OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Landlock

Masamune Shirow gained attention from his past manga works being turned into cyberpunk anime standards like Dominion and Ghost In The Shell, but he also got talked into providing the character designs for original projects like Gundress. Landlock on the other hand was a 2-episode OVA where Shirow drew the characters along with some cover art, but the rest of it was under the production of Yasuhiro Matsumara whose leadership specialized in mediocre anime like Z-Mind. The anime was initially pitched as the pilot for a possible video game franchise, but the OVAs lack of sales buried that in an early grave. This didn't stop companies like Manga Entertainment from imposing on Shirow's credits on the anime as the sole focus of their promotion, which might also explain why they spent so little time on a quality release as it was the only time they got the dub performed by unknown Canadian actors.

Set in a techno-fantasy realm, the peaceful land of Zerlueis being attacked by the flying battle fortress nation of Zulearth whose leader Zanark wishes to find both halves of a special wind element that allows for teleporting and geomancy. For this plan, he raised the girl Agahli as his daughter to one day find the bearer of wind power who is her own biological father. Agahli unknowingly kills the poor guy, just as she comes across her twin sister Ansa and their brother Luta, none of which knowing that they have all inherited their father's potential with his passing. The three siblings put their differences aside to prevent Zarnak's evil schemes along with the help of Agahli's would-be boyfriend and a dorky bug expert.

Landlock has Shirow's character specs, but the rest of the world appears like something out of other mid-90's fantasy like El-Hazard or Escaflowne, particularly in the attire and hardware designs. The story is absurdly hollow with much of the lore and logic of how this fictional world operates left up in the air making you think the whole thing is run by mythical pixies. There is some gratuitous fanservice at the beginning featuring the alluring gyaru Agahli which is why she was used on the cover of the American video tapes. The OVA's lack of direction and failing to add anything else than having a celebrated artist as part of the staff make it a serious pass that only would make for a modest weekend rental around the turn of the century.