Armitage III

There was an OVA of Armitage III made that consisted of 4 episodes.

This was later cut down to make the Movie, Poly Matrix. Poly Matrix is a good movie, if you like it I suggest you look for the original OVA as it's the same thing, only about twice as long and explains more of the plot.

After Poly Matrix came Dual matrix, which is much more recent and uses far more advanced animation and is also, in my opinion, a better movie.

Overall, Armitage is a good series, it's not quite as action packed as most anime's are and in fact comes across as a more sensitive movie, but it's till very enjoyable.

Not quite on the Akira standards but it's a great anime from the 90's in the neo cyber-punk genre that'll keep you guessing about a futuristic Mars where there are robots called 2nds that look and act similar to humans but don't have emotions. The public hates them because they take their jobs and are replacing real humans. This is when a cop from Chicago lands in the capital and when his partner greets him at the airport they stumble upon a gang who starts firing on them. Their discovery of what or who was in the suitcase lead them to believe that the line dividing humans and robots isn't nearly as clear as they believed. It leads them on a chase to discover a convoluted past and who is killing celebrities on mars.

I may be biased but this is definitely one of my favorite animes with a great plot and really fits in the neo cyber punk genre, if you liked Akira, take an hour to see this.

Armitage III is a gritty, stylish cyberpunk anime that explores themes of artificial intelligence, identity, and what it means to be human - all wrapped in a detective story set on a colonized Mars. The atmosphere is moody and futuristic, with a strong noir influence.

The plot focuses on a cop and his mysterious partner investigating a series of crimes involving humanoid robots. As the story unfolds, it tackles ethical and emotional questions about android rights and personhood - especially through the lens of the character Naomi Armitage, who's more than she appears.

Visually, it has a distinct mid-'90s aesthetic with a solid soundtrack that amplifies the cyberpunk vibe. While it's not as philosophical as Ghost in the Shell, it still delivers a compelling mix of action, mystery, and heart.

👍 Worth watching if you like:

Gritty cyberpunk worlds

Human vs machine themes

Strong female leads

Classic 90s anime style.

One of my favourite, so my opinion might be slightly bias.

I originally hired out the OVA episodes from the video store, and loved it since then, and when the re-release with the OVA episodes cut into make the movie PolyMatrix, i went out and got it, only to be horridly disappointed when Ross Sylibus's voice was replaced with Keith Sutherland.

I don't know if it was keith doing a bad job, or what, but in the PolyMatrix version, he just felt like a robot, reading lines straight from the script with no feeling in his words.

So I quickly returned PolyMatrix, and went on a witch hunt till i found the OVA episodes all on DVD :D (THANKFULLY, MADMAN Entertainment, that dubbed DualMatrix, didn't use keith.)

I remember owning the 1995 Japanese Anime mini-series "Armitage III" on VHS back in the day. And I have to say that I rather enjoyed it back then, and when I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it digitally here in 2023, of course I jumped at the chance to do so.

And I have to say that the storyline is every bit as enjoyable, entertaining and watchable today as it was back in 1995. And it was nice to return to the mini-series and watch it again, getting it freshened up in my mind. I only vaguely remembered the entire plot, to be honest.

Writer Chiaki J. Konaka and director Hiroyuki Ochi put together something quite unique and enjoyable when they made the Manga into an Anime. Granted, I've never read the Manga, so I don't know how true they were to the material from Manga writers Zarae Otana and Tatsuya Ikegami. Regardless, this 1995 Anime is definitely good entertainment.

The character gallery in "Armitage III" is also rather nice. The characters are nicely detailed and fleshed out on the screen, pardon the pun.

The art in "Armitage III" is good, with lots of nice details and good colors. And it is also rather nicely animated, which makes it a very dynamic Anime to sit through.

If you haven't watched "Armitage III" already, and if you enjoy cyberpunk, then give it a go if you get the chance to do so.

My rating of "Armitage III" lands on a seven out of ten stars.