Geobreeders

Original Title: ジオブリーダーズ - 魍魎遊撃隊 [File-X] 「ちびねこ奪還」
Romanized: Geobreeders - Mouryou Yuugekitai [File-X] "Chibi Neko Dakkan"
Literal: Geobreeders Anti-Spirit Commando Unit [File-X] "Rescue the Kitty"

Plot Synopsis

Say hello to Kagura Total Security, a well-equipped freelance company that specializes in trapping phantom cats. Don't laugh--they may look like cute little kitties, but due to the fact that they're data-phantoms, those furballs are liable to take over any computer controlled piece of hardware in sight. Add a serious attitude problem and near-invincible human form to that, and you've got a recipe for trouble.

Just one problem: from their lethargic driver to their trigger-happy, white-suited, "mystery" shrouded weapons expert to poor, abused salaryman Taba, the misfits of Kagura aren't exactly the ideal people for the job. But, they've got the hardware and they're crazy enough to do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the professionals--The Hounds, a government paramilitary anti-cat squad--on any job that pays well enough.

When the cats start trying to smuggle serious military hardware into the country and kidnap Kagura Total Security's very own cute phantom cat, will even everything they've got be enough? (And even if they succeed, will there be anything left of the city when they're done?)

Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-11-14

The randomly-named Geobreeders (it has nothing to do with geology, geometry, or breeding of any sort) is an odd little nugget of over-the-top action just like the odd little comic it's based on. You might mistake it for Poké-spawn based on the kiddy-style art and title, but it's nothing of the sort. Entirely unintelligible plot aside, it's basically one of those series where you take a bunch of cute girls, give them homicidal tendencies, a penchant for collateral damage, and some oversized weapons, then throw them at a menace of one sort or another. It adds up to an enjoyable waste of time, plus there are (decidedly un-cute) cat boys.

Geobreeders is, for the most part, a lighthearted and fairly silly series. There's enough of an air of realism (and true-to-life hardware) to make the action concrete and enjoyable, but it's mostly a cartoon. The humor is plentiful, but not creative--standard light-action stuff--and also fairly clean compared to the rest of it. The characters are about the same--fun, but essentially empty, with the small exception of a bit of sweetness between the beleaguered Taba (who, despite not even making the front of the box, is really the main character) and his cat girl.

The "story" of Geobreeders is a conundrum, somehow managing to simultaneously be nonexistent, while hinting that there's something hugely important and dark going on. Backstory and character setup are conspicuously absent. The abrupt start could be blamed on its comic roots, except the comic is almost as bad. Admittedly, the whole thing is so light and obvious that no introduction is really necessary, but the large cast could've used at least a quick overview.

The actual story, like the introduction, is MIA... sort of. Irie, a cheerful, nerdy-looking government agent appears periodically to advance some sort of political side/sub plot that is so convoluted and vague that it is completely indecipherable. It seems to be sinister (Irie's grinning machinating is decidedly creepy), it seems to be important, but it makes no sense to the viewer whatsoever. (And if you're thinking the comics explain in more detail, you're wrong--they're even more vague and sinister, if that's even possible.) In any case, the main characters are even more clueless about the machinations than the viewer, and that's fine--less plot equals more fun in the end (plus, their obliviousness is rather amusing).

And, as far as Geobreeders goes, action = fun. There's a nasty case of "I can't hit anything living, at point blank range, with a fully automatic weapon" going around, but the action is plentiful, fast, varied, nicely animated, and, for the most part, quite well choreographed. The first and final segments in particular caught my eye; I have a serious soft spot for outrageous over-the-top action (falling off buildings, riding missiles, that sort of thing), and Geobreeders has the good stuff on tap. Better still, since it always maintains just enough of a grip on reality to keep the action out of cartoon territory, the gunfights and building leaping and missile riding (all happen at least once) work in spite of the generally silly demeanor of the story.

Speaking of realism, the mechanical design deserves praise. From the guns (right down to clips and piles of shell casings), to the cars, to the computers (look for uncommonly accurate computer displays), there is a great deal of attention paid to making the hardware look real. In truth, it seemed a little odd since the characters look so... well, not real in contrast, but I thought the detailed props gave the whole thing the air of maturity it needed.

As for the rest of the visuals, the character designs stick out; true to the comic, they're varied, but look weirdly childlike (villains and grizzled military veterans excepted). Once it gets going, it's obvious that they're not kids--they're a buxom lot and act at least as mature as your average anime 20-something--but they are baby-faced and built close to the ground. The contrast with the otherwise realistic visuals takes some getting used to, but after a while it stopped bothering me. Other than that oddity, the art is bright, colorful, and nicely drawn.

As for the animation, USM is hyping the animation director as the fellow responsible for Macross Plus, and given that the comic is at least 80% action by pagecount, you'd expect something pretty impressive from the team-up. It's not Macross Plus by any stretch, but it is darned good. The snazzy (and voluminous) action is the centerpiece, and the character animation is on par--each of the primaries has a distinct style.

The acting, at least in Japanese, gets the job done. There is a commendable variety of voices in the group of women, running the gamut from the cute and spunky president to the dry, sleepy Yu. Unfortunately the sound effects are a tad under-done--for all the realistic guns, things're a little too quiet.

The music is standard fare for light anime; fully orchestrated and generally over-dramatic with a few oddball fun tunes thrown in. The opening theme is an unremarkable classic J-rock piece, but the end theme, a peppy, nonsensical mambo with matching sketches, earned points with me.

In all, Geobreeders is yet another silly lunatic-girls-with-guns hunting gun-running-ghost-cats series. It's funny on a very basic level, loaded up with crazy action, visually appealing, and features an underlying plot so obtuse that X-Files seem clear by comparison. While unremarkable, it is successful on the level it's aiming for, and makes for a fun diversion, especially for serious fans of exaggerated action.

Related Recommendations

If you like this, the sequel, Geobreeders: Breakthrough, is a must-see. The feel and look is a bit similar to Wild Cardz, but in all it's a lot more like a less serious Gunsmith Cats. Project A-ko is another reasonably good match for comic action (the director of Geobreeders was also involved with all four A-ko movies). The story is somewhat similar to Silent Mobius, but they're otherwise entirely different.

US DVD Review

The DVD is pretty good by USM standards of the time. It has a nice video transfer, good audio (Japanese and English Stereo), and an English subtitle track. Special features are slim unless you use a computer, though; a funky little application on the disc (a crusty OS9 one for Mac users) lets you access scripts, a passable gallery of images, and the storyboards for two scenes. One positive note is that this disc actually includes the main cast members in both English and Japanese on the disc jacket (as USM started doing at some point, the info is printed on the inside of the cover, and the case is transparent). Plus, they left in the Japanese credits, so you'll find a complete translation here. The disc is also available in a 2-pack with the sequel, Breakthrough.

Content Guide

Has a fair amount of non-erotic nudity early on and is generally violent, though not particularly serious about it. USM's 13-up is about right, though much of it doesn't even feel quite that serious.

Violence: 2 - They do a lot of violence to a lot of cat-people, but it's not graphic and I'm not even sure they're technically getting killed.

Nudity: 3 - Again a fair chunk early on.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Essentially nothing.

Language: 1 - Nothing strong.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a comic series by Akihiro Ito, available in English from CPM Manga. Though the series is usually just called "Geobreeders" (in English) even in Japan, the full subtitle means something like "Commando Unit for All Types of Ghosts and Goblins". This animated version was also known as "File.X", probably to distinguish it from the comic continuity (which it more or less retells with some minor changes). It is also AKA (in Japan) "Geobreeders The Movie", though it isn't, and "Geobreeders [File-X] "Get Back the Kitty"".

There's an odd little commercial for catfood between episodes 2 and 3 on the DVD; it's probably not an actual ad, although "Neko-genki" catfood (written slightly differently) was and is an actual product produced by Unicharm (the other brand, Lulu, is what Maya is always eating). The other two Mayas are from other anime series, one rather well-known. (For those wondering, it certainly could have been a real ad--Japanese commercials are often that short and nonsensical.)

As I mentioned above, the writer/artist of the manga (available in English from CPM Manga), Akihiro Ito, has a thing for superrealistic weapons and other hardware, and that carries through into the anime version. Being something of a geek, I personally noted a Logitec QuickCam on top of the computer setup at the restaurant, and the two OSes that show up are the real thing (notice that the good guys use a Mac). One minor error for the geek with a sharp eye: when their connection gets broken halfway through the cat-girl's transmission, the computer shows a "Type -192" error. Any old-time Mac tech will tell you that's a "Resource not found" error, more likely caused by a glitch or running out of memory. So, of course, my first instinct when that flashed on the screen was "Their computer crashed!" not that the transmission had been cut. Ah, the difficulty of suspension of disbelief that plagues techheads...

Availability

Available in the US on hybrid DVD from US Manga Corps, both as a budget-priced single-disc version of all three episodes and in a combo pack with the sequel, Breakthrough. Was also available on a single subtitled or dubbed VHS volume, both out of print.

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