OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Burn Up!

Burn Up! was a trailblazer in the OVA market when it premiered in 1991 from AIC. It was also at the start of what was called the "girls with guns" genre. As to how the idea for it began is a slight mystery as it was an original story written by one-time author Jun Kanzaki and directed by Yasunori Ide who previously did Riding Bean. The OVA special was the founding of the Burn Up franchise including the video series Burn Up W which got a TV remake titled Burn Up Excess and then another lackluster version named Burn Up Scramble. It's never established if Burn Up W was a direct sequel to Burn Up! even though both are cop stories featuring a character named Maki who goes through a major transformation in between each installment, provided that they are in the same continuity. Burn Up! was first released in English by Animeigo on subtitled VHS, then by ADV Films with a dub and a DVD that was re-released by Sentai Filmworks. The ecchi action anime was popular enough to get a single-issue American comic book by ADV's brief publishing line of Graphic Visions which was just one long sketchy comedy chase.

Unfolding in the undated future, hot policewomen Maki and Reimi usually operate as traffic officers. They decide to look into a case of human trafficking syndicate run by a slimy entrepreneur. The girl's friend Yuka gets kidnapped by the criminals while they go undercover, so our deadly assault of their mansion wearing skin-tight armor. Reimi loses her sanity when her personal digital assistant gets shot by goons which helps turn the tide for the police to finally send their big guns to clean up the white slavers.

Burn Up! was basically a short exploitation feature with complimentary fan service. To view it as a single watch is slim pickings compared to the bulletstorm that was on the rise from this point on in the anime industry. Despite the cyberpunk-themed legacy that it started, there is little sci-fi in this one-shot.