Tank S.W.A.T. 01 Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-01-23 (updated 2014-11-15)
• 1.5 stars out of 5 (?)

In theory this odd little OAV one-shot is a side-story of the Dominion: Conflict manga. That reduces the obligation for set-up, but that's a weak excuse for a show that completely omits character establishment or even the background of the plot at hand--it feels like the second half of an already-abbreviated movie. Worse, the details of the characters and setting feel slightly off when compared to the manga, so it's not even doing a particularly good job of catering to fans, who are the only people likely to have any interest in a half-hour one-shot. It also feels more like a Hollywood adaptation than a faithful homage--the plot is generic loose-cannon police stuff and the action sequences try very hard to look like John Woo. The short's most memorable feature is the all-CG visuals, which are hit and miss--the action scenes look relatively nice and the character designs are faithful, but some of the character animation is stiff and the overall flow lacks sharp timing and professional polish.

In the end I didn't dislike Tank SWAT 01, but if you're not already a Dominion fan it's too abbreviated to be of any interest. Even if you are, it's still only half a movie, and a disappointingly generic one at that--more a teaser than something to get excited about.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2011-01-23 (updated 2014-11-15)
• 1.5 stars out of 5 (?)

This odd little one-shot is based on Dominion: Conflict, the much-later, somewhat re-envisioned sequel to Masamune Shirow's original Dominion manga. That sounds promising--the first Dominion anime adaptation is quality entertainment, as is the manga, and the other anime was a near-miss with a lot of potential. However, at only 30 minutes long, Tank SWAT 01 lacks the time to do anything with the plot, the characters feel a little off, and the all-CGI visuals are hit and miss.

I should establish that I'm a big Dominion fan--the combination of over-the-top action, cheerfully sadistic humor, colorful characters, and slightly-tweaked cyberpunk setting is hard to beat. In manga form, Conflict one-upped the original, toning down the philosophy, ratcheting up the humor, and having the beloved cat sisters do a heel-face turn to play friendly foil to a veteran Leona.

Now, I assume I'm the target market of this OAV; it's far too short to do anything at all in terms of establishing the characters or substantive plot, so presumably the only people interested would be existing fans. And indeed, it's framed like a side-story of the manga, reducing the obligation for background.

Even taking that into account, though, it feels like the second half of an already-abbreviated movie; there isn't a shred of character establishment or even background on what they're doing. While it keeps hinting at backstory--some past tragedy they never so much as mention--there is, functionally, absolutely none.

All you're left with is the most generic sort of paint-by-numbers loose-cannon police "drama" for the plot and a couple of nifty-but-brief action scenes. I've seen movie trailers with more substance. The slimy, confident villain is obviously implied to be Buaku, which would actually make for some decent where-do-their-loyalties-lie drama with the cat sisters, but there's nowhere near enough time to do anything with it. In fact, trying to jam what could (and probably should) be a series-finale-scale confrontation into a rushed side-story is rather disrespectful to the material.

Speaking of disrespect, the whole thing has a bit of that Hollywood adaptation feel--the big points are right but the details seem a little off, for lack of a better word. The worst is that all the characters lack the spunk and energy that made the original work; Leona, in particular, is disappointingly humorless. Her heartless superior (the secondary antagonist) is an entirely new character, and the plot is a vaguely Die Hard-esque showdown-in-a-high-rise thriller lacking in Shirow flair. To be fair, Conflict doesn't have much continuity with its manga predecessor, either, nor is there much tank action in it, but if you're going to forego setup and your only audience is fans, I'd expect a more faithful interpretation.

As for the positives, the main ones are a couple of relatively nice-looking action scenes, in particular a tank shootout early on. The cat sisters also get plenty of action and at least as much screen time as Leona. Some attempts to do John Woo-style super-slow-mo bits aren't 100% successful, but still look reasonably good. There are also a few bits of decent physical comedy, and I did like the friendly antagonism between Leona and her co-pilot (signaling by way of repeatedly kicking her in the head). The villain has a decent calm, manipulative evil-guy vibe, albeit of the sort you've seen a dozen times before.

The most memorable thing about the show ends up being the all-CG visuals. On the plus side, the character designs are true to the manga (the cat sisters are back to being blondes like they're supposed to be), and the interiors of the tanks are loaded with the kind of meticulous detail Shirow is known for. On the minus, it lacks professional polish; most of the character animation is noticeably stiff, and the timing is a bit off--there are awkward little hesitations where there shouldn't be. Don't expect anything on the level of the slick uber-budget CG Appleseed films, even if those feel less like anime than this.

Combined with the abbreviated plot, Tank SWAT 01 felt to me like an experiment--an episode-length technology test run or maybe a very good amateur homage to Dominion. Which, given that director Romanov Higa is a relatively successful indie CGI anime specialist, and DOGA Productions is a small-time studio that usually does supplemental CGI work, isn't much of a surprise.

The acting is acceptable, nothing more, and none of the actors from either previous Dominion anime reprise their roles. The tiny cast includes several complete unknowns and a couple of big names--most notably Satsuki Yukino (Chidori from Full Metal Panic), a good fit as Leona.

In the end I didn't dislike Tank SWAT 01, but if you're not already a Dominion fan it's too abbreviated to be of any interest. Even if you are, it's still only half a movie, and a disappointingly generic one at that--more a teaser than something to get excited about.

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Related Recommendations

The most obvious parallels are of course the other two Dominion anime adaptations, of which the second, New Dominion Tank Police, is closer. There are also the two recent Appleseed movies, which are similar in that they aren't a very direct adaptation of the original material and have all-CGI visuals with some attempts to do John Woo action (literally, since Woo produced them), and different in that they have massive budgets and functional plots.