Iczer Reborn (1991)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Original Story by Toshihiro Hirano and Arii Emu
Translation by Neil Nadelman
Directed by Toshihiro Hirano
Starring the Voices of Cutey Suzuki, Yuriko Yamamoto, Yuri Shiratori, Tomohiro Nishimura, and Atsuko Takahata

Features:

• Art gallery
• Trivia

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Some gratuitous panty shots
• Slightly scary monsters
• Death and destruction of Earth

Released by: U.S. Manga Corps/Central Park Media
Region: 1
Rating: 16+
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: At least rent it; otaku will want to own it.

It's always nice when you can get a great movie or an entire OAV sequence all on one disc, instead of having to spend a small fortune accruing ten or more discs to get an entire series. With this title, we have such a convenient, one-disc saga.

Based on a novel and envisioned as a kind of visual homage to H.P. Lovecraft, Iczer Reborn (aka Iczer-3) returns to a story already in progress. In the earlier Iczer-One films, a race of female clones known as the Cthulhu (known as the Cthuwolf in this release for copyright reasons) was controlled by the evil Big Gold and made to invade Earth, turning all they saw into unimaginable horrors. Iczer-1 resisted this control and, willing to fight for Earth, was able to team up with the right human, Nagisa Kano, and call the Iczer-Robo, a powerful mecha. Using that, the duo banished Big Gold.

At the start of Iczer Reborn, Iczer-1 and Neos Gold, the last of Big Gold's minions, are completing a massive, galactic battle; both warriors are left drained, and Neos Gold assures Iczer-1 that their next battle will take place on Iczer-1's precious Earth. Because Iczer-1 is wiped out, Sister Grey sends Iczer-1's little sister, Iczer-3, to Earth instead, and with this substitution, the show trades "unspeakable horrors from beyond" for "youth and determination." Iczer-3 teams up with a new Nagisa, descendant of the original Nagisa Kano, who has telepathy and fragmented memories from her ancestor's life with Iczer-1. Together, they and the rag-tag crew of the last remaining Earth ship must fight off Neos Gold and her minions, the Four Masters of Heaven.

If you're a fan of the original Iczer-One saga, you might be a bit disappointed; there is much less horror in this story arc than in those earlier shows. On the other hand, you might be ready for a break from darkness and suspense; it seems the writers were at least, and just because something is different, doesn't mean it's not good in its own way. Cute, but not too cute, Iczer-3 is not a bad warrior by any means. If you view Iczer Reborn as its own title and not just as an epilogue to earlier shows, then you can enjoy it for its own merits.

The audio and video quality are both good. There are a few instances of aliasing on the animation, but these are few, and the show looks decent. The sound is also more than acceptable, especially with the sound effects. We only get one language track here, Japanese with English subtitles, but the cast is experienced and doesn't overplay the cute factor, remembering that this is a drama and not a comedy. Another note worth mentioning is that the heroines are actually dressed. Nagisa is nude when she is fused with the Iczer Robo, but the Iczer clones themselves are dressed in battle garb--albeit tight garb.

The features list is short, but sweet. We get an impossibly hard trivia "game" that tests your attention to detail, as well as a very nice, extensive art gallery that should yield weeks of desktop images for every otaku. Finally, there is the usual set of previews for other releases.

In short, if you know and love the earlier installments in the Iczer franchise, then you'll want to have this one, too. If you're new to the Iczer family, then just approach this as a solid sci-fi adventure, and just expect a couple details to be less than fully explained. A lot of anime for the price, this disc should entertain most viewers. If you like science-fiction, the pretty soldier genre, or good adventures, then definitely give this one a view.