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The 26-part Silent Mobius TV series and the two preceding features were based on a popular manga by Kia Asimiya. In the early 21st century, powerful, carnivorous monsters called the "Lucifer Hawk" are attacking Earth. Humanity's bastion against this invasion is the Attacked Mystification Police (sic): Shinto priestess Nami, mechanical whiz Lebia, relentlessly cheerful Yuki, and tough-as-press-on-nails cyborg Kiddy. The balance of power in the war shifts in mankind's favor with the appearance of former secretary Katsumi Liqueur, who inherited magical abilities from her father, the "Archmage" Gigelf Liqueur. She also inherited a mysterious knife from her sorceress mother and an enchanted talking sword. These first nine episodes do little more than introduce the main characters and a few minor ones, including Rally Cheyene, the head of the squadron, and Katsumi's boyfriend, officer Robert "Roy" Device. All of the female characters have troubled pasts, which are explored in lengthy flashbacks that occur between attacks. Katsumi, who holds the key to the gates of the Lucifer Hawk world Nemesis, remains at the center of these battles. The setup and action in Silent Mobius strongly recall Bubblegum Crisis. Concept designer Yasuhiro Moriki's Blade Runner-influenced images of a half-ruined, dystopic future Tokyo are more interesting than the animation, yet art director Eiji Iwase uses a monochromatic palette with exceptional panache. Rated 13 Up: Violence, profanity, brief nudity. --Charles Solomon
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