Movies
A short OAV from Kôichi Ôhata, the director behind Genocyber. If you're familiar with Japanese sci-fi/horror anime, then I'm sure the name Genocyber rings a bell. It's a somewhat mythical 90s anime that only cares about being as badass as possible. Cybernetics Guardian is quite similar, but more compact (and a little older). While nothing too original, the mishmash of influences does give this film its own, unique identity. The dystopian, futuristic setting, the mecha and pseudoscience mixed with a bit of demonology and the raw action are nothing new, but thrown together it makes for a pretty explosive combination. Because of the limited runtime Ôhata doesn't have much time to do proper world building, at the same time the no frills approach and extreme pacing add to the charm of this production. The animation is limited, but the designs are pretty cool and if you like excessive violence there's plenty of that here. Short and entertaining.Read all
A pretty straightforward sequel. If you liked the first part, this is a very easy recommendation. If you didn't care for it, then it's better to just skip part 2. I'm mostly disappointed that they didn't manage to crank up the animation quality, as that was by far the weakest element of the first episode. Luckily the film does have some other perks. After setting loose the Death Force on planet Jerra, the remaining human population went into hiding. They are now led by Krauser, who hopes to become the hero of his people. Geist learns of their existence and he starts working on a new plan to get rid of those pesky humans. What follows is a gritty battle to the death. M.D. Geist has everything you'd hope to see from a genre anime of the 90s. It is quite brutal and unflinching, there are some cool mecha, the pacing is stark and the lore is pretty elaborate. It's just a shame that the animation often looks like a series of comic stills rather than properly animated sequences. No doubt a simple budget issue, but one that greatly impacts the overall quality. Still, I had some fun with this.Read all
A title I've always wanted to see as a younger anime fan, I just never got around to it. I've been catching up with quite a few of these short OAVs lately, with good success too. I was a little less thrilled about MD Geist. While everything is there to be a superb piece of entertainment, the presentation is just a little too cheesy and lackluster. The setting is pretty elaborate, but most of it is communicated through a bit of onscreen text at the beginning, explaining the conflict between old Earth people and newer generations of humans born in space. The film is little more than a specific conflict within a much bigger war, with some well-defined good guys and bad guys. There's a bit of Fist of the North Star, some Gundam, and a whole range of other famous influences. The problem is that the animation is quite weak and that some of the artwork gets very cheesy, taking away from the cool factor these types of films depend upon. It's still pretty fun, but it's pure filler, nothing more, nothing less.Read all