Appleseed

Original Title: アップルシード
Romanized: Appleseed
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

In the distant future the experimental city of Olympus is home to both the Biodroids created to live there and humans brought in from the outside world, all controlled by the supercomputer GAIA. However, some humans are unhappy with this supposedly 'perfect' society and acts of terrorism are rife. Nats Dunan and Buliaros Hekatonecles are two humans who work in the Olympian SWAT team and fight terrorist activity. But something big is coming, a new challenge which threatens the very existence of Olympus. Are they up to the challenge?

Quick Review

Rating: 2 / 5
Reviewer: Arcane
Review Date: 2001-05-21

Based on the well known manga of the same name by manga master Masamune Shirow, Appleseed is a fairly straightforward utopia/dystopia police story. The manga is an involved political action drama and urban warfare, but this early animated incarnation only scratches the surface of its potential. A lot of the complex subplots were lost in the translation from manga to anime but the main themes remain: Even if we are happy, is it more important to have our freedom? Sadly, this theme isn't addressed with much depth, and that lack of substance is true in almost every aspect of the anime. The characters--who were quite colorful in the manga--are somewhat lacking in personality, so the movie ends up working best as an action flick. On that count it fares somewhat better; the action is infrequent, but what there is is good, although the climax is disappointing. The visuals are based on Shirow's distinctive work but not executed terribly well, so they don't stand out.

In total Appleseed isn't that bad; not essential, but you might want to check it out. Still, as far as anime based on Shirow manga goes, it's frankly disappointing.

US DVD Review

Manga's DVD boasts of stereo Japanese and Dolby 5.1 English audio, subtitles, and character bios.

Content Guide

Appropriate for about the 13-up crowd on account of violence.

Violence: 3 - Bullets between the eyes. BANG, you're quite dead.

Nudity: 1 - Not even during Dunan's shower, but a bit of underwear. Surprising.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Bzzzzt.

Language: 3 - Lotsa swearing in the dub. Again, surprising.

Notes and Trivia

Based loosely on the early part of the Appleseed manga series by Masamune Shirow. Not to be confused with the 2004 Appleseed movie, which is drastically higher-budget and CG-heavy.

Availability

Available in the US on bilingual DVD from Manga Video. It was previously available on subtitled and dubbed VHS. Before that, it was released on subtitled VHS by the long-gone U.S. Renditions.

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