Geobreeders Breakthrough

Rating:
Summary: "Rock Formation Reproducers"?
Review: *
What else could the title "Geobreeders" possibly mean?

But along with its indecipherable title, it would seem (at least upon the first couple of viewings) that the story itself is likewise indecipherable and incoherent.

...At least that's the impression that one initially walks away with after viewing the ''first chapter'' of this Moriyama Yuuji ("Project A-Ko"; "Jungle de Ikou") OAV series (a.k.a. "File-X: Get Back The Kitty") -- especially for someone like myself, who had no prior knowledge of the story and characters from Ito Akihiro's manga series before taking a chance on the anime stories.

With the release of the "next chapter" in the OAV series ("Geobreeders 2" / "File-XX: Breakthrough"), it was my hope that many of the difficulties in following the events of the first "File" would be smoothed out and begin to have the overall story make some sort of sense. To my great pleasure, much was indeed cleared up ... but again, only after several close and scrutinizing repeated viewings.

In a way, that's good, because it gives the viewer genuine reason to pay close attention to the many details and branches in the plotline which makes the experience even that much more enjoyable as the greater picture becomes clearer and more coherent (plus it allows the viewer to relive all of the hillarious moments throughout the adventure that make this OAV such fun to sit through), but it may not be such a good idea for those who want quick, immediate, spoon-fed answers and explanations ... because it DOES take work to figure out what this story is really all about and where it's all heading.

Which leaves me somewhat in the middle of an uncomfortable dilemma -- either SHARE what I have been able to piece together from my time spent with the OAV series ... or HOLD OUT and not "spoil" it for anybody who may wish to put the pieces of the puzzle together on their own. (...what to do... what to do....)

Well, everybody probably already knows by now that "Geobreeders" is about a team of five young women (all but one of whom are psychological case studies within their own right) and one hapless "do all the dirty work and take all the blame" young man who make up the private organization called "Kagura Sougou Keibi" ("Kagura All-Purpose Defense" ...or, as the original translators prefer, "Kagura Total Security" -- "kagura" being the name of a type of sacred Japanese dance being used by the group as a "brand name"). Their job is ridding Japan of terroristic shape-shifting "bake-neko" or "phantom cats," who are comprised of living data and energy, who are vulnerable in their full "feline" form, but become virtually unstoppable whenever they assume a full "human" or hybrid "cat-human" form (...in these latter forms they can bypass anything with an electronic circuit and access computer information files). Whenever Kagura is not pursuing the bake-neko with "talismans" (used for "sealing" the enemy as information files onto computer discs), they're going after them with big loud guns and big loud explosive devices, which usually results in big loud destruction ... with all damages to the facilities in question being covered by whatever firm is hiring them to do the job.

But there are those aforementioned pesky twists in the plot which complicate the story and make it appear terribly convoluted -- including the lack of unity amongst the bake-neko themselves, understanding the roles of the various "government defense forces," and trying to determine the "official" position, level of involvement, & TRUE aganda of the enigmatic "Mr. Irie." And what did those United States Marines want with Kagura's resident pet phantom cat, the sweet and innocent Maya?

So many questions ... and so many answers, which I'm very anxious to share, but I fear that I will take away from the full enjoyment of each viewer's learning these answers for themselves... so, regrettably, I digress! You'll just have to view them for yourself ... at least a good three or four times in order to understand what is going on -- which will make understanding "Ghost In The Shell" seem like a swim in the "kiddie pool" by comparison. But once you do understand the inner workings of this anime, it'll be so much more appreciated (as a result, I've since updated my rating of the entire "Geobreeders" series from "3-stars" to "4-stars"). Granted, not all questions will get answered in this anime series, and that's probably because Ito and Moriyama-san want to eventually entice the viewers to delve into the manga series for more of the "complete" story (which, upon my doing an amount of online research into the manga stories, will offer only a very little bit of additional insight, but really not anything terribly significant that could add much more to what can readily be deciphered from the anime alone with just a little bit of time and concentration).

The "Sub-Title" purists are going to greatly disagree with me on this next point, but I give my vote of preference to the "English Dub" soundtrack. Although the original Japanese version is equally good (if you can get by Kikushima Yuka's high-pitched squeal), the English voice actors actually breath more life, feeling and character into the individuals they portray -- especially Umezaki Maki, the "Crimson Shooting Star."

Now available either separately or in a "2-disc set," newcomers to this anime feature should definitely go with the 2-disc version and get the full story at one time ... that would be the smarter move, both from the standpoint of better understanding the story as well as economically.

~ Enjoy! (Tanoshide Kudasai!)

* * *

Rating:
Summary: Action at its best
Review: Any one who likes watching giggling girls fighting with guns should stay away from this one. This about a group of tough-as-nails girls who travel as Kagura Total Security fighting phantom cats. Oh yeah, and did I mention there's only one guy on the force. These three OVA episodes are suberb for action. In one scene, a phantom cat is running around in a mall with guns blazing here and there. There is one scene in which the explosions never seem to stop and a brilliant helicopter scene that would make 'The Matrix' jealous. The dialogue is without a doubt well done. The animation is very well drawn. Overall, if you crave action and have a high threshold for explosions, watch Geobreeders and be amazed.

Rating:
Summary: Geobreeders is a silly, enjoyable action-packed anime
Review: Based on the manga by Ito Akihiro, Geobreeders follows the adventures of the Kagura Security agency: five girls, one guy and a phantom cat.

The female members of the team comprise of the president of the agency: small red-haired Yuka -- somewhat of merc; computer-wiz Takami who has serious problems dealing with stress; 'Crimson Shooting Star' with her affinity to big guns; the shapely, brass knuckle-toting accountant Eiko; and Yu, the chain-smoking driver with tendency to fall asleep often.

Taba is the token male of the group, and much of the humor comes at his expense -- he takes all the worst jobs, and usually gets no credit. And then you have the phantom cat adopted by Taba - Maya the cat-girl (be sure to watch for a spoof ad featuring two other Maya's from other, popular anime).

The premise of the show centers on Kagura Security's ghost-busting activities (a la Phantom Quest Corps) - the 'ghosts' are electronic apparitions or phantom cats that can control any computer system. The three episodes on this disc features clean and fluid animation, with a fair amount of fan-service to boot.

If you're looking for some silliness and action in an anime, Geobreeders is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: GEOBREEDERS DVD REVIEW: Very entertaining!
Review: First, the "animation director of MACROSS PLUS" on the top of the DVD shouldn't be the motivator to buy this video because you are watching somewhat adults in a sort of kids character design. I guess "Bugsy Malone" comes into mind.

Anyway, at first, I thought the anime was going a little slow but once you get to the second OAV and so on, you are hooked to the anime. A lot of action and interesting characters to hook you in.

Now, as for the animation. I thought it was pretty cool and colorful. The audio was something I don't recall it being anything major but I was expecting less from this anime to begin with and I felt I got more than expected. Oh, the DVD comes with dubs (I dislike dubs) and for purists, subtitles (YEAH!) are also included. If anything though, it seems you get more if you have a DVD-ROM which I don't have and so I can't see the image gallery or storyboards. Why didn't they include it as a special feature for everyone who doesn't have a DVD-ROM to see.

Anyway, GEOBREEDERS is a fun anime to watch and I think you will enjoy it if you watch all three OAV episodes straight through.

Rating:
Summary: Sort of fun, but could've been much better
Review: Geobreeders is about a team of eccentric girls and one guy who hunt phantom cats (the bad guys). Unfortunately, it's also got a ton of unnecessary and unintelligible plot that weighs the whole thing down. At its best it's fast paced, humorous and fun, but the rest is kind of dull and convoluted.
Still, it has its moments, and the ending theme song is bizaare and funny and one of my favorites. The DVD version has good but not great picture quality, and all of the included previews are decidedly mediocre. Generally, extra features aren't a strong point. If you're a casual fan with some extra money then consider this one, but otherwise rent it or borrow it.

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Sort of like an anime version of the Pamela Anderson's show "VIP". Brings humor, lots of auction and just a very witty script. Nothing epic, but a lot of fun and a good sound track.

Rating:
Summary: Ghostbusters meets Baywatch for some pretty crazy fun
Review: The Ghostbusters reference is that the Kagura agency has a job of eliminating phantom cats who can mess with electronic data and cause some heck to life. The Baywatch reference will be obvious once you watch.

This is fun. Sharp animation, plenty of humor, good action, lovable albeit stereotypical characters, and a swimsuit or two.

The plot is a little muddled (hence only 4 stars) about a kidnapped Kagura member along with the phantom cats about to return a nuclear warhead to the city in an explosive way and some guy pulling the strings of both cases. But with cute girls, exciting action, and Geobreeders humor, who cares? This is great fluff.

Contains violence and nudity.

Rating:
Summary: Ghostbusters meets Baywatch for some pretty crazy fun
Review: The Ghostbusters reference is that the Kagura agency has a job of eliminating phantom cats who can mess with electronic data and cause some heck to life. The Baywatch reference will be obvious once you watch.

This is fun. Sharp animation, plenty of humor, good action, lovable albeit stereotypical characters, and a swimsuit or two.

The plot is a little muddled (hence only 4 stars) about a kidnapped Kagura member along with the phantom cats about to return a nuclear warhead to the city in an explosive way and some guy pulling the strings of both cases. But with cute girls, exciting action, and Geobreeders humor, who cares? This is great fluff.

Contains violence and nudity.

Rating:
Summary: Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!
Review: This is definitely one of the best action animes I've ever seen. Best described as a combination of a late '70s action show and the Ghostbusters, Geobreeders revolves around the almost all female crew of Kagura Total Security, a for-hire company that hunts down and captures the dangerous phantom cats (living computer programs that can assume the form of cats or humans and take control of any electronic system.) Geobreeders combines excellent action, animation, and dialogue to make a film that is a definite cut above a generous percentage of current titles. The animation has unusually good flow and is relatively free of the sometimes irritating stop-start qualities found in a lot of anime. In particular the level of detail in the vehicle and gun designs is astonishing, I haven't seen anything this good since Gunsmith Cats (another highly reccomended OVA). The dialogue is crisp and manages to maintain a fairly regular rhythm while the translation does an amicable job of avoiding the usual questionable phrases and pauses. There's some nudity and mild cursing, but almost zero blood and no actual sex, parental discretion might not hurt. I reccomend this to anyone who wondered what would happen if Charlie's Angels and the A-Team interbred.