anime.mikomi.org - Megazone 23

Title:	Megazone 23
Overall:	Rent
Keywords:	1985, 1986, 1989, Action, Adventure, Artificial Girls, Classic, Computers, Cyberpunk, Mecha, Music, OVA, Sci-Fi, Violent
Notables:	KAWAMURA Maria R1 License - ADV (Renamed) SHIOZAWA Kaneto UMETSU Yasuomi
(1ST AND 2ND MOVIE)In the distant future mankind has totally worn out the earth. In a desperate attempt to save the earth, all of mankind is sent into space on pod spaceships known as Megazones. Each megazone carries a billion people, and they are to remain in space till the earth has reclaimed the whole planet. But space is a dangerous place, and the last two remaining megazones, one of them named "Megazone 23", are finally coming back to earth. (3RD MOVIE) The people from the pod live in a city enclosed from the rest of the world known as Eden. With life going back to normal, more and more people feel that it's finally time to be released back into the world. But the system which controls the city and determines whether mankind is ready and responsible enough to return to nature denies that. Now the only way to freedom is in the hands of a young hacker named Ajei Takenaka and a cyber female pop star known as Eve... Megazone 23 - part 1 (81 min, 1985) Animation by Artland & ARTMIC. Megazone 23 - part 2 (82 min, 1986) Animation by Artland & AIC. Megazone 23 - part 3 (103 min, 1989) Animation by AIC & ARTMIC. MegaZone trailer - ANN streaming vid MegaZone2 trailer - ANN streaming vid

Overall	Art	Animation	Character Design	Music	Series Story	Episode Story	Reviewer

Rent 4	8	7	8	8	7	7	Ggultra2764	[series:434#1552]
Megazone 23 It was kind of hard for me to figure out what kind of ratings to give out for Megazone 23 considering the differences in animation and plot direction made for the three different parts of the OVA series. So rather than summarize my thoughts on the entirety of Megazone 23, I'll offer up my thoughts on each individual part of the series: Part 1- I've heard of some reviewers comparing the plot to this part of the series to The Matrix and I'd say that makes for a decent comparison considering the shocking revelations that Shogo discovers concerning his seemingly ordinary life in 1980s Japan. The first part to Megazone 23 takes its time slowly unveiling the nature surrounding the mysterious motorcycle Shogo discovers, the mysterious group of military soldiers he encounters and the surprising truth surrounding the world Shogo and his pals live in. It believably depicts life in 1980s Japan with the fashions worn by the characters, popular trends and the notable occasions of actual product placement considering businesses like Coca Cola and McDonald's are mentioned. The anime is notable in its time for featuring levels of sex and violence you wouldn't find used in TV anime titles, which was considered unique for the time it was released. The first part appropriately implements its mature content in depicting how merciless the mysterious military agents are to keep their secrets concealed and having a very intimate moment between two major characters later in the episode. While animated details on characters looked rough and its drawing style is clearly outdated, Part 1 offers some clever uses of its animation during vehicle scenes such as first-person POV shots of Shogo on a motorcycle and different camera angles of chase scenes. Part 1 is left open-ended and it does feel a bit disjointed with its plot considering this first part compiled scenes together for what was originally supposed to be a TV anime. However despite these flaws, Part 1 of Megazone 23 was still solid in its plotting and presentation. Part 2- Definitely the weakest part of the series. While Part 2 sports more realistic-looking character designs and smoother details than the first part of Megazone 23, it sacrifices its solid plot and character buildup for depicting more style and grittiness with the introduction of the stereotypical biker gang that Shogo and Yue become involved with and having more graphic violence and sex, much of it being unnecessary for the title's developments. While watching this second part to Megazone 23 is necessary to see the conclusion of Shogo's conflict with BD's forces in the series and expand more on some relevant facts of the world of the series, it still lacks the solid focus on plotting and characters found in the first part of Megazone 23. Part 3- A definite improvement over the second part, Part 3 of Megazone 23 explores humanity's fate hundreds of years later through Eiji's eyes with a technologically advanced utopia that isn't what it seems on the surface. Part 3 retains the second part's realistically-detailed character designs and brings back the first part's solid plot and character buildup while toning down on the mature content found in the earlier two parts, save for a couple brief bathing scenes and a few onscreen deaths. The toning down of the mature content allows for more time to be focused on exploring the new world in which Part 3 is set in and Eiji learning more about the reality surrounding the conflict between EX Corp and the group of hackers. This third part has some occasions of choppy animation coming from some animated sequences not being fully animated due to funding issues during production, plus Eiji and Ryo's pairing isn't as convincing due to the little time they were together compared to Shogo and Yue from the first two parts of Megazone 23. Still though, Part 3 is a significant improvement in the quality of its plotting compared to Part 2. Overall, I guess I found Megazone 23 to be a solid watch thanks to making full use of its OVA format in many instances to develop its plot and characters, implementing its more mature content and making effective use of its better quality animation. While having its rough moments with these areas, especially with Part 2, Megazone 23 was still unique for what it delivered when the OVA format was gaining popularity with Japanese anime fans in the 1980s. Last updated Saturday, August 25 2012. Created Saturday, August 25 2012.

Rent 4	7	6	7	10			Big Fire	[series:434#2441]
Megazone 23 So i am catching up on reviews about shows i have seen like a long time ago so here goes. First of all, I dunno why Megazone 1 and 2 are under the same review...Megazone 23 part 1 had me glued to the TV while part 2&3 had my sleeping...so my RENT is actually a buy for part 1 and part 2&3 is a watch...if that...Mecha fans meet motorycycle fans and rejoice...Actually i didn't really like how that bike looked(garland)...even back then it didn't look that good, but it is a special bike and that is why i like part 1...or was it the song(i own the album) or was it the artificial green haired singer(eve)...i dunno, but i LOVED part 1...i have nothing nice to say about the other two parts...i guess the are evolved and the poofy anime hair went away...so it was a turn off to watch... Last updated Thursday, January 17 2008. Created Thursday, January 17 2008.

Watch 4							Stretch	[series:434#628]
Megazone 23 For several years I've been hearing the OP song to this series on a CD of the best of anime music (and it deserves it's place there). Having finally gotten around to actually watching part 1, I was initially surprised at the bright colors and 80-ish character designs--I guess that's only to be expected. They reminded me of characters you would see in 20-odd year old mecha series--hey, this is a mecha show (Surprise, surprise!)! Being a fairly famous show, I had high expectations and my first impression was that this might not live up to my expectations, but the wild chase scene near the start was pretty neat and grabbed my attention. Afterwards, I found it to be confusing; people realize that the world they live in is a complete fabrication, yet seem to shrug this discovery off with hardly a second thought. Perhaps most surprising was the way part 1 ended--the music was swelling up, and I was saying to myself that surely this would be where protagonist Shogo and bad guy BD duke it out once and for all--and instead the credits began to roll! I was feeling somewhat disappointed, until I noticed a neat extra on the ADV disc in which several co-founders of the company reminisce about how fascinated they were by Megazone back in the 80's. The commentary runs as long as the movie itself, and included all sorts of neat details, such as how difficult and expensive it was to acquire anime back then (often on Laser Disc format), how Megazone 23 was only the second OVA to be released (and proved wildly successful, thus greatly boosting the popularity of both OVAs and anime as a whole), and how it was originally intended to be a 26 episode TV series, but was converted into an OVA when the project's sponsor pulled out (which would explain the somewhat disjointed storyline). I think I enjoyed the commentary even more than part 1 itself (I was intrigued, and watched it in one sitting, whereas I'd broken part 1 up into three portions). I think that like another early OVA, Bubblegum Crisis, Megazone 23 might be described as a show which featured animation, action, sex and style which were revolutionary for it's time, but have become commonplace since then. As such, one of it's main attractions would be the way it serves as a sort of history lesson for those who are curious about how anime developed into what it is--people like me, that is. I'm glad I watched it. Part two hadn't gotten particularly good reviews and I shelved it for a good while, but the coming of a new year (and seeing the series mentioned in the "most visited" column) put me in the mood to check it out. Artwork seems significantly improved (if I remember accurately) while animation of fast, dynamic movement could use some work (motorcycles can't zigzag back and forth while jumping through the air). Character designs also seem to have been changed radically, which makes it hard to keep track of who is who. But since it has been a long time since I watched part one, I had little idea of what was going on, and part two wasn't particularly helpful in bringing me up to speed. It never really caught my interest and I soon turned it off. I reduced my rating from "Rent" (part 1 only) to "Watch" (parts 1 and 2) as a result. One bizarre thing which I couldn't help noticing is that the makers seem to like showing people's eyeballs bursting out of their heads as they are splattered! Last updated Tuesday, January 01 2008. Created Tuesday, August 08 2006.

Rent 4	10	10	10	10		10	Violet D	[series:434#1393]
Megazone 23 Megazone 23 loved it ad saw all 3 volumes 3 times. I would say the 3rd volume less nudity and the 2d one it's a definite. The first two were pretty dramatic and wild. The last one was dramatic but not as wild displayed. To understand what is going on I suggest you watch 1,2 and then 3. This anime will keep your interest from beginning to end. Last updated Thursday, July 07 2005. Created Thursday, July 07 2005.

Buy 4	10	10	10	10	10	10	Anonymous #1969	[series:434#1969]
Megazone 23 The above score is the score I would give considering its release date. This is actually series of 3 movies. The poster above is for the first movie, which is forerunner to all those virtual pop-star sensation in Japan and Korea, and most of its story plot is very similar to Matrix. The first movie won many people with its unique story plot. The second movie became a standard to which most of Japanese OVA tried to imitate. The chracter design and degree of realism of the picture was unparallel at its time and its attention to details are superior to many of the animation works done today. It ( the 2nd movie ) is one of the first Japanese animation to come out with English version at its original release and one of the few where the English translations and the voice actors were equal, if not superior to the Japanese counterpart; again this is because the second movie was made to be exported to English audience. Only reason why some people likes the Japanese version is that the bed scene was in the Japanese version only, while the English version totally omitted the love scene and put in a prologue part that connects the first movie with the second movie. Before the second movie, Linn Minmay of the Macross was the reigning diva of the anime world. The Eve's final song part not only crowned a new diva queen, it became the standard to which many music videos in Japan and Korea tries, and, in my opinion, fails to emulate. Yet the best song of the whole series, one that became sort of anti-war song in the anime world of 1980s, is the 'Kaze no Lullaby ( Wind's Lullaby )' which is important to both the first and second movie. Sadly, the third movie is perceived more as a sequel trying to cash in on prior success and is deemed to be of little importance in annals of Anime. I strongly recommend seeing the first movie in Japanese and the second in the original English version, if one is still around. Last updated Thursday, June 16 2005. Created Thursday, June 16 2005.

Buy 4	10	10	10	10	10		C-Puff	[series:434#350]
Megazone 23 A MUST SEE!! If I could give on topic 11 it'd be music! The main song sung by Eve is just so capturing Even though I can't understand the words. Although there is one violent scene & one scene of very mild nudity this is still one of the top films in my book. I've looked everywhere for a download of the songs but just can't find it. :( Look for it & buy it! It's a nice, lenghty & Fully packed. The story line is complicated but Still easy to follow (Does that makes sense?) I think the only thing that some people won't like is that it doesn't have a lot of action & is rather slow. But I for one am going to copy the tape the next time I find it. Last updated Thursday, July 18 2002. Created Thursday, July 18 2002.

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