Tokyo Vice Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2000-09-01 (updated 2010-11-10)
• 1.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Tokyo Vice is too-classic '80s anime. The story is as cliche as it is tried and true, and it stands out only in how little there is to distinguish it. It's got old-school action, decent '80s J-rock, formula drama, a recognizable cast of characters--the cool guy, the rebellious kid, the cute girl to get kidnapped--a mysterious disk, and an evil corporation with an astoundingly incompetent experimental military robot. It repeatedly corners a hero, then points its gatling gun menacingly at him for several minutes while an important conversation goes on. The only significant deviations from the norm are how little setup there is of the team and characters, and that Akira the rock star/P.I. is a little more human than most. Keiko is the stock mature '80s woman, but also has just enough personality to be likable.

In all, Tokyo Vice is exactly what you'd expect from an older cyberpunk action flick: Average '80s animation, average '80s art, a tried and true plot, and nothing more. If you can't get enough of old-school cyberpunk like Bubblegum Crisis or really like '80s action movies, then you might well enjoy it. As for the rest of us, it'll be a mildly entertaining diversion for the unintentional humor at best, and more likely a complete waste of time.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2000-09-01 (updated 2010-11-10)
• 1.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Tokyo Vice (aka The Tokyo Project) is classic '80s anime. A bit too classic--the story is as cliche as it is tried and true. Bubblegum Crisis went there, as did any number of low-budget action movies made in a variety of countries. It stands out only in how little there is to distinguish it.

The plot isn't badly done--there are bad bad guys, cool good guys, a smattering of suspense, and big chunk of action--but none of it has any substance. Conspicuously absent are character introductions or any backstory on the team. This means one of two things: Either it's based on something and it's assumed that we know them, or we were intended to pick it up along the way and it's just written badly. Actually, I'm going to go with a third possibility: It is so cliched that they figured "Why waste screen time and money explaining the setup since it's all a rehash anyway?" In any case, although it is a little disorienting for the first couple of minutes, you shouldn't have a very hard time filling in the blanks, and there doesn't seem to be much to miss.

About the only thing that stands out at all are the characters. Junpei is the stock young hero, replete with really frizzy hair, and his sister is... well, the hero's ditzy sister. Akira, however, is not quite as cool as he should be. Sure he's a rock singer and a smooth pistol packin' P.I. to boot, but he's also a tad more human than that; in a couple of scenes, he has these embarrassed reactions that break down the image just enough to set him out from the crowd. Keiko looks like every other cool, mature anime woman in an '80s show, but also has just enough personality to be likable.

That's pretty much it as far as deviation from the formula goes.

Visually, Tokyo Vice fits in perfectly with its peers--classic, rough-edged '80s style art and animation. The character designs are as unoriginal as everything else, but don't look bad at all. The two main bits of tech--the big, bad robot and a big, bad gun--are actually surprisingly cool. Elsewhere there's some good ol' '80s "high" tech--simultaneously futuristic and a little too clunky.

Getting back to that robot, there's a nice long action sequence centered around it that looks better than some of the other rather stiff fights, but is a marvel of uneven pacing. About three quarters of the "fight" is spent talking or staring down the robot; it has a tendency to corner a hero, then point its gatling gun menacingly at him for the next two or three minutes while some important conversation goes on. The "experimental" nature of the robot could be used as an excuse, but the evil corporation must have some major AI bugs to work out. Unintentionally humorous, if you're heckling.

The Japanese voice acting is passable. Again Akira and Keiko stand out; for as much as she has to say, I particularly liked Fumi Hirano's performance as the latter (against type, at that--she's the voice of Lum). Kumiko (voiced by relative unknown Manami Komori), on the other hand, is a little weak, and the backup characters are standard. Junpei (veteran Kazuki Yao) has lots of shouting and grunting to do, but that's about it.

The music (is it a rule that at least one character in all '80s cyberpunk must be a rock singer?) is about standard for the period. But, since there's plenty of it and it does have a solid rock beat, it succeeds in kicking the action up a notch.

In all, Tokyo Vice is exactly what you'd expect from an older cyberpunk action flick: Average '80s animation, average '80s art, a tried and true plot, and nothing more. If you can't get enough of old-school cyberpunk like Bubblegum Crisis, or really like '80s action movies, then you might well enjoy it. As for the rest of us, it'll be a mildly entertaining diversion for the unintentional humor at best, and more likely a complete waste of time.

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Related Recommendations

Bubblegum Crisis did the same thing, and did it better. Another worthwhile series that shares the P.I. heritage with a healthy dose of not-so-serious is City Hunter.