Alternative TitlesEnglish: Armitage III Japanese: アミテージ・ザ・サード
Information
Type: OVA
Episodes: 4
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Feb 25, 1995 to Nov 25, 1995
Duration:
34 min. per episode Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.271 (scored by 4948 users)
Ranked: #20652
Popularity: #1588
Members: 8,755
Favorites: 53 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
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SynopsisThe year is 2046. Detective Ross Sylibus is transferred to Mars when a country singer on his flight is murdered. Making matters more complicated is that the singer is a "Third"—a robot that looks and feels like a human. Sylibus is partnered with Armitage—a beautiful female cop with a bad attitude. As they investigate the murder of the singer and other women on Mars, they uncover a conspiracy that can have them both killed by the Martian government.
(Source: ANN) |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Armitage III
Sequel: Armitage III Dual-Matrix
Summary: Armitage III Polymatrix
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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Archaeon
63 of 96 people found this review helpful
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4 of 4 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
I will admit that I'm a fan of cyberpunk in its many forms, from novels by the likes of William Gibson and Iain Banks to movies like Blade Runner and Mad Max. As a child of the 80s, these were mainstays in my entertainment repertoire. By the time Armitage III was released in February 1995, I had already been exposed to titles such as Appleseed, Battle Angel Alita, Cyber City Oedo 808, Genocyber, AD Police Files, and those classics Akira and the Bubblegum series.
Now, given the time of it's release, much of the hype of that moment centred around the forthcoming Ghost in the Shell, set to be released later that year. Because of this, Armitage III has been somewhat left by the wayside when it comes to mid 90s anime, especially given the huge marketing campaign devoted to GitS. This irony is that of the two major cyberpunk releases of 1995, Armitage III just pips GitS as being the best of that year.
The story is set in the year 2046 in the city of Saint Lowell, on the planet Mars. Earth has become overpopulated, and Mars has subsequently been terraformed to deal with this issue. Humanity was aided in the terraforming process by the first generation of androids, and by the time of the story the second generation of androids had become widely used for service and pleasure purposes. Unfortunately, Mars has been suffering from declining birthrates, and whilst the planet is autonmous from Earth, this fact is one of the main drivers for the story.
The plot is well thought out on the whole (barring a few inconsistencies), and the pacing is very good. There is a nice mixture of action and intrigue, as well as a dollop of political machinations (nowhere near as much as GitS though). The story does suffer from its flaws, however the premise is one that is just as plausible as GitS and, given the advances in medical science since 1995, may prove far more "real". The biggest irony is that both Armitage III and GitS ask the question "What is life?", but approach the answer from different angles.
The animation is very well done on the whole. AIC, who are also responsible for AD Police Files, Bubblegum Crisis and Now & Then, Here & There, have done a great job animating the show, however there are some moments when the animation loses its polish. The backgrounds are nicely drawn and are generally atmospheric, but they lack the detail that is one of the hallmarks of GitS.
One of my biggest problems with this series was the design of Naomi Armitage. The other characters were quite well done on the whole, however I initially had difficulty taking the show seriously given that her outfit seems more appropriate for a dominatrix than a police officer. It may be that the designers wanted to emphasise that Naomi is different from other humans by garbing her in very little, however they seem to have forgotten about the utility of clothing in their approach.
The sound is generally very good throught the OVA. The music is very much of the time, so lots of beats are prevalent in many of the actions scenes. The sound effects are well handled on the whole, however there are moments when the sound and music can clash quite badly.
As far as characters go, Ross Syllabus is very much a stereotype - an honorable and decent man who unfortunately hates robots and androids (although he has his reasons for this, and the series tries to explain them to a degree).
Naomi Armitage, on the other hand, is very much a tomboy. Brash, cocky, somewhat arrogant, and very often wilful, she seems to be just another normal, albeit unusually dressed, human being. It's not until the last two episodes that we begin to see more of her true character, however this is still not enough to ensure that the audience can relate to, or sympathise, with her.
Aside from these two, there are sundry other characters who play their part in the OVA, the chief one being René D'anclaude - a man who has been targetting and murdering specific women on MARS.
Although I had some difficulty at first, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and it's sequels. The balanced mixture of action and drama could have been improved, as could the characters, however that would have needed at least 12 episodes to achieve.
There's a definite appeal to the show because of its scripting and unusual (for anime that is), premise. As it's only a four part OVA, there isn't really any time for any real development ofthe characters or the plot, however this is purely a perceptional issue, and one that I can ignore in favour of being entertained.
With inspiration drawn from many sources, like I, Robot by Isaac Asimov and Neuromancer by William Gibson, this OVA is one of the reasons why GitS became so popular here in west. Even by todays standards the story holds up well, whilst much of the artworks bright and cheery palette belies the story's much darker plot.
Who says cyberpunk is dead? read more
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bloodlover
5 of 16 people found this review helpful
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4 of 4 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
The story is focused on two cops, Ross and Armitage as they try to discover the reason behind all the chaos. At times I was under the impression that it is maybe too much influenced by Hollywood movies such as Blade Runner or AI but in the end, the story is well constructed and presented through the 4 OVA's. This is well explained with the use of the great animations. This came out in 1995 and it looks amazing for its time. The high amount of details is very impressive and you can see another anime that influenced The Matrix with the now famous green data line flowing down the visor. The faces of the characters are a little sharp and maybe needed a little polishing but that's a minor detail. The sound was awesome. Industrial and some metal riffs fit any cyberpunk anime like a glove. As far as characters go, only Armitage is worth mentioning. Ross is ok to see as the tough (yet soft on the inside) cop but Armitage is the real star of the show. She's sexy, badass and an attitude that would even make Alucard shit his pants. You don't mess around with her.
In conclusion, Armitage III is awesome. Any SF/cyberpunk anime lover should see this. Great visuals, great OST and a memorable main character bring this anime a big well deserved 10. read more
Recommendations
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Another cyberpunk anime with a cyborg heroine as the lead role.
Although I would consider Battle Angel the superior of the two, they have a similar flare.
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Armitage came out around the same time as GITS and was therefor completely overshadowed by GITS' huge success. Both series have stacked intelligent heroins that excel in combat and who are members of a policing force and both have strong muscle bound male leads that play the important balancing role. Both fall into the "Cyber Punk" genre and both ask many of the same questions regarding the questions of what makes us human and the very definition of life.
However, One key difference is in how they approach these same philosophical questions. While GITS uses Motoko (a cyborg) to search for life inside the digital machine world, Armitage uses Naomi (an android) to search for life inside herself.
Don't let this series pass you by.
Both are a philosophical experiment of the mind-body problem, through cybernetics, robotics and psychology, though they are two different model (different, but not opposite). Both are settled in a very detailed political, economical, social... spheres mixed into a very realistic fictionnal reality. Both are very mature, and require more attention than other anime like any pieces of art you stare at. If you like mature and psychological anime, GITS and Armitage are timeless one of the greats... ...kupo.
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Opening Theme"Main Theme" by Hiroyuki Namba
Ending Theme#01: "Ii Yume o Omoidesenai (いい夢を思い出せない)" by Hiroko Kasahara (eps 1-3)
#02: "I've Got It" by Hiroko Kasahara (ep 4)
#E1: "Phantom World" by Hiroko Kasahara [English dub] (eps 1-3)
#E2: "I've Got It" (English version) by Sharyn Scott [English dub] (ep 4)
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Related ClubsThe OVA/ONA/Anime Movie club, The Aironic OVA (Original Video Animation) Club, Machines and Cyborgs, Anime Experience, Marketplace Germany, AIC - Anime International Company, OLDSQL, Anime Dimenzija, "WIRED" Societry, Anime of the 90's, Cards Collectors Club [.CCC.], Cyberpunk Club, Guns & Gore club
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