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| 2. Iodine
 
Back in the 80s, cop shows starring women were all the rage,
thanks to titles like Dirty Pair and Patlabor. The supernaturally
themed Silent Mobius can be considered a distant cousin to these programs,
with its all-female team of supernatural beastie fighters, but it lacks the strong
central protagonists that made those shows work so well. Katsumi Liqueur may be
the key to a dimensional portal and a spiritual warrior unparalleled in her power,
but she barely has any personality outside of her broken-record denials of her
predestined fate. The rest of the ensemble is ar more interesting, particularly
tough-girl Kiddy Phenil, but the weak plot never seems to know how to make any
use of them. Based on a high-profile manga, the television series replaces the
creepshow horror with disappointingly pedestrian thrills, and awkwardly tries
to stretch out the plot to fit twenty-six episodes with disastrous results. The
soap-opera romances do turn out to be pretty fun, and even touching at times,
but can't make up for the rest of the story. Mediocre
animation and designs make the series look much older than it actually is. The
music is very good though, including one of the most addictive theme songs in
recent years. The episodic plots aren't all that bad, but the hopelessly corny
dialogue never seems to end, and bizarre elements, like a time-travelling coffee
grinder, are often just too silly. There are plenty of other action shows with
hot girls fighting demons out there, so Silent Mobius is definitely one
title that can easily be skipped. |
| 1. Connor
This is a damn good anime, let down by a couple of annoying
story elements. First off, note that this story is completely unrelated to the
two Silent Mobius movies, and it is also tells different but related story
to the manga.
The story is set in the near future when the world has been
devastated and only a few cities are habitable. There is the huge, cyberpunkish,
Tokyo that this series is set in. Strange monsters called Lucifer Hawks are attacking
and killing/eating people and a new branch of the police is formed to fight them,
AMPD (Applied Mystification Police Division). Staffed only be women all with psychic
powers or cybernetic enhancements they fight the Lucifer Hawks. Lots of good stories
in this 26 part series. Unfortunately here is my problem, the good guys only ever
react to the Lucifer Hawks, i.e. bad guys attack, good guys respond. Often bad
guys get what they want because good guys don't know what is happening. Despite
this the series is enjoyable.
The animation has a dark and cyberpunk/Bladerunner
feel and is well done. Some of the Lucifer Hawks are very well done. The voice
acting is excellent (I haven't head much of the dub yet so I can't comment on
it, though the first few episodes were fine). The music always seemed appropriate
and I like both opening and ending songs. |
| 
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(3.3)