Cyber City Oedo 808 Review

Okay people, I’m not going to waste much time with an intro. I’m just going to say that I’m heading to Connection this Friday, for a weekend of nerdy fun & buying loot. With that little nugget out of the way, let’s look at Cyber City Oedo 808.

Story/Setup
Taken from the Wikipedia page:

“To combat computerised crime more effectively, the Cyber Police unit of the future Japanese city of Oedo has restarted the feudal practice of ho-men (??), employing hardened criminals with a history of hi-tech offences and other crimes such as murder as officers themselves.

Three such criminals are Sengoku, Gogol and Benten who are serving their 300-or-more year sentences in an orbital penitentiary. For duty served, each criminal will receive a reduction in their prison time. Desperate to get away from the boredom and monotony of jail life, they half-heartedly agree to the deal. They answer to police chief Hasegawa who keeps them in check thanks to an explosive collar that each criminal wears around his neck. Hasegawa can blow this collar remotely and it will also explode if they fail to complete their missions within an allocated time period. Each one is also armed with a jitte (the traditional weapon and symbol of authority of the ancient Edo Police), although they also have access to more powerful weaponry.

Although there are no specifics to what kind of society the series is based in, it is presented as very high-tech but also with a very dystopian feel. In the first episode for example, a man under pressure confesses to a murder (which he did commit) and which is responsible for the present crisis. This is enough for Hasegawa to order Sengoku to kill the man there and then without so much as a trial. When Sengoku fails to do so his sentence is increased.”

This is the base story of the show. Though not quite as dark or serious as Crying Freeman, this is still a grim setup. While the story itself isn’t too bad, there are moments where it’s unintentionally funny. There are also specific stories within the episodes. They are (Also taken from the wikipedia page):

Ep 1 - Virtual Death (aka "Time Bomb" or "Memories Of The Past")
“Sengoku is sent to save 50,000 people trapped in Oedo's largest skyscraper after its central computer is mysteriously taken over. Along the way, he finds that the only suspect is a dead man.”

Ep 2 - Psychic Trooper (aka "The Decoy" or "The Decoy Program")
“Gogol's investigation of a murder pits him against an experimental military cyborg as he tries to rescue his ex-partner. Of note is that during this episode we see at least one other cyber-criminal trying to (unsuccessfully) remove his collar, so it is known that there are more than the three anti-heroes being employed by the Cyber Police unit.”

Ep 3 - Blood Lust (aka "The Vampire" or "Crimson Media" )
“The freak murder of three geneticists leads Benten to investigate one man's quest for immortality, as well as finding a young woman transformed into a psychic vampire because of this quest.”

Just like the main story, the individual stories for the episodes have serious (Yet somehow goofy) setups.

Setting
Like it says in the story section, the city of Oedo is very high-tech (A.K.A. Cyberpunk) and dystopian. This mix has always managed to create interesting visuals, whether or not the show itself was good. This show is dripping with Cyberpunk: from the background, to the clothes, and even the look of some of the characters, all have some technological aspects to them. This is all well & good, but I have one big problem with the setting, and that’s the fact that they never really talk about what has happened in the world/reasons why Oedo has become so dark & full of despair. I would have even taken a bad reason over no reason, because sometimes a bad reason is better than no reason at all!

Characters
Just like Crying Freeman, Cyber City Oedo 808 has a small cast to it. Unlike Crying Freeman, this cast in this show aren’t quite as strong as those in the previously mention series. For this review, I’ll just go over the three characters that appear the most during the show.

Let’s start off with Sengoku. He’s very much a rebel, and is also anti-social (Much more in the dub, as he swears frequently). He’s quite fond of teasing Benten because of his effeminate looks (Trust me, you’d swear he looks like a woman. The Host Club from Ouran Academy would be jealous), and has a robot named Varsus following him around to monitor his behavior (Thus trying to keep him in line in the process), and to get him out of a jam.

Next up is Gogol. Gogol is a little bit different than the others: he much rather prefers to hunt down criminals rather than rot in orbital prison. He’s the perfect combination of brains & brawn: he’s a former boxer, and is knowledgeable in a variety of subjects (Computer & medicine are just two of them).

Last up is Merill, also known as Benten. Just from his physical appearance, you wouldn’t be able to tell that he was a man.......right up until the moment where he first talks. Benten also happens to be an impressive gymnast, and has some skills in astrology. While he’s not afraid to kill people, he actually does have a caring side to him (This is very evident in episode 3, when a woman falls into his charge).

Animation
Cyber City Oedo has animation that I would consider to be above average. I’d say that it falls somewhere between AD Police Files & Angel Cop: it has the grittiness of the first show, with the obnoxious dark scenes & flat feeling of the second show. I really can’t talk about much else.

Voice Acting
Cyber City Oedo 808 is right smack dab in the middle of the road in terms of dub. Nobody is horrible, but nobody is great. On occasion you do get a character (Or a main character in a unusual moment) that may sound slightly better or worse than somebody else, but everybody else is flat out mediocre.

Episodes & Episode Length
Unlike the previous review, Cyber City Oedo 808 is a shorter show. It’s only 3 episodes long, each of which run from 40 to about 44 minutes in length. Unlike a bunch of the other reviews I’ve done so far saying to watch certain shows in the afternoon, I’d suggest watching this one at night, simply because of how graphic it can get.

Availability & Pricing
Harkening back to AD Police Files, Cyber City Oedo 808 is incredibly available, perhaps more so that the previously mentioned show. I may have downloaded the show, but it’s readily available over on Amazon (Particularly the 2005 final collection edition). Pricing for this show is shocking: this collection starts out at just a single cent. A single......friggen......cent! This is perhaps the cheapest show I have ever seen so far. Used copies are less frequent on Amazon: as I’m writing this, there are only a dozen used copies available for purchase, with prices starting at $1.49 dollars. Again, this is the cheapest show I’ve come across, and I encourage you to buy it.

Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.

I should point out that this movie was from the director that did Wicked City and Ninja Scroll, two classic anime films from the 90s that paved the way for modern anime to flourish (In fact, Wicked City will eventually get reviewed in the coming months). It’s very evident that Cyber City Oedo 808 is related to these two movies by the animation style, as they all have a similar look & feel.

General Impression & Rating
This is definitely a shlock show. It’s not as bad as some of the shows I’ve reviewed so far (Nor is it as bad as some shows I’ve reviewed before this marathon), but it’s not that good. Having said that, this is the kind of show where you gather a couple friends, maybe have a couple drinks, and proceed to make as many funny comments about the various absurdities that Cyber City Oedo 808 has within it. For all it’s problems, I suggest finding a copy of this show, if only to make as much fun of it as heavenly possible!

Cyber City Oedo 808 gets a 5 to 5.9 out of 10.

See you all next week (Maybe Sunday this week, but I’m doubtful), when I’ll give you all a small report about how Connecticon went, and maybe a review or two (As long as I’m not exhausted from having so much fun). Until then, stay Otaku!