Dominion Tank Police - Acts I - IV

One of the earliest Manga releases, the story centres around the Newport City Police Department's Tank Police division. It is a fair way into the future and man tries to make the best of life under a cloud made up of the remains of the bacteriological (sp?) war of many years before. The strange looking city is policed using whatever they can, the war of weapons between cop and con leading up to the deployment of tanks. Into all this comes Leona Osaki, transferred in from the motorcycle pool, and somewhat overrawed by the size of the tanks, especially the Commander's "Tiger". The last element to this story is Buaku and his gang, notably the Cat Sisters, Anna and Uni Puma who, in the first act, are trying to take the urine...

This is all part of an underlying story which links Buaku to a project long forgotten by everyone else, linked to the pollution. The UK VHS version originally came out as two episodes, each one being two acts joined together, while the US got each act on a separate tape. However the unavailability of the OST during the original dub meant that Manga Video, who dubbed it in the UK, ended up having to record a new music track to replace it. This has been widely accepted as being one of the worst soundtracks ever featured on an anime. (though the Bubblegum Crisis dub soundtrack has often been cited as a close competitor for worst rerecording).

The welcome addition of the DVD this year gives a perfect way to compare the two soundtracks, though I have still to work out what "Hot Dance In Cherry Moon" is supposed to imply! However it is a reasonable product, though the end credit fiasco that usually accompanies USMC DVD's goes one step further in that not only do we not have any information on the original seiyuu, but we also get the UK dub end theme regardless of selected version. Still, it was nice to see the old thing again. If you missed out on this first time around, give it a go! Music aside, it does have its moments! (And look! I never mentioned Masamune Shirow once!!!)

[4 stars]

Site written and maintained by Chika.

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