals an heirloom but master thief Lupin and his friends biker girl Fumiko, samurai Goemon and Lupin's enemy Inspector Zamagata are soon hot on the trail. A real treat.
LUPIN III - The Gold of Babylon (Western Connection, subtitled, 100 mins, cert 12 £13.99)
This comedy adventure has many fantastic and surreal elements, more so than the PLOT OF THE FUMA CLAN.
Lupin and his gang get wind of a huge treasure of gold, the legendary Gold of Babylon,from the burblings of an alcoholic New York bag lady, who seems to be holding a torch for Lupin. The gang travels to the Middle East in search of the treasure. Meanwhile the luckless Inspector Zenigata is on their trail,with a new team of assistants, the losing contestants in a policewoman beauty contest. Some opf the fantastic scenes, as where Zenigata and Lupin have a motorcycle chase around the giant face of a woman in a casino neon sign, would not work in any medium other than animation. Preposterous disguises abound; at one point Lupin even disguises himself as the luscious Fumiko (in bikini), without being detected by her boy friend. This movie seems a shade more rushed and slapstick than the FUMA CLAN, but is very enjoyable all the same.
M
MACROSS PLUS
MACROSS PLUS: Part One (Manga Video, £9.99)
Lavishly produced latest in the MACROSS saga, this time about rival teams of varitech fighter developers. This is very recent; so new that episodes are still being made in Japan. It has excellent animation, with superb aerial combat sequences, and the dubbing is so good that few viewers would stop to think that there had been a Japanese language original.Unfortunately the attention given to production values has designed the life out of the characters, leaving collections of unconvincing motivations and attributes who don't come to life on screen. This was certainly not a trait of earlier incarnations of MACROSS, as even when the characters were as irritating as Sylvie and Hibiki in MACROSS II, one could not help but think of them as real persons. By all means see this for the production values. I, however, was not tempted to see more.
MADOX 01
MADOX 01 (Manga Video, 41 mins, cert PG, £
I have only seen an American edition of this one: the Japanese army are trying out the prototype Madox-01 battle suit against tanks, with results that piss off the tank commander considerably. Later, after a highway accident, an ordinary schoolboy, Koji, gets into the suit. Of course, he can't really control it, and the Army wants the suit back, while the crazed tank commander just wants to destroy it. Much destructive fun ensues.
Amusing, but lightweight and not one I was desprate to see again.
MEGAZONE 23
MEGAZONE 23 (Manga Video, 100 mins, cert.12, £13.99)
I can't find what I originally wrote about this one at all...so here goes. The first MEGAZONE 23 was a Japanese TV series, if I remember rightly. This OVA sequel is set long after the first series, after the sealed spacegoing and computer simulated environment Eden has returned to an Earth scarred by environmental damage. In the first part computer hacker Eiji Takanaka is recruited from the video arcades to work on a confidential project. This part, though nominally set in the far future, vividly evokes the affluent lifestyle of game-crazed kids in today's Tokyo, with hacking, and battles between rival computer networks. There's a clever bit where the hero rides his motorcycle out of his pad and along the corridor and in a seamless sequence is tooling down a motorway minutes later. Reality-or what? As science fiction it's really very interesting- full of ideas about virtual reality and networks and hacking.
Alas, it all falls to bits in the second half with boring battles which are part virtual reality and part not. Very much a curates' egg-borrow it to watch the first half (a separate OVA in Japan) and skip the rest.
NINJA SCROLL (Manga Video, £13.99)
Aka Jubei Ninjupo aka Wind Ninja Chronicles(?). This is a 90 min Cert.18 ninja adventure, full of violence, bloodletting, high adventure, and supernatural feats.
Jubei, a loner, is drawn against his will into moves to counter a plot against the Shogunate government. He is the sole survivor of an attack by a fearsome man-monster on a ninja patrol, and finds himself allied with a beautiful ninja-girl and an aged priest.
There's plenty of action, animated with style, plenty of strange incident, and plenty of plot. The dubbing does it no particular favours, (rather like modifying a stylish vernacular building with cheaper bricks) but asides from that, this is a ripping good swords & sorcery yarn with a strong Japanese flavour.
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OH MY GODDESS! #1 Moonlight & Cherry Blossoms
OH MY GODDESS! #2 Midsummer Night's Dream
OH MY GODDESS! #3 Burning Hearts on the Road
OH MY GODDESS! #4 Evergreen Holy Night
OH MY GODDESS! #5 For The Love of Goddess
OH MY GODDESS! #1(Anime Projects, subtitled, 28 mins, cert U, £12.99.)
One of the most delightful anime series to reach our shores, and, unusually, a U cert. Student Keichi is left in the dorm to answer calls while his fellow students, all hulking bike fanatics, are out. Hungry, he telephones for food but finds the takeaways are not open. Instead, he gets the Goddess Helpline and no sooner realises he has a wrong number than a Goddess materialises in answer to his call. Offered one chance to wish for ANYTHING, he imagines various possibilities; however he has no girlfriend, the Goddess is cute so... he wishes that she stay with him forever.
The first result of this wish is that they are both thrown out of the men-only dorm... together. Homeless and wet, they take up residence in a disused shrine. The series, adapted from a manga, has proved a great fan favourite in Japan and in the USA, and Anime Projects will have no trouble selling tapes; even though they are rather short for £12.99.
OH MY GODDESS! #2 (Anime Projects/AnimEigo, subtitled, 28 min,cert. 12, £12.99)
The second episode, in which Beldandy's sexy older sister Urd arrives.They all go to the beach.Urd tries to help along the Keichi/Beldandy romance with rather mixed results! Keichi's rich and nasty classmate turns up in a powerboat and sticks her oar in, Urd tries some spells which all backfire.

OH MY GODDESS! #3 (Anime Projects/AnimEigo, subtitled, 28 min, cert. U, £12.99.)
Third volume in the charming romantic comedy series. In this episode, Keichi is stuck with representing the Auto Club in the University Drag Race. His mates have made a secret bet on the outcome that involves Belldandy. And as if two goddesses weren't trouble enough, Belldandy's little sister, Skuld, makes an appearance and interferes with the race preparations. A small masterpiece of animation; if you have the money, collect the whole series.
OH MY GODDESS! #4 (Anime Projects/AnimEigo,subtitled, 28 mins,cert U, £12.99)
Fourth volume & one of a pair with #5. Matters take a sombre turn as 'bugs' appear whenever Keichi and Beldandy are together, and Beldandy is told that she is to be recalled to Heaven by God.
OH MY GODDESS! #5 (Anime Projects/AnimEigo, subtitled, 40 mins, cert.U,£12.99)
Heartrending final episode in which Keichi works all hours to earn money to buy Beldandy an engagement ring, Urd and Skuld use computer and magic to concoct a bug-busting scheme, and Beldandy waits hopelessly for the moment of recall. If she goes back, all trace of her will be erased from Keichi's memory. Can it all end happily?
ORGUSS 02 vols 1,2,3
ORGUSS 02 Volume One (Manga Video, 60mins, cert.12, £11.99)
The first two episodes of an ongoing series, set in an alternate world, where centuries after the 'space-time' catastrophe two armies race to unearth and reconstruct the robot-like war-engines that their more technologically equipped ancestors once used. The action centres on Lean, a young mechanic, who falls under the influence of Manning, a cynical and self-serving army officer. The action sometimes seems simplistic, but the character designs are good, the characters are interesting, the dialogue is well above average and there is plenty of absorbing storyline to kep the viewers hooked. Nothing deep here, but plenty of entertainment for both young and older viewers.The beginning and end theme music is very odd but it grows on you.
The second volume is if anything better, with less of the toyshop robots and more of Lean's adventures with the fascinating rebel girl Nataruma. When he takes Nataruma back to the home of his childhood sweetheart you can feel the tension!
The fifth episode does not make much use of the main characters. There is a great poisoning scene in the Palace, and some really surprising stuff with mechas though.
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PATLABOR (movie 1)
PATLABOR II (movie 2)
PATLABOR (Manga Video, 120 mins, cert PG, £13.99, dubbed, subtitled special edition)
In the year 1999, mobile 'Labor' robots are extensively used for construction projects in the Tokyo metropolitan region. This poses potential problems of law enforcement, so the police are given their own patrol robots, or Patlabors. However, the story mainly concerns the introduction of new software for an improved Labor operating system, software which turns out to contain a disastrous BABEL virus. A team including young policewoman Noa Izumi has to track down the source of the virus or neutralise it before it is triggered in most of the Labors in Tokyo. The subtitled movie, clearly scripted by computer buffs, is the most convincing and authentic-sounding computer-virus story I've yet encountered in any medium. This movie really deserves a hard-SF label. Yet it is to a surprising degree a story of human interest, and even has an interlude in which some of the characters go fishing and philosophise. And there's plenty action for action fans too. Altogether one of the most satisfying and intelligent SF movies around- animated or otherwise.
My enthusiasm for PATLABOR derives from an imported subtitled edition, so,if you can find it, I suggest you buy the alternative package (£??) which is subtitled and may optionally include an additional 'Making of'' video.
The subtitles should be an improvement on the dub, which like many Manga Video dubs has the diminishing
effect of making a striking original seem rather ordinary.
PATLABOR 2 (Manga Video, 109 mins, cert PG, £13.99)
The first Patlabor movie was also released by Manga Video. In both movies and a prior TV series, advanced
robots called Labors are used for construction and military operations, and employed by police to combat
possible misuse. In PATLABOR 2, the destruction of an United Nations force in a South East Asian country
triggers the build up to a terrorist plan that, through carefully staged incidents, sends shockwaves that threaten to topple Japan's military and government power structures. Shinobu Nagumo, a senior officer in the robot Police, realises that the mastermind behind the operation is none other than her former lover and teacher, Tsuge. This movie is a blend of SF and political thriller, with very little in the way of shoot-em up action. Rather it builds on character and incident, with a restrained style which includes a number of quietly visual interludes. Despite the PG rating, this is really a video for more mature viewers, including those who grew up with PATLABOR. The dubbing on this edition is excellent, (much better than Manga's PATLABOR 1). All considered, this is one of the finest animated movies you are likely to see: PATLABOR 2 was judged the best animated film of 1993 in Japan.
Verdict: Sell all your ST and Manga tapes; go buy this.
FLY PEEK- Peek the Baby Whale
PEEK THE BABY WHALE (Kiseki, subtitled, 80mins, cert U, £12.99)
A beautifully animated film about some children who find a baby whale on the seashore and discover they can control the creature with a magical flute. An unscrupulous circus owner captures the white whale with the intention of putting it on show. The young hero does all he can to free the whale and return it to the wild; the circus owner's daughter gets in on the act too. It looks better than the usual video animation, but we're not sure if the UK release is aimed at adult anime nuts, or at children who can cope with subtitles!
Afterword. - Needless to say this release has sunk without trace. A pity, as it's just as good as a lot of the Disney stuff, and if dubbed into English and massively promoted in every shop and medium like the Disney movies would probably do just as well!
PLASTIC LITTLE
PLASTIC LITTLE (Kiseki, cert 15, subtitled, 48 mins, £10.99)
Tita is the captain of a ship of Pet Shop Hunters, that is, hunters of exotic alien animals for the pet shop trade. She involves herself with a girl who is on the run from the authorities of the space colony. Little is made of the interesting hard-SF background; instead we get a lot of fast action, bare bosoms and confused plotting; in short the sort of thing many anime fans are reckoned to like. It's an attractively produced video, but compared to Pioneer output like GREEN LEGEND RAN or KISHIN HAIDIN it decidedly lacks substance.
PROJECT A-KO 2
PROJECT A-KO 3
PROJECT A-KO 4
PROJECT A-KO 5 (first part of A-Ko the Vs, Blue Side)
PROJECT A-KO 2 (Manga Video, 50 mins, cert 12, £9.99)
I have to admit having a special affection for the original of this as it was one of the first pieces of anime I
collected. Like the first A-KO (very like it, in fact) it has three pretty schoolgirls, ultra-strong A-KO, rich, clever B-KO, and empty-headed and cute C-Ko who is also an alien princess. A-ko and C-ko are best friends, but scheming B-ko is jealous. Add a crashed spaceship, poolside jinks, stranded aliens, gadgetry and mayhem and you have 50 mins of richly visual eacapism.
The narration and humour are so visual as to make a translation largely redundant, which no doubt is why this became a fan hit before dubs and subs were widely available. The original, with its English-language songs, and a wealth of visual clues and references, still looks and sounds as good as ever, but alas the (American) dub removes all the fun of decoding it and makes this release seem really stupid.
PROJECT A-KO 3 (Manga Video, 40 mins, cert 12, £9.99)
A lively A-Ko volume, better dubbed than the previous one, in which A-Ko and B-Ko have developed an interest in boys and pretty dresses,, while C-Ko remains childish. The more mature interests of the two girls, and their competition for the same boy, develop the story and drive it forward in a pleasing way. The dresses are very pretty too. Of course, there is going to be trouble!
PROJECT A-KO 4 (Manga Video, 40 mins, cert 12, £9.99)
An amusing but hardly outstanding volume in which the girls' teacher, Ayumi-Sensei, is about to get married to the boy both A-Ko and B-Ko are chasing. C-Ko's space fleet arrives to fetch her home. The volume ends with an unforgivably naff scene in which there is a knock at A-Ko's door -it's a schoolgirl. It turns out not to be B-Ko, which would at least be interesting, but, for no sensible reason, C-Ko come back to stay with A-Ko. This is the end of the regular Project A-Ko series.
PROJECT A-Ko vols #5,#6
A-Ko the Vs -Blue side/Gray Side (Japanese title)
These two linked OVAs are an alternative A-Ko story, set entirely off-Earth. Here, A-Ko and B-Ko are two young women who are out hunting sand-monsters together. Meanwhile, C-Ko, the daughter of a wealthy president, is kidnapped from a space ship by two powerful space pirates, Flash and Lisa, at the orders of a sinister alien, Gail, who wants C-Ko as a receptacle for a universe-destroying dragon he wishes to reincarnate!
There is lots of action and humour as A-Ko and B-Ko chase the pirates, and it's good to see the strong and complementary characters of A-Ko and B-Ko co-operating at last. A well-plotted pair of OVAs with a good balance of action, invention, humour and emotion. The dubbing isn't that great (it sounds less silly in Japanese) but these volumes make a strong ending to the A-Ko sequence of movie and videos.
ROBOTECH
Kiseki Films are issuing the ROBOTECH series on video. I saw 3 three-episode tapes of a projected seven tape series. Each is about 90 mins long, all cert U. ROBOTECH was an 87-episode English-language US
TV series cobbled together by Carl Macek from three unrelated Japanese anime series. It infuriated purists but did much to kickstart interest in Japanese animation.
The second volume covers some of the same events as the movie MACROSS - DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE; though with an inconsistent continuity, different character names and a sharply contrasting style. The main interest in ROBOTECH other than spotting influences was in following the characters through the 87 episodes.
The second volume, featuring Lynn Minmay and her pilot boyfriend, seems more enjoyable than the first, and still retains a naive charm. The American production was clearly aimed at juveniles, though it had an equally large adult following. The early episodes were previously released in the UK on the "Little Gems" juvenile label. Not many people noticed.
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SALAMANDER I
SALAMANDER II
SALAMANDER III
The series is adapted from a popular video game.
SALAMANDER I (Western Connection, subtitled. 60 mins, cert. PG £12.99)
"The Bacterian, an invasive, almost parasitic species, are attacking planet Lotus with such fury that its ruler, Lord British (sic) is forced to call on three warriors from the rival planet Gladius for help. Eddie, Dan and Stephanie use the latst space hunting techniques to combat the Bacterian, but there are other conflicts in their own hearts."
Dull and silly interplanetary adventure, which has been slated by almost everyone, including my nephew. On the other hand the art, including character designs by the famous Haruhiko Mikimoto (GUNBUSTER, etc) is often very attractive. But with so many competing videos this may not be considered sufficient reason to buy.
SLOWSTEP vol.1 (2 eps.)
SLOWSTEP vol.2 (2 eps.)
SLOWSTEP vol.3 (1 ep.)
From a manga by Mitsuru ("TOUCH") Adachi.
SLOW STEP vol 1(Western Connection, subtitled, 80 mins, £12.99)
A delightful piece of anime and a first for the UK, being in the high school romance genre with not a scrap of SF or fantasy in it. Instead, it is deeply rooted in everyday Japanese life and features comedy, drama, romance and sport, as well as an interesting cast of characters: schoolgirl Minatsu, who plays in the highschool softball team, her sports-mad parents, her two schoolboy admirers, the low-minded softball coach who, to the fascination of the girls, turns out to be a single father, and the tough gang girl who falls for the coach. Minatsu disguises herself to evade some thugs and soon is dating both boys as herself and as "Maria". The character designs are very stylised, but the story is absorbing, and I'll be watching the remaining tapes even if I have to go out and buy them with my own money!
(I had to - G.C.)
SLOWSTEP vols 1,2,3
SLOWSTEP (Western Connection, cert 12, 85m, 85m, 45m £12.99, £10.99)
My nephew likes this tale of everyday Japanese life, solftball and school romance as much as I do. "Slowstep was brilliant This was a lot better than I expected it to be, the characters all related to each other well and the plot made sense."
Schoolgirl Minatsu plays softball for the school team. She has two admirerers as well as the lecherous and
scruffy sports coach, and when she adopts a disguise to shake off some Yakuza gangsters (as one does) she fools the boys into thinking she is two different girls. A sullen gang girl is also setting her cap at the Coach. Fascinating stuff. (GC)
SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA (Manga Video, 95 mins, cert. PG, £13.99)
A galaxy-spanning James Bond-ish space adventure, in which space pirate Cobra, already hunted by the Justice Federation and with a large price on his head, falls foul of the Galactic Guild, a vast criminal organization headed up by the deathly cyborg Lord Necron. He comes out of hiding after an encounter with beautiful bounty-hunter Jane Flower and agrees to help rescue her sisters.
This movie has an expensive look to it, with lush and sometimes daringly artistic designs, notably the design of 'Lord Necron', exotic locations, exciting set-pieces, gorgeous under-clad girls, dramatic battles, and a moody rock-music soundtrack by European group Yello. The music, which is one of the strong points of this video, apparently was recorded for Manga Video and replaces the original Japanese soundtrack.
So what more could a young man want from a SF movie? One's main quibble is that the stocky yellow-haired Cobra is hardly the most charismatic of heroes, and as he seems indestructible, it's hard to care a whole lot about what happens to him or the pneumatic fantasy bimboes he is trying to save. Only the downbeat ending might catch you unawares.
The Manga Video knockers have been rather silent about this one....
SPACE FIREBIRD (Western Connection, 115m, cert.U, £12.99)
A rarely seen classic of animation by anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka, this was originally made in 1980, and is part of Tezuka's Phoenix cycle, which focuses on reincarnation and man's place in the universe. The story is fanciful and of childish simplicity and the whole piece carries an air of innocence that is rarely, if ever, encountered in contemporary anime. A youth born into a dehumanizing future society is trained to be a space pilot but is disgusted to find that his mission is mainly to kill alien beings. He is offered the mission of capturing the Space Firebird, for the benefit of his masters, but revolts, and is flung into prison. The hero is accompanied throughout by his faithful friend, the robot girl Ogra The robot is capable of some startling transformations, and the animation evokes the science fiction trappings with some amusing and inventive touches of Tezuka's own. The animation has worn well and still looks good, but the dubbing is probably the worst ever inflicted on an English-speaking audience.
So why buy this? It's a very enjoyable film, and if you're an animation buff you'll want to see some of Tezuka's best work, and if you like art it's probably cheaper than an Athena print, and hopefully your kids should like it.
STREETFIGHTER II
Animation of the hugely popular game.(don't look for Streetfighter I; it's just an obsolete arcade game)
STREETFIGHTER II (Manga Video, 98 min, cert.15, #13.99)
Allegedly this has been one of the anime most eagerly awaited by young fans. It's an awkward tape to review: from my point of view it's a totally market-driven production, in the course of which a lot of characters with silly names and implausible psychic powers bash lumps out of each other in the course of a bog-standard direct-to-video, crazed villain tries to take over the world plot. I have to admit I fast forwarded through a lot of tiresome fight scenes.
On the other hand, it's quite well made, the women are cute, and if you are a young fan of the computer game, then a video featuring your fave characters may be just what you always wanted.
SUPER DEFORMED DOUBLE FEATURE (Little Gall Force & Scramble Wars)
Another example of the "Super Deformed" parody sub-genre popular in Japan but rarely seen elsewhere.
SUPER DEFORMED DOUBLE FEATURE (Anime Projects/AnimEigo, subtitled, 106 mins, cert PG, £12.99)
I haven't seen this edition but I have seen the Japanese super-deformed Little Gall Force which was nothing to get excited about.
As with most parodies, if you have not seen the original that's being parodied it's a bit pointless.
(A fuller review may be found in ANIME FX #8, p.53)
TENCHIMUYO
TENCHIMUYO SPECIAL "The Night Before the Carnival" (Pioneer, 45 mins, cert 12, #12.99)
A complete story signalling the increasingly domestic tone evident in later episodes of this popular science-fantasy comedy series. Aeka and Ryoko battle for Tenchi's attention while scheming to get rid of the insufferable Mihoshi. Meanwhile Ms. Washu experiments on Tenchi, and Ryo-Ohki multiplies and steals carrots. Good fun, but it's advisable to have seen the initial three-volume set.
URUSEI YATSURA (note only the 1995 UK releases are listed here)
URUSEI YATSURA,MOVIE #6: ALWAYS MY DARLING, (Anime Projects, 77m, subtitled, cert PG, £12.99)
For those not yet familiar with Urusei Yatsura, I'd better explain that this is a vast romantic SF comedy spanning comic books, TV episodes and six movies in which a lecherous youth, Ataru Moroboshi and his friends suffer the visitations of various annoying aliens, mostly cute and female, and especially the delicious LUM, a green-haired alien girl who wears either school uniform or a tiger-skin bikini. Sound interesting yet? This is a masterpiece of SF comedy, inventive, vividly animated, packed with delightful characters, farcical, but wiser than it might at first seem. In this one Ataru is kidnapped by a space princess who needs him to retrieve a love potion from a temple in the northwestern end of the universe.
It does help to have seen some other U.Y. so you know who everyone is, but heck, don't expect me to write an impartial review of Movie #6; I saw it about four times in Japanese, and now I've got the subtitled tape I'm enjoying it all over again. If I had to choose a handful of anime tapes to take to a desert island, this might well be one of them.
URUSEI YATSURA TV Series, vols #3,#4, 100 mins ea., subtitled £12.99 ea, cert 12,PG.
More of the essential series featuring cute alien girl Lum; great comedy and good value at 100 mins a tape.
Introducing the gorgeous Princess Kurama and other annoying aliens, and Mendou Shutaro, the richest youth in Japan. See the hilarious parody of the Tale of Genji, and the Mothers' Squabble at the school open day! Vol.4 was trimmed by 8 secs to deny our youth the sight of a nunchaku, an illegal chain/cosh weapon.
URUSEI YATSURA TV Series, vols #5,#6, 100 mins ea, subtitled, £12.99 ea, cert. PG.
#5 has the camera episode, the first Ran episode, the Ataru's Diary episode, and the Poetry Duel episode, (so sez the press release) all excellent.
#6 has the two Atarus episode, the episode which recap the series so far (pointless if you already have the
episodes), the great Nara Ninja-girl episode, and the matchmaking party for Lum.
USHIO & TORA vols.1 to 5
USHIO & TORA vol.6 - Comedy Deformed Theatre
USHIO AND TORA eps 1,2 (Western Connection, subtitled, 60 min, cert PG, £12.99)
Ushio, an unruly modern youth, has little respect for his father, a temple priest, and even less for his father's tales of a monster pinned to a rock by the Spear of Beast. One day, ordered to clean out an outbuilding, he trips over the ring handle of a trapdoor, and on opening it falls through into a cellar. Within is, of course the Beast. It begs Ushio to free it, but lets slip that it means to eat him once free. Sensible Ushio makes sure the spear is secure, and retreats. Unfortunately, the opening of the cellar has released evil spirits which terrorise Ushio's girl classmates, so he has to return to the cellar to do a deal with the Beast.
This is an excellent modern fantasy series, with both visual humour and comedy springing from the ambiguous nature of the relationship, with Tora appearing by turns monster, adversary, victim and collaborator, and Ushio by turns potential lunch, bully and hero, and an object of mirth for talking to an invisible companion.
USHIO & TORA - Comedy Deformed Theatre (Western Connction, 30 mins
An example of the "Super Deformed" variant of anime, quite popular in Japan but rarely seen in the UK. It's a kind of affectionate parody, in which the characters have heads of exaggerated size and tiny bodies. I can't
remember much about this example, to be honest.
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WINGS OF HONNEAMISE
WINGS OF HONNEAMISE (Manga Video), 119min, cert PG, £13.99.
Subbed & subtitled editions.
This is one of the most sumptuous anime releases yet seen
in the UK. Two hours of breathtaking animation achieves the
rare feat of creating an entire alternative world on screen.
It's an epic story of a civilisation's first faltering steps
into space. The Royal Space Force is a dead-end posting for
dreamers and failures, only allowed to continue because the
rulers foresee cynical uses for it. The young hero, Shirotsuro
Lhadatt, joins the Space force after failing selection for
the Air Force. A chance encounter with a devout young woman
encourages Shiro to press himself forward for selection as the
first man in space. Meanwhile hostilities simmer, and the poor
are demonstrating against the extravagance of the space
program. As the program nears completion, the military
conspire to use the launch site as a bait to trigger an
all-out war.
This has everything - superb animation, high-tension
action, humour, good characterisation, and a well-realised
world-creation. The characterisation of the devout girl
Leiquni is particularly noteworthy. The movie attracted little
attention in its native Japan because of poor publicity, and
has had limited attention in the West from anime fans more
interested in collecting girly action comedies. Yet it
deserves to be seen as one of the finest animated films ever
made, and as a thoughtful piece of SF moviemaking. Should be
bought by all fans of screen SF being infinitely superior to
Star-trek, Star-Wars and their ilk.
A cautionary note: the preview tape was cut to remove an 'adult' scene, much to my irritation. In the original, the viewpoint clearly shows that Shirotsuro is thinking of Leiquni as a woman, and then, as she undresses behind a screen, he makes his move... She hits him with a candlestick. In the morning there is an outdoor scene where SHE apologises to HIM. Shirotsuro looks sheepish.
The cuts, while removing the only 'adult' scene in the movie (and alleviating the British fear of sexuality) make the sequence seem a bit pointless and remove some depth and interest from the characterisation. Viewers unaware of the cut may notice nothing. Reportedly the release was cut to gain a PG certification.
The subtitled edition has the same cut. If dissatisfied, look out for uncut subtitled import editions, or get
the US fan script from the INTERNET.
(ends)