Federal Bureau Investigator Angelica Barnes arrives at the frontier planet of Sandvil, and is met by her guide, local policewoman Chelsea Moore. A driver from the Sandvil Prison picks them up, and on the way to the prison Angelica gets a look at one of the curious "bugs" which inhabit the planet. Angelica and Chelsea are met by warden Frank Duston, who finds Angelica annoying and suspicious as she overrides his authority and goes about copying prison records. Once finished, she tells him she is searching for a notorious criminal known only as "Mister" despite having countless aliases. Angelica has been on his trail for four years, but he went missing a year ago. Only yesterday did she recieve her first lead in that time, an anonymous phone call which claimed Mister would appear at the prison today. Duston recieves a phone call as well, from the "Red Desert Liberation Front", which he dismisses as one of an endless series of crank calls. He's infuriated by the call, and the flimsy evidence ("intuition") that Angelica is operating on--until an explosion occurs... |
Definitely a neat, stylish show with a clever, sophisticated plot, first-rate animation, snazzy music and nice character designs--practically everything about this show cries out "quality"! There are numerous factions--the Federal Government, Red Desert Liberation Front (if it's not a hoax), Mister, the Criminal Guild, and of course Angelica and Chelsea, each with their own agenda. Angelica is brusque and bitchy in a justifiable way, and I like her. I was thinking early on that Chelsea seemed a bit childish and ditzy, but she has clearly done her homework and can deduce answers quickly. Plus, this show has a wicked sense of humor! Around halfway through the episode I was thinking that this was a good detective show, but not nearly as outlandish as I'd heard--and then the "Twelve Sisters" showed up. The result was a bizarre mix of black comedy and violence. I hope the sisters weren't wiped out by the "tsunami", because they are far too delicious to lose so early in the series. In short, an excellent way to start a series--clearly this is a "must watch" show, and I'm eager for more. |