Megazone 23

The most important thing to be aware of when going into Megazone 23 is that it's in three very different parts. Each part is directed by someone different, so the quality fluctuates drastically.

The first part is outstanding. As to be expected from Noboru Ishiguro. The story has some incredible twists, the art is top notch and there's plenty of great 80s j-pop. I'd give this part a 9/10 and was really looking forward to what happened in the next episode.

So you can imagine the disappointment when in the second part, everything was entirely different. The characters do not even look remotely similar to how ... they do in part one and the conclusion feels rather lackluster in comparison to the introduction. The storytelling and art is by no means bad, but is clearly not to the same standard.

Part three has even fewer similarities; there is an entirely new cast and setting, and only has passing reference to the first two parts. This is more of a sequel than part of the same story. By this point it's really no different from any of the other sci-fi OVAs out there.

The one thing that's consistently great is the music. 80s and 90s J-pop, yes please.

In short, watch part one, but prepare to have the quality drop considerably by the time you reach the end (if you even get that far).

Wow.

When i originally saw the trailer for Megazone 23 on a random anime dvd, i couldnt help but to be fascinated by the fast pace and 80's soundtrack that i was watching, and i knew i had to get this anime.

As a major fan of old school anime, i ordered the Megazone 23 collection with all the aspirations of old school anime glory, and i must admit, it took me for a ride that ill never forget. With this review i hope to give my own opinions and insight on what has currently become one of my favorite anime titles - Megazone 23.

Story -
As ... for story , Megazone 23 is quite original. I have a large anime collection, and in all my years of watching anime have i never watched anything with a story like this one. its an original piece of work that has managed to become nostalgic and stay fresh at the same time, and it also manages to merge quite a few genres together, such as - mecha, romance,action,sci-fi, and even post apocalyptica. Megazone 23 has something for everyone thats for sure.

ART -
When it comes to the Art Department, Each part of the Megazone 23 collection has its own style. Part 1 offers a strictly old school style which could only be described as "80's animation". Part 2 is also animated in a late 1980's animation style, but it is slightly different and more detailed than Part 1. Parts 3 & 4 are animated in the mid 1990's animation style, with cleaner animation with a more modern look. Though each Part is animated in their own different style, i didnt find it taking anything away from my viewing pleasure, Each Part had its story to tell and i greatly enjoyed the series despite the animation changes.

Sound-
The sound is basically one of the things that got me hooked on Megazone 23. i really enjoyed the 80's style and music that Parts 1 & 2 were infused with. The look and sound of everything fit together really well and made it a great experience altogether, whether it was 80's rock, or pop, or sythesizers. As for sound effects, i felt they were done quite well too, especially with the vehicles (motorcycles). I bought the ADV dvd collection, so thats the only version ive watched, and i must say that the dubbing was done really good in my own opinion.

Characters -
As i watched Megazone 23, i really found myself liking some of the characters, especially Eve and Shogo. The music they used with the character Eve basically made her an instant legend when it comes to anime Idols, right up there with Macross and everything, and it is certainly for good reason. Shogo was a pretty cool character too. in Part 1 he was stubborn and hot headed, but as Part 2 rolls around you can tell he has matured a bit. Yui changes a bit fom Part 1 to Part 2 as well, and Part 2 introduces alot more minor characters that are pretty cool too. all in all, the characters of Megazxone 23 in a whole are pretty memorable :)


Overall-

As a whole, I really found myself enjoying each and every Part of the Megazone OVA. I liked the originality of its story, the old school 80's style presentation of music and animation, and the characters were interesting and kept the series fun to watch. Although i didnt mind the animation changes, i know everyone may not care too much for them, but if you can look past those changes and focus onthe story, then im sure youll enjoy Megazone 23 just as much as i did. If you are looking for an anime that is original and one of a kind, then Megazone 23 has everything you could possibly ask for :)

The only way to begin with Megazone 23 is to first realize that this will feel like watching three separate anime. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3-4 can all be taken as separate stories in the same universe. It began with director Noboru Ishiguro (Macross) doing Part 1, and then the character designers were different in each part as well as the directors.

Megazone 23 is a very original anime with a setting that will enthrall the viewer into the story, characters, and even the representation of the era it was made in. Yes, this is incredibly 80’s. Part 1 by Noboru Ishiguro is absolutely ... outstanding. There are so many similarities to the art design and music of the Macross series, and the plot development is top notch. Not surprising that this show eventually became a movie, “Robotech: The Untold Story.” Part 1 focuses on a biker name Shogo and his run-in with a top-secret government weapon called Bahamut. He learns more and more about what the government is, what they want, and how it affects not only him but everybody in the city in which he lives in. Not to mention the interaction with the cities pop sensation named “Eve” and his eventual love interest Yui. Art, music, plot; this first part to the OVA series is top notch.

Now, due to the times and certain decisions being made, a change in essentially everything to series happened going forward in parts 2,3, and 4. A change in staff, lower quality, even the way the characters are drawn all changed. For example, Yui changed from Macross style and green hair to Sue with short brown hair and a generic character design. Basically, the entire OVA series goes downhill incredibly fast. It is a complete dumpster dive after how great part 1 was. Part 3 and 4 goes even further with it being a completely different setting and time period. The same lowered quality and generic character designs are shown again. This time, even the music, which was Megazone’s last saving grace, is pretty much gone.

Sadly, the series falls way short on a setting and plot with so much potential that takes the viewer into the universe of Megazone. If only the concurrent parts after the way the series began were anything remotely similar to Part 1; Megazone 23 could have been something on the scale of a Gundam or a Macross. Unfortunately, the series as a whole is executed horribly. Watch Part 1 and pretend it was the only part made.

Thank God for the OVA boom that was single handedly started by Megazone 23 (pronounced Megazone 2 3). The story by the way the title is based on what Japan was called back in WW2.

The story is pretty hard to get into, but once you get it it's there. Here's a sentence to sum it up: The main character, Shogo finds a bike, a bike that's top secret to an organization. Oh, and the world is only Tokyo and they live in a spaceship that people aren't aware of.Not very novel, right? Wanna know why? Because Megazone started it. The story was originally ... supposed to be a multi-episode series compounded into a large series. There's a big flaw in this. There are many loopholes that happen. Where are the organizations? Who's who? What's going on? After about 10 minutes you start to understand, but it's pretty difficult to understand what's going on early on. Basically there's three more OVA's so it's okay to not understand at the moment. Overall, not bad but the loopholes are very hard to understand.

The art is amazing. The palet and the facial designs are very cleanly done, just like back in the day when hand drawn cell animation was around. My big complain is that things change. In some scenes there's a pillow that's big and pink. In some scenes it's a simple pillow. Honestly, I'm suprised I catched that but a normal viewer probably wouldn't notice. There are some great realism in the art though. There's McDonald's and Coke all around this anime. It's VERY realistic. The art is well designed and if you can get past the flaws in this artwork it's not a big deal.

The sound is amazing. From the pop idol singing to the '80's soundtrack it's all amazing. I really felt like I was in that time and place. The english dubbing is excellent, and I wish I could say that for the Japanese version. The J. dubbing is terrible. The flaps don't match and the voices all sound like they're on steroids. For all you sub fans you might be turned off by this. It would be unfair to give the audio a 9 since the Japanese track is terrible.

The characters are pretty great. The loud mouth, the cool guy, the girl willing to sleep to the top, and the aspiring actress. Add in a guy trying to commit a coup and you got Megazone. The characters are anything but one sided but I couldn't get a feeling for them. I seriously only got to like Yui and Shogo. I have to admit I LOVED it when a certain hot-headed-bitch gets shot in the head. I have to say though that there are alot of characters that come and go. Just remember Mr. Coup, Shogo, and Yui and you should be good.

You know I want to give this anime a 10, but it doesn't deserve it. It just had too many loopholes and it suffered from changing artwork. It is however one of the best OVA's I have ever seen. I'm going to give it a 9 because it's a must see. Frankly, not seeing this is ground enough to have your otaku license revoked.

Pros:
+ One of the visuals I have ever seen. (Epic color palet)
+ It keeps you gripped with a great storyline.

Cons:
- Some of the backgrounds change when they shouldn't.
- Characters come and go.

This anime is 9 "OVA BOOMS!" out of 10.
This anime is out now by ADV films, go out and buy it.

action, sex, romance, great ost, great plot, and etc. you name its on here this movie is what i would consider legendary among all the legendary mecha anime. this series is really under rated but i promise you if you watch this series it will have you on the edge of your seat.

Before Megazone 23 became wellknown as one of the first ova´s made i have on tape/dvd, there was Dallos ( 1st ova's ever made, part 1 till 4 ,1983). Megazone is one of my favorite anime ova's ever to watch, with an special eye on part 2 , traditional animation was replaced bij a more realistic, mature like animation, compared to part 1, 3 and 4. Storywise, it was one hell of a trip througout the show, and the charach. are SOOOO 80's it hurts my balls, and the soundtracks were awesome, especially in part 2. A lot of ppl have forgotten about this anime ... jewel sadly, but i think some stuff should not be remastered!

First off, megazone 23 comes in three parts but should be watched in order. They are not standalone but have huge gaps to account for the passage of time, so much so that the main characters will get shuffled.

Didnt expect much going into it. The art style is appropriate for the time but still dated. Did like the 70s/80s setting though, reminded me of Akira. From the synopsis it seems like just another hidden society based anime and in terms of content, meh, get a bike, it does stuff, people want it back, ride around, cause trouble . Many things are also left for ... you to figure out with your ol noggin. But the way its presented, its deep and captivating, each character is unique, pacing is spot on and dubs are pretty good too. This anime should be a definite watch.

P.S. They got coca cola. THEY HAVE REAL ACTUAL COLA.

Megazone 23 is an OVA series that can really be broken down into two parts. The first following Shougo and the second following Eiji. The first part is really well animated and has an intriguing plot line but that's about it. The narrative, while interesting, is not fully developed. The characters are not overly memorable and the pacing is erratic. In contrast the storytelling of the second part is executed much better. However the animation, while good, is not on par with the first part. Also the characters remain a weak point. Despite numerous promising concepts, Megazone 23 ... suffers from overall inconsistency, leaving much to be desired.

Megazone 23 is a 4-Part Sci-fi Anime Film/OVA Series that tells an excellent story in its first two parts. While the character designs and Artstyle differences for Part 2 can be jarring at first, don't let it detract from the story which is nothing short of fantastic.

It has a Sci-fi Plot that is ahead of its time and a lot of that is due to Part 1 being directed by the legendary, Noboru Ishigoru (man behind works like LotGalacticHeroes, SDF Macross & Space Battleship Yamato 2) who presents us with a Sci-fi Premise that would later inspire movies like The Matrix, Existenz, etc.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄: ... (1985 film - directed by Noboru Ishiguro)
The way the Story unravels in the Part 1 is nothing short of masterful. You are presented with pretty standard characters (bikers and chicks) that develop as they start to get crushed by the reality of their city. There is quite a bit of Romance in this movie which is surprisingly well-done for a movie like this.
During the middle portion of the Film, they discover what their City really is and this is where the Sci-fi Stuff really starts to get good. It becomes pretty damn suspenseful as you wait for Shougo to desperately find a way to combat the Government Conspiracy on his own. It ends on a Cliffhanger but still the way it ends is nothing short of brilliant, as you get crushed by the despair that the characters are going through in a sort of Semi-tragic Fashion.

9.5/10

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄: (1986 film - directed by Ichiro Itano)
The Second Film picks up after a Timeskip with Shougo still fighting against the Government with his gang of bikers and punks. We get some of the same sort of Sci-Fi Action, Romance, Drama and Suspense, which on its own is pretty great but definitely weaker than the First One.
The way that Part 2 concludes the story, although lacking in comparison to the first, is still pretty satisfying and great on its own. Everything is about as Good, It just has One Little Issue.
Yui Takanaka and Shougo's character designs look completely different which can be jarring. I understand they wanted to show the passage of time but at least get the facial features right. They did it with EVE and the main villain from the previous film B.D. so I don't understand why they couldn't have kept it consistent for Shougo and Yui. I get wanting to show them to be older but keep the faces accurate at least.

Despite the Artstyle change, the characters still have the same personality and their development is pretty damn good. You really see how Shougo learns and completes his Character Arc by the end of it and B.D is one of the more interesting villains I've seen in Anime. What's interesting about him is that he isn't completely evil, his motivations are completely understandable. In a lot of ways, he did nothing wrong, and I was surprised with how the confrontation between B.D. and Shougo was handled by the end. It was nothing like what I expected. You could even call it disappointing but IMO it was a good choice. They did well to not make it generic.

8.5/10


𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄𝙄: (1989 OVAs - directed by Shinji Aramaki & Kenichi Yatagai)
Part 3 is a 2-Episode OVA which functions more as a Sequel/Side Story as it introduces completely new characters in the same setting and is set some 100+ years after the First 2 Parts. This means the characters from the first two are gone but it still builds on the setting and continuity from the First.
Parts 1 & 2 tell a self-contained story focused on a seperate conflict that is already resolved by the end of Part 2 so in a lot of ways it is definitely a departure from the First Two Parts. The Story on its own is okay but it’s definitely a dip in quality when compared to the First Two. It even feels a bit unnecessary.
There are entertaining scenes and bits of dialogue (from the ADV dub) I liked - ie; "I'm afraid we disagree" *bang* - but it was mostly just your average late-80s OVA shit. Not anything groundbreaking and doesn’t have much re-watch value but still worth checking out, at least once. It is quite entertaining but not too interesting.

7/10


𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡:
Megazone 23 should be a must-watch for any honest Retro-Scifi Fan. It has interesting Sci-Fi Concepts, Romance, City Pop Music and a Great Soundtrack, Bloody Voilence and a Suspenseful Plot (at least in the first two). It is true and has been said in other reviews that the quality fluctuates drastically but do not let the low ratings fool you. Part I and Part II are Excellent and Part III is worth checking out even if it’s rough around the edges.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄:　9.5/10　・　𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄:　8.5/10　・　𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄𝙄:　7.0/10　

As a complete package I must say it's quite flawed. Great concepts with poor execution in certain aspects, but Megazone 23 is still a definite must-see for anyone into the sci-fi genre.

The OVA is in three parts and each one is more different from the other than you'll expect. On all three of them the animation is top-notch but different aesthetically.

The design and animation of the technology the characters interact with is brilliant. Feels like they had someone with engineering expertise design them. It's still kinda funny how in the 80's they couldn't imagine computer displays to be anything but monochromatic with vector-like graphics, ... I must say.

The music is also fantastic with some great 80's J-Pop and hair metal that gives it a really cool personality of the time (if you're into that sort of thing).

The story, characters, and the quality of the voice acting is where I think Megazone 23 falls short. The concept and overall theme are what's good, it was a first of it's kind that inspired so many other works for future generations (The Matrix for example). The storytelling is what failed grab me. I thought it got confusing at times and the characters didn't quite stood up.

Although everyone seems to praise Part I the most, I think my favorite had to be Part III which is fantastic by itself. It has the best animation and art design by far. Part I's art design was cool in a more cartoony sort of way, then in Part II they tried to give it a more mature approach which I thought was weird and looked like something out of an early 90's punky beat em up like Double Dragon or Final Fight, but in Part III they got the perfect balance. The story in Part III is also better told and better paced, and manages to clear things up from the overall lore and a few plot-holes left in the previous parts. I think the character design was so much better in Part III as well, and I dare suspect that Final Fantasy VII might have had some inspiration from it. I liked Eiji as a protagonist a lot more than Shogo.

Part III is where I think Megazone 23 comes together more polished and it's what halted me from rating it lower. I don't understand why people talk about it as if it was something extra or unnecessary.

Megazone 23 is not the kind of work that stands tall on it's own, but rather one that inspires other great works that follow its steps, for that reason I think it's a must-see for everyone looking to enrich their scope of the art-form and sci-fi genre.

Original story with sloppy execution. Sigh, what a shame.

An illusionary city set above a top-secret underground cyber hardware was definitely not a conventional narrative the 80s Japanese directors would dare enough to initiate. I can get why this was revolutionary in Japan back then, the story was way ahead of its time. Megazone 23 successfully introduced the phantasm of virtual reality and oh boy you wouldn’t believe the amount of films this OVA have influenced. It starts with a really convincing premise, but once it crispens up... well, things are not quite what they seem.

It felt so disjointed and set forth my attention span to ... hit the lowest. There are too many plot holes that are based on ambiguity, thus I don’t think their original story will carry the film effortlessly and let us overlook its really reaaaally bad narrative. Half of their transition cuts seems like it was too rushed and the whole idea of emphasizing its cheesy sexual love scenes when finally they’ve set the right pace, for me, is the worst marketing idea to boost up a film’s popularity. Up until the end it still left me so confused dammmittt. Yeah I won’t waste my time trying to find the explanation on google. It aint worth it.

So go watch it at your own risk, don’t get fooled by its originality.

To summarize megazone 23 and what you should expect of it and why you should watch it, I'll say 2 things, it has one huge strenght: the setting. There are present in this not very well known OVA very complex concepts that precede the world of Ghost In The Shell, BLAME! and also the the legendary movie trilogy, The Matrix. Concepts like life in a virtual reallity, "ghost hacking" or a cibercity able to grow infinitely by itself. To see that many of those innovative ideas began with Megazone 23 was quite a surprise (Unless I find an older work that proves otherwise)

But on many ... other aspects of it's execution it's mediocre. The art and sound are pretty good altough they don't stand out that much from other anime of the time. The characters who are supposed to drive the plot are not that interesting and many times inconsistent and the main characters and the message we're supposed to learn from them is the stuppidiest thing in the whole OVA. The narrative is the same cliche of Good vs Evil but it has very nice twists and turns and the whole unfolding of the story is really well done.

The anime is very much worth watching being the last part of the OVA the best it has to offer, it incorporates many elements of the classic Neuromancer novel for the first time into anime and has a lot of new innovative elements. The first part is also pretty good and offers a very nice start to this epic journey but unfortunately the second part is flawed to the bone and what happens in that episode takes away much of the credibility of the events to come..

Good idea, bad realization. The reason is that all 4 parts are different. The story follows Shogo Yahagi, a delinquent motorcyclist whose possession of a government prototype bike leads him to discover the truth about the city. A young biker stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function that has a link to the true nature of his world.

Part II
Shogo Yahagi is on the run. But this time he's got his biker gang called 'Trash' on his side and they have chosen to revolt against the authorities, and the police. An invasion from an unknown source that has threatened to destroy everything they know ... and love.

Part III
Eiji Takanaka is a B Level hacker who has been accepted into EX. However, before his first day on the job, he becomes embroiled in a network war, a legendary figure named EVE, and a plot to re-inhabit the Earth.