Gundress Review

Hi guys! Today’s review is a movie from the iconic Masamune Shirow, who’s known for creating equally iconic films like Akira & Ghost in the Shell. The film today, however, is known in a less than stellar light. Is it as bad as everyone says, or is this an underrated gem? Well, I’ll be the judge of this, so without further delays, here’s my review for Gundress.

Story/Setup
Taken from the anidb page:

“In 2100, the newly built Bayside City serves as Japan's premier international port. The Angel Arms Company is established by a former policewoman named Takako, to help wage war on terrorism with armed security suits.

When the mayor is assassinated, the women of Angel Arms end up protecting the evil crime-lord Hassan, in hopes that his information will help bring down a global terror ring. Takako's back is to the wall as a band of criminals plot to kill Hassan, and the organization's leader is revealed to be the former lover of Angel Arms' own Alisa.”

On the surface, this looks decent. It’s basic, but it appears like a functional story for a movie. When I watched it, I thought it was okay, but when I looked online I found a different view. Here’s just one quote I found:

“The story was full of plot-holes and little background information. Why was Angel Arms created? When? How did these characters come to join it? How was the leader, Takakura, chosen? Why did the villains indiscriminately bomb the city? And many other questions.

Also, the entire story focuses on the protection of Hassan from terrorists, and supposedly the police and army is helping out, but we never see them besides a couple useless helicopters. The "arch villain" also only makes a brief appearance at the end, and really doesn't do anything; the story is left very open as to whether he is caught or not.”

Damn! That’s not good, now is it?

Setting
Gundress’s setting is a rather plain, quasi post-apocalyptic style environment. Most of the locations in the movie are on the verge of boring, with the exception of one. Towards the end of the OVA, digital version of Alissa and her ex-boyfriend are battling out in a computer environment. It’s rather trippy, and it’s really the only place in the movie that shows any signs of originality.

Characters
Taken from the same place as the quote above:

“The characters were all pretty one-dimensional, lacked background and development, and were generally annoying. The idiotic police commisioner was getting knocked unconscious by the Angel Arms every 5 minutes but still helped them for some reason. Hassan is the Boss of a smuggling ring for deadly weapons, but the story attempts to portray him as "not so bad"; the Angel Arms even save him and let him wander around free even though he tried to kill them the day before.

The relationship between Alissa and her ex-boyfriend was also unrealistic and cliche, and though it was probably the biggest part of the storyline, I found myself bored by the whole ending scene with her and him in the computer.

Every one of the Angel Arms is also very stereotypical: the computer geek, the weak one, the athletic one, the idealistic leader, etc. None of their backgrounds are explained, and even now, 30 minutes after watching the movie, I have forgotten all of their names.”

Harsh, isn’t it?

Animation
This was first released back in 1999, but you wouldn’t believe it from the animation quality. From the animation quality alone, you’d assume that Gundress was a OVA from the mid to early 90s, not something from the late 90s. Having said that, this isn’t an ugly movie. It’s not something that you’d want to post up in the museum of fine arts, but the characters & mechs look alright, and the various locales look decent enough.

Voice Acting
Surprisingly, the one area you’d expect to suck really bad would be the voice acting. This is not the case, as the English Dub is quite enjoyable to listen to. It seems that the voice actors legitimately put their time & energy into the roles they were given, whether it was a primary character, or a secondary one.

Episodes & Episode Length
Gundress is a one-time OVA movie, clocking in at almost an hour and a half (1 Hour & 25 Minutes). Perfect for a evening viewing (Read below to see why).

Availability & Pricing
Gundress was a show released by Anime Works, and like many of their titles, are now difficult to locate. Luckily, two releases can be found over on Amazon: a nearly impossible VHS release (Which is ironically cheaper, with pricing from 2 dollars to 10), and a more readily available DVD release. The pricing for the DVD edition is a little more expensive, but nothing serious. New copies start at a little over 16 dollars, while used copies begin at close to 3 dollars. In this circumstance, buy the DVD instead of the tape.

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

I should point out that this is not a movie that you shouldn’t show to kids. I’ve reviewed plenty of adult titles on this blog, and while Gundress isn’t necessarily one of the most triple x of films I’ve watched (That honor goes to La Blue Girl), it’s still something that younger people shouldn’t see. There’s nudity (While I appreciated the nudity, I didn’t quite see a point in it), violence, and enough blood to make things unnerving, but not enough to give you nightmares.

General Impression & Rating
Gundress had potential. Lots of potential. You could feel the potential in just about every scene, every line spoken, and almost everything else. Unfortunately, this movie falls flat onto it’s animated face. This is the Baoh of August, and that movie was boring as hell! Gundress is pretty much the same thing. It’s tragic, in all honesty.

Gundress gets a 5 out of 10.

See you all next week. Until then, stay Otaku!