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Tonights Movie - Black Magic M-66
3 years ago
I'm a bit of a Shirow fanboy. I was actually reading the Appleseed mangas until they all vanished from the shelves one day and people were asking triple digits on "the collectors market".
I thought knowing about and having seen Gundress was a pretty deep cut. So imagine my surprise when I saw two OVAs I didn't recognise in a torrent of all his anime works.
Black Magic M-66 is a cyberpunk action OVA. A military transport carrying two experimental M-66 combat robots crash lands, and the robots escape. The military tries to capture or destroy them, while a journalist attempts to cover the story.
The second half of the movie is kind of like The Terminator, with one of robots attempting to assassinate a teenage girl while the journalist attempts to protect her and the army try to stop the robot.
It's a great movie. It moves along at a decent pace with basically no filler. The action is fun to watch and brutally violent in a way only 80s anime can be. My only real complaint is how the M-66 seems to forget abilities it has as the plot demands it. eg. It never uses it's eye laser in long hallways. That said, you can make excuses for these if you're feeling generous. Like maybe the eye laser has a limited range, is malfunctioning, or needs time to recharge.
Overall, it's a fun anime. Worth watching if you're into that era of cyberpunk anime.
As an aside. I've not read the manga, but if the OVA is an accurate adaptation, I'm surprised the manga doesn't get brought up as a source of inspiration for The Terminator in the same way Kimba The White Lion gets brought up when The Lion King is mentioned, or Treasure of the Sierra Madre is brought up when Indiana Jones is mentioned.
I thought knowing about and having seen Gundress was a pretty deep cut. So imagine my surprise when I saw two OVAs I didn't recognise in a torrent of all his anime works.
Black Magic M-66 is a cyberpunk action OVA. A military transport carrying two experimental M-66 combat robots crash lands, and the robots escape. The military tries to capture or destroy them, while a journalist attempts to cover the story.
The second half of the movie is kind of like The Terminator, with one of robots attempting to assassinate a teenage girl while the journalist attempts to protect her and the army try to stop the robot.
It's a great movie. It moves along at a decent pace with basically no filler. The action is fun to watch and brutally violent in a way only 80s anime can be. My only real complaint is how the M-66 seems to forget abilities it has as the plot demands it. eg. It never uses it's eye laser in long hallways. That said, you can make excuses for these if you're feeling generous. Like maybe the eye laser has a limited range, is malfunctioning, or needs time to recharge.
Overall, it's a fun anime. Worth watching if you're into that era of cyberpunk anime.
As an aside. I've not read the manga, but if the OVA is an accurate adaptation, I'm surprised the manga doesn't get brought up as a source of inspiration for The Terminator in the same way Kimba The White Lion gets brought up when The Lion King is mentioned, or Treasure of the Sierra Madre is brought up when Indiana Jones is mentioned.
