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With it's highly detailed animation and non-stop action and violence, fans who had gotten a taste of anime with Akira were hungry for more.

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M.D. GEIST

DIRECTOR'S CUT/DEATH FORCE

Review by Matthew Anderson

2 OVA series

Company: US Manga Corps

Running Time:75 Min (3 episodes)

Region: all

Rating: R (Nudity, graphic violence)

EXTERNAL EXAM

In the distant future, a brutal war is raging on the distant planet Jerra. On the one side is the Nexrum Army fighting for independence. The other side is the Jerra Regular Army, oppressive arm of the Earth Government.

In order to defeat the Nexrum, the Jerra Regular Army creates the Most Dangerous Soldiers, bio-engineered men with impressive fighting abilities. However, due to their overly destructive nature, they were deemed a failure. The worst of them all was MD Geist. He was so dangerous, the Army imprisoned him in a satellite, and sent it into deep space, never to be seen again.

They were wrong.

Now, Geist has returned to Jerra, ready to fight anyone he finds. Hooking up with the Regular Army, he joins them in on a mission to stop their Armageddon weapon, the Death Force. If they fail, all life on the planet will be destroyed by millions of robotic soldiers.

Now, the fate of Jerra rests in Geist's hands. Will he save the world that banished him, or enact his revenge on those who wronged him.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Since the entire set has been digitally remastered, it's free of pixels, rainbows, and digital garbage. No color bleeds either. In fact, it's so well done, that all the imperfections, poor zooms, and cell edges can been see.

AUDIO: Both the English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 audio are very loud with a richness that is lacking in other CPM releases. There is plenty of boom for your buck as the subwoofer gets a work out during the fight sequences.

The differences are in the tone. The English track is softer, while the Japanese has more treble. The surround sound is pretty even in both versions, not a lot, but enough to keep it interesting. You really won't go wrong with either track.

The 2.0 commentary track is pretty standard. Koichi Ohata and Riku Sanjo's voices are in the foreground, with the Japanese audio in the back.

EDITS: Well, there is a kind of edit, where the closing titles have been "squashed" to the bottom of the screen to allow room for the English credits.

EXTRAS: This is one packed DVD. Along with the Koichi Ohata and Riku Sanjo's commentary, there is an alternate angle graphic novel feature, which enables you to toggle between the "anime" and the comic. You have story boards, a short music video, art gallery, pictures of the "Giest Rider", a motorcycle created to celebrate the release of MD Geist, and the trailer for the DVD release of MD Geist.

But that is not all! The DVD ROM features include an art gallery, the original script, the comic, links, soundtrack clips, and cast and crew credits.

On the second disc, "The World of Koichi Ohata" there is an overview on the directors work, a brief text interview, some artwork from MD Geist, Genocyber, and Cybernetics Guardian.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Talk about nihilistic 80's anime. Riku Sanjio and Koichi Ohata story is choc full of psycho soldiers, crazy bitches, and evil machines that would make "The Terminator" seem like a wuss. There is not one character in either story that has any redeeming qualities. Don't expect much in the way of story, it's just battle after battle with some "conspiracy" stuff thrown in to link the battles together.

ACTING: Like "Project Ako", ignore the English dub on this one. The acting is just plain bad. They either underplay it, or go way overboard. The voices are mis-matched, and Geist's voice actor sounds like he didn't get enough coffee that day.

The Japanese on the other hand is the only way to watch this OVA. Everyone in the cast plays their parts to the max, with plenty of emotion. I really like Voice Actor Shiozowa as Krauser. The man knows how to show anguish.

FAN SERVICE: Well, there is sultry Vaija in nothing but her panties. Nothing else in the ecchi context.

FINAL EXAM

Well, isn't this the most nihilistic anime I have ever seen.

MD Geist is a classic, but it isn't. In the annals of animedom, this was just another blood and guts anime in a sea of blood in guts anime, at least in Japan.

In the US, it's was a different matter.

Thanks to CPM, MD Geist became an instant classic. With it's highly detailed animation and non-stop action and violence, fans who had gotten a taste of anime with Akira were hungry for more. MD Geist filled that need, and consequently, stayed on the Billboard top 10 for a long time, and became on of the highest selling anime of all time.

When I first saw MD Geist, I too was shocked at the brutality, the nudity (brief as it was), and the rather depressing ending. While I had an inkling that anime was like this, this was the first time I had actually been exposed to it. While many consider MD Geist pointless, there was no denying, Geist was here to stay. Yet, it never made it to my VHS shelf.

While I was sleeping (no, not in a satellite), John O'Donnell, Managing Director of CPM, decided to bankroll half the money for a directors cut as well as the unfinished sequel, Death Force. The first US company to co-produce their own anime, MD Geist directors cut, and MD Geist II Death Force once again topped the Billboard's top 10. Not bad for an anime that was considered "drek" by most Japanese and even a few otaku.

So, in honor of this "classic" anime, CPM has combined both the Directors Cut and the sequel "Death Force" into one full DVD. Much like their "Project Ako" release, they did a fine job. While "The World of Koichi Ohata" supplement is a little lame, with all the pictures and information, you would be silly not to own it.

Disc wise, CPM has done a fine job. The digital restoration of the video and audio quality is fantastic. Unfortunately, because of the restoration, the DVD shows the rather dated quality of the source print. All the scratches, nicks, and crappy zooms are exaggerated in this film. Depending on your TV, you may even see the film edge at the bottom of the movie. While most of us could give a crap, those that do will need to think about it first.

I did enjoy the commentary track with Koichi Ohata and Riku Sanjo. Not only did I learn about how "MD Geist" came to be, but how John O'Donnel came to be involved in the project. Despite our love of anime, these two men let you know that it's not a very glamorous life.

There are couple of problems with this release. First, you have to turn on the subtitles to read the opening tiles. While "Japanese Only" watchers won't have a need to turn them off, the English listeners do. Since there are some minor changes in dialogue and timing, it can get annoying having the text on.

The second is the English dub. It just plain sucks. While the voices are matched well, they just sound like typical actors in a B-movie. The fact that MD Geist is a B-Anime is incidental.

Okay, so far I have given you a brief history of this OVA and my impressions of the release. The big question remains, should I get it now or never?

The answer depends on you. If you love anime with blood, guts and action, then MD Geist is for you. If anime has to have meaningful dialogue, intelligent stories, and cute girls, then you need to go get "Chobits" and get the hell out of our way.

One last thing before I go. You may notice that this review was pretty skimpy on spoilers. The fact of the matter is, there is so little in the way of story, that if I tell you anything, what surprises there are would be gone, and why would you want to watch a movie where you already know the ending.

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