ANI-MOVIES, *A Timeslip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose

One of Osamu Tezuka's obscure and more risque manga was this the basis for this made-for-TV feature. Prime Rose was a sci-fi/fantasy embracing the Mad Max and Conan genres that had dominated the early 80s. The 4-volume manga was developed into a full-length production, the difference was though is that Tezuka tweaked the anime to more fit his original vision.

Set sometime in the future, a demonic spirit takes over a defense satellite named Death Mask, and splits it in half, one part landing in a Japanese city, and the other in Dallas, Texas. Both cities are sent 10,000 years into the future where the Earth is a wasteland, and the two civilizations are broken up into the agressive Guroman and the peaceful Kukurit, which continue to fight for dominance. A time traveller from around the same era Death Mask, Gai Tanbara is tasked with going into the future both cities were sent to for investigation, even though this "Time Patrol" claims to have found traces of these civilizations from this point in time, meaning they don't need to investigate it at all if they already have proof of their existence. Gai's annoying brother tage along to be the Scrappy-Doo of this story, and the two become seperated as the occupying Guroman forces taking over. The pretty Emiya is the daughter of a Kukurit merchant, and catches the eye of the Guroman governor. She runs off to learn swordfighting by an outcasted warrior, who later reveals he's her father, and the former king of Kukurit. Emiya's real name is Prime Rose, and she set out to defeat the Guroman forces, and allies herself with Gai to confront the demonic force responsible for all their suffering.

Prime Rose is a confusing watch, both from a narrative perspective, and from the linear dynamics of time travel which contradict several plotpoints. The animation is reasonable for the early 80s, but not cinematic quality. There's a few changes with the characters from the manga like Emiya now having purple hair instead of being blonde, and the Guroman governor in this version being totally bald. The manga hasn't been released in English at this time, but the anime is a decent release through Retro Crush, even though there is some misplaced subtitles in this Japanese language edition.