ANI-MOVIES, *Venus Wars

Mobile Suit Gundam director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko went on to direct the anime movie based on his own manga series, Venus Wars. Unlike numerous other anime with the word "Wars" in it, this one does focus on the genuine war aspect of the story despite the fact that it takes place on another planet in the future. This title caters considerably to the military otaku that were numerous in the 80's and for once not cluttering it up with giant robots making it another mecha anime.

The planet Venus was made habitable for humans after getting struck by a celestial body, so mankind zips over to our sister planet to set up two separate nations, Ishtar in the north and Aphrodia in the south. Since both continents have plenty of unclaimed territory, Ishtar decides to launch an invasion of Aphrodia in a bid for power just as Earthling reporter Susan Sommers arrives to cover the beginning hostilities. As Ishtar attacks, a team of one-wheeled bike riders called the Killer Commandos have their lives as professional drivers put on hold as they are now under enemy occupation. Team player Hiro and his mates decide to help the Aphrodia forces by using their new souped-up battle cycles, even though there is much animosity between Hiro's team and the ranking military. The rest of the movie has the bikers leading a charge against the Ishtar army to free their homeland.

Venus Wars was one of the few anime designed specifically for gunji-ota, even though it does make for a decent coming of age epic with young people rebelling against oppression. The production value truly shines in the futuristic vehicle designs and smashing battle sequences, with the only low point being when they showed animation over live-action footage to simulate the motorbikes tearing up the landscape. The anime has been dubbed twice, once by Manga Entertainment through U.S. Manga Corps, and again by Sentai Filmworks for their Blu-ray release. If you are interested in the manga it was made available translated by Dark Horse Comics.