Armitage III: The Complete OVA (2002)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Direction and Character Design by Hiroyuki Ochi
Animation Directed by Kunihiro Abe, Koichi Hashimoto, Shinya Takahashi, Nadyuka Onda, and Hiroyuki Ochi
Screenplay by Chiaka Konaka
Art Design by Tokuhiro Hiraki

Features:

• Concept Art Gallery
  
• Original Laserdisc Covers
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Profanity
  
• Violence Against Everyone, Especially Adult Women
  
• Nudity
  

Rating: NR, probably safe for 16+

Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Rent it, or buy it if you love science-fiction

It is the year 2046, and on Mars, a celebrity has been murdered by a secretly perfected line of androids--the “third type” robots who are essentially indistinguishable from humans, at least from the outside. Part of the reason these (mostly female) androids were developed is to answer the problems Mars is having with their population decline. These Third Types are so intelligent and powerful that a portion of humanity rises up against them, in part forming a terrorist group called D’anclaude, and the violence is getting out of hand. A policeman named Ross Sylibus and his partner Naomi Armitage are given the task of figuring out how to defuse this situation. But Armitage has a secret; she is herself one of these Thirds, and a secret government group has a plan to destroy her and Sylibus both. Luckily for Armitage and her partner, she has a few secrets left that they haven’t discovered. The Armitage franchise has been a fan favorite for years, and this is the OVA set that set all that in motion.

The audio and video quality are both solid on this release. The Japanese and English language tracks are both handled nicely with the actors showing real sensitivity for the personalities of their characters. The dialogue is all clean and perfectly comprehensible, and the series’ fine music is quite enjoyable on this digital version. All of the colors are well-saturated, and even the shadowy scenes, of which there are many, are easy to see and view. There was only a bit of trouble with some graininess in the shadows at times, but nothing that would really interrupt your viewing pleasure. Basically, the art on this series just looks great, and the DVD transfer makes use of that.

The special features on this disc are also nice enough, if not stellar. There is a good selection of art and backgrounds in the conceptual art gallery, and it is always fun to see the art in progress as it goes from rough ideas to finished animation. The trailers are nothing terribly special, but it doesn’t hurt to have them, and it is similarly entertaining to see the original OVA covers.

If you have seen the Armitage: Poly-Matrix movie and felt that it didn’t make enough sense, then give this OVA series a shot. It is the origin of that other movie but it also develops much of the back-plot in a helpful way. If you are a fan of the recent Dual Matrix release, then you will want to have this one to see where it all started. Don’t let the rather puerile and unattractive cover image drive you away. This is a solid mini-series with a good storyline and deep characters. Fans of action, adventure, and science-fiction will love this movie as much as they do Blade Runner or any other android/sentience tale.