OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Diebuster

Gainax's sequel to their legendary space opera Gunbuster coincided with the studio's 20th anniversary. Diebuster at first seems like some kind of continuation of the epic space opera, but it isn't till the end that we learn its place in the Gunbuster timeline. Taking a lot of visual cues their previous production of FLCL, Diebuster director continued spastic take on animation as he fulfilled his place as protege to Gainax founder, Hideaki Anno.

Set thousands of years in the future, the Solar System continues to be cut off from the rest of the galaxy by an area called the Red Milky Way, which is populated by gigantic space-breathing bugs that mankind uses huge mechas called Buster Machines piloted by energetic teenagers known as "Topless" to fend off the star-bugs. An android girl named Nono joins the ace pilot Lal'C where the two begin a budding girl/romance, and Nono gets her own hi-tech mecha which allows her to reach planet-sized levels. The two pristine pilots help the human race pull through the overwhelming invasion. Years pass and Lal'C awaits the arrival of the original two Gunbuster pilots to tell them about Nono's sacrifice.

Diebuster pulls together alot of the standard Gainiax tropes, like the sci-fi military jargon during giant monster attacks, the strange but aloof bonding between the teenage characters, and the total "over the top" attitude the reckless youth has toward protecting their future. There's two cuts of this to view from, the uncut 6-episode OVA series, plus the compilation movie edition shown with the Gunbuster/Diebuster double feature originally put together for Japanese theatres. You'll probably find the movie edit available on streaming services, but you'll get a more complete story if you scope out the full OVA series.

Superargo gets fired for wearing blackface.

Sailor Moon redraw will punish you!

Did you say, "Happy Towel Day"? Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how Zaphod I am.

ANI-MOVIES, *The Garden Of Words

This 2013 short film by Your Name director Makoto Shinkai was a sort of template to his time-travel rom/com. Despite not having any otherworldly elements to it, The Garden Of Words is Shinkai's take on a youthful romance.

Takao is a teenager who continuously skips classes during his spring term, and goes to a sheltered park bench in the rain. He keeps meeting a young lady named Yukari that also frequents the same bench when it rains. The two end up sharing each others company during these rainy afternoons, and Takao begins to realize he would like to become a shoemaker after becoming somewhat interested in Yukari's footwear. After taking time away from going to the park to work during his summer break, Takao returns to school to discover that Yukari is really a literature teacher at his school. Yukari was caught up in a scandal started by a female student that started a rumor about her having an affair with a totally different boy. Takao waits for Yukari to show up at the bench again just before it starts pouring down one day, and they end up seeking shelter at Yukari's apartment where Takao confesses his feelings for her. Yukari reluctantly lets him down by informing him that she was leaving the school because of the scandal and avoided teaching because she couldn't deal with the depression the whole affair brought on. Takao leaves honorably, but Yukari chases after him and confesses that her time with him gave her the strength to carry on. Yukari ended up moving away, but left Takao a "thank you" note for helping her when she needed someone to talk to, and he in turn plans to make her a pair of his own handmade shoes to give her at some future date.

The Garden Of Words is largely a visual novel brought to life with amazing shots of the cityscape and the people living in it. There's a great blend of traditional and CGI animation, which really stands out in the overall film. The two main characters have similar but conflicting backgrounds, showing how much they have in common and could be a great couple if it weren't for their slight age difference. The story works more about how a brief relationship can deeply effect someone's life, for better or worse. For those who wish to get a more fully rounded take on the plot might want to check out the manga based on the movie which covers a little more on the main characters' future.

Phoenix 2772 Tastes Like Chicken

C.D.C. is going to Didney Worl!

There goes the last lingering thread of your un-raped childhood

Jedi defense against pitiful C.D.C. excuses

New Toucan Sam: WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE??!!

C.D.C. drive thru

Go home, Musketeers. You are drunk.

The C.D.C. sucks.

C.D.C.: The R5D4 of health organizations

ANI-MOVIES, *Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge

With the whole timeline getting redone for the second time, the Mortal Kombat video game series decided to create a fresh take on the original game's storyline. Legends is first animated project based on the games in over 25 years, aside from some random episodes on the Legacy web series. Thundercats reboot producer Ethan Spaulding directed this Warner Bros. project which finally give MK the R-rated title it deserved, while focusing on one the fan favorite's.

Hanzo Hasashi is the leader of a clandestine ninja clan, but his entire town and family are wiped out by rival ninjas lead by the cyromancer, Sub-Zero. After dying and getting set to the underworld, Hanzo makes a deal with the hellish dimensions current lord, Quan-Chi. The sinister sorcerer makes a bargain with Hanzo to join in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament between the realms to act as his champion, while secretly plotting to steal a relic that will free Quan-Chi's god Shinnok, all while Hanzo(now calling himself "Scorpion")can also confront Sub-Zero. The tournament takes place on an island between other realms, ruled by the wizard Shang Tsung, working for the godlike Shao Khan. If Khan's realm wins this Mortal Kombat, then they can finally invade Earth. The thunder god Raiden assembles a handful of fighters to help protect Earthrealm, including his disciple Liu Kang, female badass Sonya Blade, and Hollywood action star Johnny Cage. Raiden also convinces Scorpion to forget his bargain with Quan-Chi to instead go after Sub-Zero. After taking out the other fighters, the trio from Earth along with Scorpion encounter the crime lord Kano's hit squad. Scorpion gets his revenge against Sub-Zero, but Quan-Chi reveals that is was really himself disguised as Sub-Zero that lead the raid on Scorpion's clan, and leaves the ninja to die on a spike. Sonya and Cage going after Kano, while Liu Kang battles the four-armed tournament champion, Goro. Despite his skills, Liu Kang gets beaten by Goro, but a revived Scorpion pulls the monster's brains out, leaving Scorpion as the winner, of which he relinquishes to Liu Kang. Shang Tsung is brought back to Outworld by Shao Khan, while Scorpion has a deadly duel with Quan-Chi.

Scorpion's Revenge leaves room for a possible follow up, although considering that the last few games have totally rewritten the entire history, so it is difficult to say whether this animated feature is officially canon with any current or future incarnations. This along with the production of a new live-action movie on the way, the better idea is just to enjoy this as an entertaining bloodthirsty retelling of the original video game plot.

ANI-MOVIES, *Wicked City

Darkside Blues creator Hideyuki Kikuchi had written a series of books called The Black Guard in the mid-80s. This urban fantasy(which was years before the actual term "urban fantasy" was even coined)gained enough popularity to get its own full-length movie in 1987 directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who would later go on to do another anime movie based on Kikuchi's works, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Madhouse studio did a masterful job of bringing this intense horror/espionage tale to the screen.

Set on an alternative version of our world, the Earth has crossovers with another dimension called the Black World filled with metamorphic beings that can take on a human appearance. To maintain a steady peace between both realms, an organization known as the Black Guard comprised of forces on both sides to keep the regular citizens of Earth completely unaware of the alien world's existence. Taki is a seemingly average studly salesman who really works for mankind's end of the gate keepers, and is partnered with Makie, a sexy female agent from the Black World and part-time model. The pair are assigned to watch over Mayart, a centuries old horny bastard who makes Happosai from Ranma 1/2 look like a dead pope. Mayart is supposed to set a peace treaty between both dimensions, so a Black World group known as the Radicals set out to assassinate him. Taki and Makie confront shapeshifting terrorists, each with their own unique superpowers. By the end of horrendous night's escapades, it's revealed that the whole thing was cooked up by the Black Guard to pair up two of their best agent to give birth to a messiah that would bring harmony to both worlds.

Making for what might influence titles like Men In Black and Sliders, Wicked City was a profoundly mature production, largely borderline on being labeled as a hentai with its morphing assassin hookers and plentiful scenes of sexual assault. Even though this is a hard R-rating, it has some intense action sequences with a noir detective motif, similar to The Matrix or Dark City. The anime was popular enough to gets its own lesser successful Japanese live-action movie. The original anime film was first released in dubbed English by Streamline Pictures, later on DVD Urban Vision, and then recently through Discotek Media, as well as being available on streaming video.

For an institute called the "Center For Disease Control" they seem to fail miserably at "CONTROLLING DISEASES"!

Monty Python's Dead C.D.C. Sketch

This is a job for Super-Punisher

OBSCURE O.V.A., *A.D. Police Files

Also labeled as just "A.D. Police", this 3-episode OVA was a prequel to the Bubblegum Crisis anime series. The first original anime was more of a hi-tech superhero cyberpunk saga, where as A.D. Police Files is more of a gritty futuristic crime noir. This was written by voice actor Sho Aikawa, Artmic tasked this out of the regular creators into their own series focusing on supporting character Leon during his early days as a rookie cop.

Set in the revitalized Tokyo(now called Megatokyo)in the far off year of 2027, Leon McNichol is a new recruit in the city's special A.D. Police that specialize in terrorists, and crimes involving Boomers, a type of cybernetic androids which seem to malfunction on a daily basis. This is such a common thing of having simple service robots somehow being able to hulked-out death machines capable of taking on entire SWAT teams. The A.D. Police use advanced weapons, as well as some bionic-enhanced officers to take down mad Boomers. The series starts out with Leon helping his partner Jeena prove that a recently killed officer wasn't at fault in an insurance scheme concerning his death, all while Leon is stalked by a vengeful hooker-bot from his past. Next is a case where the A.D. Police work with "normal police" detectives in trying to determine if a series of prostitutes getting slain on an abandoned subway train is actually the fault of a Boomer, or a psychotic business woman. The final episode is basically a nightmare take on Robocop where a former A.D. Police officer gets turned into a fully robotic Boomer-basher that slowly starts to loose what left of his humanity, and begins to go on a killing spree when experimental drugs drive him insane.

There have been two dubs of this OVA, one done in Britain by Manga Entertainment on VHS, and in America by Animeigo who released it on VHS, Lasersdisc, DVD, and a recently fundraised Blu-Ray. There is also a manga sequel taking place just before the Bubblegum Crisis OVA, which makes it the only official Japanese manga set in the "Bubbleverse". Another anime series was made for TV based on A.D. Police, which was a prequel to Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, as well as another spinoff series possibly set in its own continuity titled Parasite Dolls. The first A.D. Police anime however stands out as being a groundbreaking take on Blade Runner, taking the sci-fi idea to very mature extremes.

Guess what? You suck!

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