| Soon after, it transpires that Tetsuo has the power to level Neo-Tokyo
and his fragile mental state isn’t helping matters. What follows
is a tale of corrupt governments and strong friendships. The anime is in
fact a cleverly compact version of the manga, which itself was around
2,000 pages in length and a lot more epic in scope. Characters
and basic plot developments remain the same, although Akira himself features
a lot more heavily in the Manga. If you haven’t seen it, see
it (then see it again so that you definitely know what’s going on).
Fist of the North Star (Hokuto No Ken) - Super violence is the order
of the day, in this beer and take away classic. In a post apocalyptic world,
huge mutant men reign terror on innocent survivors of a nuclear blast.
One man - Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star can save the day. The
basic story revolves around his search for his missing wife and a mute
girl and her brother who have the only seeds remaining to bring life back
to the barren planet. Amidst this eco-sludge beats the heart of one
the most spectacularly violent movies ever. For you see legend has
it that anyone who is defeated by Ken either bleeds to death, becomes "a
mindless vegetable" or has their head explode. The latter is the
most common death and what fun it is too. My particular favourite
is the delayed head explosion. After a flurry of punches or kicks
that do little to harm the opponent, with the excellent scream of "ATATATATATATATATATA!",
the unfortunate recipients head explodes seconds later, much to their surprise.
Ken’s only problem is Raouh (his brother), who is much, much (much)better.
 Ken : Man with seven
wounds (and an incredible Hulk complex)
In fact, apart from the Empire Strikes Back, this is probably the
only other film where the bad guys come out on top. There was a series
(both animated and drawn), and the film suffers because a lot of plot isn’t
explained, but the film wasn’t made for plot anyway. Enjoy.
Gunsmith Cats - Quite a departure from the typical manga and anime,
this is actually a series. It concentrates on two women-Rally Vincent
and Minnie May Hopkins. They are both independent detectives in Chicago
who solve the crimes that are just too much for the police. Rally
is a gun and car freak and enjoys taunting her opposition with her expertise.
Take her anti-Russian roulette where she spins the barrel so that it stops
on the empty one, before pulling the trigger at point blank range at a
captured enemy. Minnie May is an ex-child prostitute who was taught
the art of explosives by a client. She has an almost perverse interest
in her grenades and bombs. Though female, these are two of the toughest
characters you’ll ever come across and creator Kenichi Sonada has done
a great job of combining unbelievable marksmanship and car chases, with
gritty realism.
Dominion Tank Police (Parts 1-9) - Leona is the newest recruit in
the tank police, a division of bumbling and sadistic officers in a highly
polluted future who relish in terrorising the criminals they catch (if
they manage to). As the only woman on the team she comes in
for a bit of a hard time initially, but proves herself in a game
of "Grenade Golf," (with a suspect for a hole). One doting
member helps create her own personal tank - what can only be described
as a tank caricature. This she calls ‘Napoleon’ and she loves
it as much as Minnie May loves a grenade. Their main adversaries
are a bandit group, lead by the crazy Buaku and include the infamous cat
twins Uni-puma and Anna-puma. Their first encounter is after a bizarre
raid on a urine store and the ensuing chase has hilarious (risqué)
consequences. The first 3 or 4 episodes are quite funny although
from 5-9 (the New Dominion Tank Police) the tone is quite darker, although
the antics between the crew are still amusing. The first 4
are probably the best depending on your tastes and the animation’s better
too. The manga follows on from some of the stories in the anime too,
so they’re both worth tracking down.
The Professional - Golgo 13 - Golgo 13 is the codename of the world’s
greatest hitman, hired by those that can afford him to take out important
targets. After a hit on the son of a important gangland figure, a
contract is taken out on his head, and the tale of a hunter becoming the
hunted ensues. For links to Western styles, this is pretty good bet
as it emulates many a good thriller and adds some tricks of its own i.e.
some typically over-the-top sniping (a shot to the head aimed through a
building would you believe). Although unintentionally so, Duke’s
straight faced approach to everything (including sex) is quite funny, but
it all goes to show a man who has lost his conscience. Like a lot
of anime it is based on a manga, but it is not essential to have followed
his other activities to understand everything. Gripping and dark
stuff.
Ranma 1/2 - As far from Golgo 13 as you’re likely to get is this
gender-bending, animal metamorphisising, martial arts love triangle series.
The main story focuses on Ranma Saotome and his father Genma, who after
a fight by some cursed pools give them an extra problem in life.
Ranma falls into the pool where a young girl once drowned and now, when
doused in cold water will turn into a girl, whereas Genma falls into a
pool where a similar fate befell a Panda. They’re not the only two
though - his rival Ryoga turns into a tiny black pig (Ryoga P-Chan) and
one girl, Shampoo turns into a fluffy pink cat. Naturally Ranma’s
condition gives him a lot of problems - not least the fact that now he
must face admiration from both sexes, and now he has been promised the
hand of Akane, a martial arts mad girl who also has Ryoga’s affections,
he’s got some tough times ahead. Add to this a variety of crazy characters
who all naturally end up looking for a fight and you have one of the most
madcap stories around, but it’s great.
|
Domu (or is it?)
Have you seen this
man? (Tetsuo Hara)
