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Megazone 23 was edited together with footage from "Southern Cross" to make the horrendous "Robotech: The Movie"

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Megazone 23

Part 1

Review by Matthew Anderson

OVA

Company: ADVision

Running Time: 85 minutes (1 episode)

Region: 1

Rated: R for violence, nudity and mature situations

EXTERNAL EXAM

Tokyo street racer Shogo has a really big problem. His friend Shinji has stolen a prototype motorcycle/combat armor from the Japanese government. When Shinji is killed, Shogo takes the bike and goes on the lam. No matter what course he takes to expose this military secret, the special forces are ready for him.

Things get even more difficult when he discovers that the entire city of Tokyo is inside a giant space ship. He also learns that the ship is under attack from another group of humans. BD, leader of the Japanese Special Forces wants the motorcycle to deactivate the ships computer, Bahamut. If they don't succeed, the human race is doomed because Bahamut is unable to defend the ship.

Shogo is faced with two choices; return to his old life, or learn the truth about "Megazone 23".

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Wow. The video quality on this DVD far surpasses anything made before it. The colors are no longer solid, showing the folds of the retro 80's fashions. The image is sharp, free of pixels, color bleeds, rainbows or any other defects. The quality is so good, you can see every single defect of the source print.

AUDIO: The 5.1 English audio is pretty damn loud. There are plenty of surround sound elements to knock you around, which is, like, totally cool.

The Japanese has a very rich sounding Dolby 2.0 audio mix. The music is crystal clear, as is the dialogue, and all are blended perfectly, with no mono hiss.

The 2.0 Audio Commentary is pretty typical. The speakers come from the front while the Japanese audio comes from the back.

EDITS: The Japanese ending credits have been replaced with English credits. No other edits have been made.

EXTRAS: While nothing new, they are at least entertaining. There its a sketch gallery montage with both concept and design artwork. An entertaining audio commentary with co-ADV founder Matt Greenfield, and DVD production staff members David Williams and Janice Williams. Inside the case, we have a poster of EVE with a history of the production of "Megazone 23" or as it was known "Omegazone 23".

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: A classic from the old days of anime, "Megazone 23" is a straight forward 80's action adventure. Hiroyuki Hoshiyama's story can be a little twisty at times, making you a little confused at who is doing what.

ACTING: The cast is pretty good on both the Japanese and English casts. While no one really stands out, they all play their parts with the right amount of enthusiasm. The singing voice for Eve, Kumi Miyasato is the wonderful exception. Her voice is awesome, rivaling Mari Ijima's voice for another Haruhiko Mikaimoto character, Minmay.

FAN SERVICE: There is so much fan service in this movie, both nudity and in-jokes, it will take me days to find them all. Everything from references to 80's movies like "Streets of Fire" to soft-core sex scenes are crammed into this 85 minute masterpiece.

FINAL EXAM

Megazone 23 has had a long history. The second OVA ever made, it was quickly snatched up by hungry fans who wanted more than the non-stop merchandising of television animation. Full of hard core action, violence, nudity, and sex, it appealed to a wide range of fans, both in Japan and the US. To this day, mention the name, and many older anime fans will smile.

For a brief time, Megazone 23 was known in the US as "Robotech the Movie". Not exactly a sterling success, it crudely spliced in footage from the "Robotech" series, making it reviled in the anime community. The dub from "Celebrity for Kids" or some such company didn't help it's reputation. With the exception of bootlegs, it seemed that this title was doomed in the blackest pits of anime hell.

Thanks to ADV, this classic has been brought to our screens, virtually untouched and better than ever. The presentation is fantastic. The audio is pristine and clean. The video is gorgeous, every little detail brought into sharp focus. The extras, while not exactly plentiful, are at least interesting. The audio commentary with Matt Greenfield, David Williams, and Janice Williams was very informative, and sounds like some of the staff meetings at DVD Vision Japan. I totally dig the EVE poster insert. This is a great presentation, and the best we may ever see.

The animation is kick butt. There is level of detail that is sorely lacking in most new anime. The mechanical designs are also impressive, and it's easy to understand how it became "Robotech the movie". Megazone helps to remind us of an age where computer aided animation was not required to make things look good.

Back in the day, the story for Megazone 23 was groundbreaking. For today's anime fan, they may find the story just as outdated as the clothes the characters wear. The "question your reality" theme has been done to death. The characters are all typical anime stereotypes, with the clever hero, the psychotic military officer, and the beautiful love interest. The ending will leave you scratching your head. For better or worse, the high action level helps to cover some of the deficiencies in the script.

The 80's are back, and in living color. Totally tubular, "Megazone 23 part 1" is awesome to the max! Put on your leg warmers, pop in your Flashdance CD, go to the mall, and get a copy of anime history!

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