Directed by in 1993 by Hirohide Fujiwara, and released back in 2000 by Pioneer's American branch, Moldiver tells that story of Hiroshi Ozora, a scientifically brilliant young man who dwells in his laboratory/room at his house, perfecting all sorts of mathematical & science related equations. He gets the idea to create a superpowered suit, one in which to clean up the streets of Tokyo, and to become a celebrity for the Japanese people. However, when his sister Mirai stumbles across the suit, she uses it for purposes that are less than noble, like flying around the city shopping for clothes. After messing with the programming, she imparts more girlish patterns into the suit's memory, causing her brother to transform into a female superhero when he uses the suit. Due to the circumstances, Hiroshi gets his reluctant sister to become the hero he was supposed be. After a while, Mirai actually gets used to it all, and starts to enjoy it after a couple transformations. She need to enjoy it, as the forces of Dr. Machinegal try as hard as they can to take technological artifacts from ages past for himself, and over the course of 6 episodes no less!
As it is typical of a early 90s anime, Moldiver's looks are two fold. On the one hand, the attention to detail is definitely there. On the other hand, some things don't quite always look as good as they should. Having said that, Moldiver actually looks well done. Futuristic Tokyo has never looked better, with towers that break the sky, floating cars, and other sterotypical trappings of a city in the future. On occasion, the animation gets into the cute zone, but only when Mirai or any of the other female characters of the show appear. The sounds of Moldiver are equally interesting, as the beeps, boops, and other electronic noises fit into their respective spots perfectly. The explosions themselves are always a hit for any pyromaniac out there.
The English dub, however, is a bit on the fence. The primary characters sound as they should. The men sound strong and intelligent (with occasional moments of stupidity), while the girls sound feminine, petite (for some), and emotional (especially for Mirai. Machinegal's androids...not so much). Secondary characters seems to take a backseat in terms of both story and voice acting. They don't quite seem to sound as good as the main characters, but that's probably just me. Over and all, the quality of the English dub is well suited to this show.
Mirai and her brothers are definitely the keys to the show, along with Mirai's love interest who shows up a little bit later into the show. Hiroshi's (and occasionally his little brother) scientific know how, mixes with Mirai's girlish nature and impulses. Her grasp of the suit's capabilities is pathetic at first, but she eventually gets the hang of it (this is one of the biggest sources of humor within the show). Dr. Machinegal is a (physically small) raving lunatic, claiming that the world's oldest technologies are only fit for men like him, who understands their history and capabilities. His androids are the more interesting characters of Moldiver. Each of them bear a passing physical resemblance to popular actresses of the early 90s, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, and Brooke Shields. They all also bear the first part of these actresses names as well, and seen to act a little bit like them as well.
Perhaps what makes Moldiver an anime that shouldn't be missed is two fold. First off, the show somehow manages to mix action, sci-fi, comedy, magical girl, and drama into a single whole that for some reason, makes sense. There's even a little bit of bloodshed to spice things up in the end! Secondly, because of this strange mix, it is an easily addicting show to watch. From the first few minutes, you want to know how all of it ends, and how everybody has changed by the time the show is up.
If there is anything wrong with Moldiver, it has nothing to do with the (possible) sub par voice acting of the secondary characters. Moldiver's only flaw is it's availability. Giving the fact that this show is now 11 years old (in this country at least), finding a DvD (which contains all 6 episodes) copy of the show is difficult. While tapes of Moldiver are still in the market, both new and old. Unfortunately, there is only a single episode on each tape, and buying all of them (at least as far a new tapes are concerned) can possible be expensive for an Otaku with a budget. In my opinion, stay away from a used tape, as the quality of the footage will have surely worn out over the years of use. DvDs (both new and old), are almost always in good shape. On average, a new copy of Moldiver off of Amazon will be about close to 30 dollars, excluding tax & shipping. Your best bet is to go with a used copy, which is what I did. Used prices range from 7 dollars, all the way to a whopping 60 bucks. Yikes!
Moldiver gets a 9 out of 10. It mixes a variety of genres into a entertaining experience, and it is easily enjoyable, but finding a copy, whether's it's new or used, can be difficult.
Stay tuned for my next review later this month. Until then, stay Otaku!
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