Angel Cop

ANGEL COP (1994)

Format: 6 OVA episodes on one DVD, 160 minutes total

Rating: R (N, AC, AL, GV)

American Production: Manga Entertainment

Japanese Production: Soeishinsha

Grading
Premise:	D
Story:	D
Writing:	D
Character Design:	C-
Animation:	C
Artistic Merits:	C
English Dub:	C
Musical Score:	C
Opener:	D
Closer:	C+

Humor Content:	n/a
Action Content:	C+
Drama Content:	C-

DVD Presentation:	C
DVD Extras:	D

OVERALL:	C-

Synopsis

In response to a wave of terrorism by the group Red May, Japan creates the Special Security to combat the Red May in particular and terrorism in general. Their efforts bring them into conflict with the terrorists, corrupt politicians and psychically super-powered vigilantes, which results in an orgy of violence and destruction that leaves few alive and none unscathed

The Long View

It’s clear from the start what the creators of Angel Cop were trying to do: they wanted to make a hard-edged, gritty police action/drama with a sci-fi twist, perhaps an anime take on Robocop. All the elements are in place: the language is harsh and laced with expletives, the character attitudes are appropriately hard-nosed (the gorgeous but capable title character can best be described as a cold-hearted bitch), the violence is plentiful and often extremely graphic, cruel things are done to people, there’s a bit of nudity in two episodes, and one character gets turned into a cyborg. There’s even cool toys such as bikes that can fire missiles fore and aft, a laser pistol, and a special gun whose recoil is so strong that an average person would break an arm trying to fire it. It doesn’t all come together well, though, and the writing is the chief culprit. Characters make long-winded speeches in places where they shouldn’t, the dialogue generally seems rough, and the overall quality of writing just isn’t there. The script is more like a first draft than a finished product. Lackluster voice work in the English dubbing also doesn’t help matters, nor does the artwork; it’s not bad, exactly, it’s just not that appealing most of the time.

The intro of each episode is unremarkable, but the closing song is distinctly better. The musical scoring is also unremarkable. The one good thing Angel Cop does have in its favor is that all six episodes are compiled onto one DVD.

Angel Cop is not an anime series I can recommend, except perhaps for those really into the ultra-violent stuff. Might be worth a rental, but it isn’t worth a purchase.

DVD Extras

Only company trailers.

Principle English Voice Actors

Role	Voice Actor
Angel	Sharon Holm
Raiden	John Hunter
Hacker	John Bull
Peace	Barbara Barnes
Taki	Bob Sessions
Tachihara	Danny Flynn