Iria: Zeiram the Animation

They absolutely do not make them like they used to. New anime is painfully predictable & oftentimes immature; capitalizing on some trivial gimmick or twist in traditional anime archetypes. For the few good OAVs out there--like cowboy bebop--, they owe much to films like IRIA. I first saw this on Sci-Fi's 'Saturday Anime' as a child, when Anime in the U.S. was still nascent at best, and Japan was producing provocative films and advancing the genre instead of the drivel large-scale studios produce for the popular market today.

For those of you who want to see where goldies like "Outlaw Star" and "Cowboy Bebop" came from, you must watch Iria. Do not heed the 'Iria is a trite and predictable anime' warning: Iria is only trite in retrospect if you're ignorant of the fact that it was cinema like Iria that made the myriad of contemporary imitations possible.

On another note, if you like Iria don't expect to like the live-action--you simply can't transfer the 'manga-feel' to physical actors & sets without a sizeable budget!

Basically about this bounty hunter/ gun for higher crew that take on a mission that goes awry when they encounter a nearly immortal alien being and the rest of the episodes are basically this one gal's quest to ( you guessed it) try to destroy it.

They story is nothing special. The mechanical designs and world building are specifically very un-special. It's trying to do cross between woodlands and sci-fi. Think the whole Ewok sequence in Star Wars or a way lesser Tenchi Muyo. The animation has it's moments where it shines with all it's retro charm, specifically the last episode. But I really couldn't get over how boring the weapons and creatures were.

Iria is beautiful. Iria is young. And Iria can kick more butt than Xena on her best day. The animation is terrific, and Zeiram is a terrific monster. Okay, the plot. Iria's brother dies on a mission that involves the invincible monster Zeiram. She vows revenge on it, using every weapon she has and every plan she can possibly conceive. For those of you who are tired of Ellen Ripley being the only real tough Science Fiction heroine, I recommend Iria.

This 1994 animation has a retro sound and look - anime's structure, sound, and feel changed very little in the entirety of century-20. Iria is a prequel to the live-action film Zeiram. Just 6 short episodes, it's worth watching this b@d@$$-in-the-making for even the casual anime fan.

Iria is wrapping up her bounty hunter apprenticeship. She's out on a mission with her brother, Gren, when things go horribly wrong. Gren and his partners went after their target, Zeiram, who was surprisingly impervious to their weaponry. Now Gren is missing and presumed dead, though Iria is determined to find him. Gren's partners, Fujikuro and Bob will help her, though a grumbling Fujikuro sometimes claims that he won't. Post Zeiram mission, Bob is reduced to a consciousness existing on a computer, which was the only way he could survive the mission. They want to find Gren, and they want to kill Zeiram - if he can be killed.

Iria has a Cowboy-Bebop-Vibe without the sexual content and the humor. It predates Cowboy Bebop by at least 4 years and seems to have influenced CB. Ed, from CB and Kei, from Iria, are particularly similar. Kei is not unlike Iria, herself. I suspect a cloning program to keep gingers in space! Most of Iria takes place on a planet (Myce) with a landscape very much like Tatooine from Star Wars. I could feel the SW residue, sans the Jedi... or the cuteness - Iria is edgy. Iria, herself, is a cool, brave, talented, and bold lil' sis. She sports a proceed-with-caution beaded hairdo - It's awesome. Iria is not a feel-good show, but it is good ol' Sci-fi. It is smart and direct, like Iria herself.

As of today, Iria is available on Hidive. Some dubbed titles worthy of a visit of Hidive are: Maid Sama 10, Made in Abyss 9 (currently the 3rd movie and S2 are not dubbed. Per Hidive: "Since MADE IN ABYSS: Journey's Dawn... and MADE IN ABYSS: Wandering Twilight... are compilation movies, you can either watch MADE IN ABYSS season 1 or just the two movies before moving on to the MADE IN ABYSS: Dawn of the Deep Soul..., the third movie is NOT optional "); Parasyte the Maxim 8.9, The Eminence in Shadow 8.8, No Game No Life Zero 8.8, RahXephon 8.6, Akame ga Kill! 8.6, Princess Principal 8.6, Chihayafuru 8.5, Girls Last Tour 8.5, CR Chaika The Coffin Princess 8.4, Love Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4, Special A Class 8.2, Food Wars 8.2, Land Of The Lustrous 8.1, Girls Und Panzer 8, Land Of The Lustrous 8, Reincarnated as a Sword 8, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU 8, Gate 7.9, Ice 7.8, Ao-chan Can't Study 7.8, Beyond the Boundary 7.8, You're Under Arrest 7.8, Pet Shop of Horrors 7.8, Hakkenden 7.7, Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun 7.7, Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? 7.7, Flowers of Evil 7.7 (not dubbed), Farming Life in Another World 7.7, Princess Resurrection 7.6, Akiba Maid War 7.5, Real Girl 7.5, School Live 7.5, Kokkoku 7.5, Needless 7.5, Senryu Girl 7.5, D4DJ 7.5, Iria 7.5 Kokoro Connect 7.4, Aura Battler Dunbine 7.4, Pet Girl of Sakura Hall 7.3, After the Rain 7.3, BToom! 7.3, Armed Girl's Machiavellism 7.1,

Honorable Mention: Wasteful Days of High School Girls, Blue Seed, Patlabor, Get Backers, Clannad, Tsurune, Tada Never Falls in Love, Kino's Journey, Lupin III.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬7.5 📝7.5 🎭7.5 🌞5 🎨7⚡7 🎵 7.5 😅3 🤔6 🔚8.3

Age 13+ feeling up breasts, underwear joke - mild; Hot shower scene, we see a taught backside and the side-boob. Iria has a rocking hard bod with full udders.

Re-📺? Possibly.

Viewed on Retro Crush.

An OVA miniseries (6 episodes) that follows a futuristic bounty hunter named Iria whom gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving a suspicious mega corporation & a nearly indestructible hostile alien lifeform called "Zeiram", after being sent out on a mission to rescue the crew of a ship that has sent out a distress signal.

It clearly owes it's core concept to "Alien", however it does enough of it's own to justify it's existence. The conflict between Iria & Zeiram becomes personal in a way that it's inspiration wasn't, and Zeiram itself has an eye catching design (a theme that carries over to the series as a whole, it mixes sci-fi grandeur with traditional Japanese/Asian aesthetic influences much like other sci-fi anime of the time like "Tenchi Muyo!" & "Outlaw Star"). Not the best thing ever, but I liked it more than I had imaged I would going in.