Angel Cop

*Angel Cop* is a gritty, ultra-violent cyberpunk OVA from the late '80s. It delivers intense action, a dark dystopian setting, and edgy political themes. While its animation and raw energy appeal to fans of retro anime, the story is rushed, the characters are thin, and some content is outdated or offensive.

A cult classic for hardcore fans, but not for everyone.

As I've put in the title. This series came very close to being an all time classic. Hence my 9/10 instead of a possible 6/10. To explain... Angel Cop is essentially an 'Indie' style of anime with all the same flaws. Some talented people came up with a great concept and did the absolute best they could with limited resources. The result is average animation, passable voice acting and a much shorter series length than the concept deserves. Even today, I believe it's well worth a look, so long as you have an open mind.

All you really need to know is Angel Cop boasts decent action scenes, gratuitous violence and a hilarious English dub with such gems as "If this is justice, then I'm a banana!" Starts with an anime Dirty Harry, throw in a cyberpunk element and psychic powers like so many anime of the time, and you have an admittedly interesting setup. Unfortunately, the plot is flimsy and silly, the protagonist is easy to hate and the villain masterminds are practically cardboard cutouts. The final fight with a nigh-invulnerable psychic is neat, but all importance is quickly diminished by our incredibly inept hero. I like the weapon concepts; Recoil so high it breaks your arm, or muzzle flash so bright it fries your retinas. Not surprisingly, there's excessive violence to go along with it. Anyway, watch it for the laughs.

Angel Cop isn't quality in the political correct sense of high culture, perhaps a bit depending on the audio-track. In the west its "known" for its cursing. Im not a fan of it normally. I would even say i dislike it. But even i have to admit its done in special combinations in release from the ordinary ordeals. Its not political correct in any way, for that matter. Our "Angel" is a really ruthless agent and doesn't even cry to many rivers if one of her own men gets hurt. The unusual stile is to my knowledge closest to "I come in peace" with Dolph Lundgren. Its starts out as a Police-typo story with heavy firefights against natural bad-guys. But later a new threat is on the menu. Its up there with the most violent animated features ever. But its well made. There is also a political sidetrack which makes it hold together a bit better. For me personally a very entertaining classic.

OK, this isn't exactly the thinking man's Manga, but a kickass, nonstop action romp nonetheless. A lot of people will criticise this movie for having a weak storyline, underdeveloped characters or whatever, but it has one thing in spades - violence! Head popping, limb wrenching, flesh burning violent action in all of it's glory. And isn't that the main reason why people watch these kind of Manga films? Also, the standard of the animation is very high, an essential requirement for any kind of animated feature in my book. An anime film could tell the greatest story since War and Peace, but, if it has the kind of animation that makes early Hanna Barbera cartoons look like masterpieces, I'll turn it off after about ten minutes. Anyway, the plot and storyline aren't as bad as many would have you believe, certainly not compared to the standard of most anime features. Maybe it wasn't surrealistic enough, perhaps some people would have been happier if it all turned out to be a metaphor, unveiling the mysteries of evolution and the spirituality of man. For me, this flick has it all - violent "cops on the edge", slowmo shootouts, vengeful cyborgs and psychotic superhuman killers. If there were a live action film that had all of this backed up with cutting edge effects, I'd go see it in a minute. Angel Cop is well worth watching for any fan of in-your-face, violent action anime.