Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradise

With Earth now left in ruins following the "Nano Hazard," most of humanity has abandoned the planet they once called home along with their physical bodies and rebuilt their digitalized minds into a society within the cyber universe of "DEVA." A. D. 2400, DEVA's central council detects an incident of unauthorized access into their mainframe. Someone on Earth was trying to hack into the system. The only information DEVA was able to retrieve was that the hacker referred to themselves as "Frontier Setter." To investigate the mysterious hacker's motives, the high officials of DEVA dispatch System Security Third Officer Angela Balzac to the Earth's surface. Equipped with a prosthetic "material body," Angela attempts to make contact with a local agent Dingo, but what awaited her instead was a swarm of Sandworms now infesting the Earth's surface. Angela intercepts the gruesome pests with her exoskeletal powered suit Arhan. Will Angela and Dingo be able to find Frontier Setter on this devastated planet? Their journey to explore the secrets of the world will begin now...!

This was definitely a good Sci-Fi anime film.

Good watch, will likely watch again, and can recommend for anime fans that don't mind some fan service.

This is a great, Matrix like premise for a story, but let's the get the obvious stuff out of the way: yes, her outfit is ridiculous, and while the idea that they can grow clones and harvest them prematurely, it was a very unnecessary that her body be the equivalent of 16 years of age, I'd even go as far as to argue that it would be detrimental if all the hormones and everything are balanced naturally.

THAT aside, I love the concepts that are used in this: the technological aspects of digitizing humans, having A.I.: the moral philosophical quandries it presents about freedom, society, and fixed resources.

The biggest problem is part of the premise, the entire time the characters are floundering for position in this discussion of dealing with each others' cultures so you never really feel like you're completely on anyone's side. That shifts a little in the 3rd act, but no by much.

But if you like action: robots, gunfire, explosions, and / or cool sci-fi stuff, this anime has it.

Honestly it was great fun. The setup was good, the plot was clear and the three main characters were all very likable.

Plot: When a hacker called "Frontier Setter" hacks into an ideal virtual world where most of remaining humanity resides, the Officials of the system dispatch "Angela Balzac" to Earth where she'll not only have to cope with the harsh conditions of wasteland Earth but with her guide "Dingo" and her new body. The unlikely duo track down "Frontier Setter" and discovers a shocking truth that will lead to an unexpected battle against time.

Of course there's philosophical talk. "What makes a person... human? Can robot have consciousness of its own?" It's a familiar theme, almost a standard in big budget Japanese theatrical anime. But it wasn't over-done and the message was straight-forward. Of course the female lead is impossibly hot (even in her "under-developed" "16 year old" body). It's textbook stuff, mate. There will be flashes of her naked body. She will wear clothes that show off her amazing physique and nobody in the film will bat an eye. And of course there will be big showdown involving missiles, lasers, machine-guns, robots, booby-traps, sniper rifles and giant swords.

It is also predictably amazing in its visual aesthetics. Every frame is filled with detail and the sheer clarity of it all makes current CGI animation doodles on photo-shop. Lively camera work also adds to the action taking place while never losing focus on its characters. But you know all of this when you're even searching on IMDb for this film.

This is not a game changer for mainstream anime. Nor is it a must-watch for newbies to get a taste of what an anime genre can offer. What it is that it's a pure entertainment that combines what's best in the industry and jam-packed into 100 minutes of rollicking ride. Your eyes shall water, your mind shall think and it will leave you satisfied. Nothing more, nothing less.

My only wish for improvement is with plot in DEVA. It's a fantastic premise (although yes, it does sound like Matrix) and well deserves its own action sequence within. The possibility of it is endless and yet we are only given teases of it. However it's just a thought that comes way later after losing yourself in the film's world and its attractive characters. Oh and stay in for the credits. You'd be missing out otherwise.

I went into this movie thinking it would just be a cool action movie with nice animation, and too be honest, that is what it is. The movie centers around Angela Balzac, as she is sent down to an now apocalyptic Earth to track a hacker, where the remaining humans try to live their lives. This movie provides a good story of 1h 40mins which you will enjoy, but not think about too much after that.

The movie tries to question whether robot could essentially act and be human, however, it never quite succeeds at that, so going into this movie, don't expect it to have deep questions. Instead enjoy the cool action and interesting animation that is displayed. Overall, I thought this movie was fine, nothing too bad, nothing too great, but I wouldn't mind a sequel to it.

It was pretty good. The animation is spectacular, almost too spectacular. There were times I thought I might have a seizure, but it was still dazzling. The first part of the story is fairly conventional: sharp, focused woman is paired with lazy, uncommitted slacker. (Think "True Grit" or "A Few Good Men" or "The Princess and the Frog" or "Trading Places" or "Flushed Away" or "Zootopia".) Essentially, she leaves The Matrix in order to combat a threat in the real world. The mystery part of the movie wasn't terribly interesting, but it got better when the two main characters stop racing around long enough to discuss their different worlds. The film concludes with a huge, action sequence, but there isn't much tension since there is no element of "How are they going to pull this off?" They're going to pull it off by having tons more firepower. It was an entertaining film, but not terribly original.