Tatakae!! Iczer-1

One of the most difficult things involving Anime is what to show someone who hasn't seen one before. Many suggestions come to mind, but most of those are probably dozens upon dozens of episodes long and most people don't have that kind of time and the shows themselves are usually genre specific. So, what can you show someone that more or less covers all the bases of Anime but is short enough to watch in one sitting? I submit "Fight!! Iczer-1"

Based off the manga "Golden Warrior Iczer-One" and brought to us by the studio AIC, known perhaps best for "Tenchi Muyou", this 3 act OVA ... has so many staples and tropes of Japanese Anime both of it's own 1980s origins and even the modern pieces of today, that it serves as a wonderful orientation for what to expect from the most popular animation in the world today. Even for those initiated already it's an enjoyable little title with some unique twists and turns and a retro charm.

The plot can be best boiled down to this: an alien being known as Iczer One has come to Earth and chosen a human girl named Nagisa to be her partner to fight an evil force known as Big Gold and the alien forces soon to arrive to take over the planet. It seems Nagisa is the key to powering Iczer One's counterpart Iczer Robo, a giant robot, with enough energy to successfully vanquish the foes they face. This leads to some wonderful action sequences involving mechs, monsters, hand-to-hand combat, laser sword combat, and some very unsuccessful assists from the Japanese military as they attempt to fight the invaders. If you've seen any Godzilla movie, you know how well that turns out.

The whole experience feels like a dozen episodes boiled down into 3. Meaning there is very little time for character development but it also doesn't dilly dally. Things move quickly and pretty well considering how many questions one probably has with so much going on. I'm not someone who needs to know why everything is happening and everyone's motivations, so I was more than keen to enjoy the show. Beyond featuring things similar to mechs, magical girls, and ecchi fan service, there are some genuinely creepy moments with monsters and lots of gore making it a mature experience and certainly not something for the kids and definitely NSFW.

Even though it's from the mid-1980s, the art itself isn't too bad. It's definitely got that VHS feel to it, but it holds up well and features a very brass-heavy soundtrack of uplifting heroic fight music that is indicative of the genre and the time. I was somewhat reminded of "Doctor Who" at times with the situation of an alien showing up to Earth and a poor innocent girl being snatched up into the chaos and adventure that is saving the world, but I think even The Doctor is more gentle than Iczer One in some cases. You definitely feel for Nagisa at times, though I can't help but think they did a better job giving depth to the bad guys than the heroes. The first two featured, Cobalt amd Sepia, are lovers and when the first one falls, the other is quite devastated and you feel sympathy for her. Something Anime is often good at, giving us villains with understandable motivations.

While "Fight!! Iczer-1" is a good bit of fun, it doesn't deliver anything ground breaking for the time or even since then. Having only seen the English dub, the voice acting leaves A LOT to be desired. Weak performances all around. Very Fox Kids quality. And just as your starting to enjoy yourself, the whole thing ends. Yet with an odd feeling of having had enough. That more would have been too much. I was happy that it ended sooner rather than later. This could have been a wonderful backdoor pilot for a longer series, but it works well as what it is. A modestly entertaining R-rated Anime. Quintessentially 80s with lots of gore, nudity, and mindless action but with enough care to the characters that it salvages itself from being mindless.

I recommend this to anyone interested in starting Japanese Anime but also for anyone just in the mood for an old-school bit of fun. A solid 6/10. Check it out. Cheers!

Rate of 5 (average)
Seen via english dubbed

Story: had a confusing intro. A girl fighting a monster solo perceived to be of aid for town. Then you jump into a spaceship/crew and a woman speaks with a man's voice. A lot of the show has to unfold before you begin to put two and two together. As for the ending how? So many questions left unanswered. If more of a backstory was applied maybe there would be more joy.

Sound: Aside from gender voice i referred on i was happy with the vocal artists assigned.

Character: exact origin/purpose unknown but well illustrated in artwork.

To better grasp where they ... are coming from try watching the movie Groundhog day first.

I wrote a review on my blog, compressing it a bit (and a few changes) for MAL.

I like to call this the "BROKEN BAE SHOW".

IMPACT/STORY: Pronounced “ik-zah”, this short OVA was produced in a dark era called the Gore genre. These anime popularized splitting faces, saliva-dripping maws, disfigured loved ones, popped out eyeballs, and everything being ripped or melted. Tatakae Iczer-1 is a total shock, and Nagisa gets to suffer with the watchers as her hometown is secretly invaded by Cthulhu. Since it’s sci-fi, the aliens can propagate in the body and take control. There is some traditional sci-fi action as well with both small ... and large robots.

SOUND/ANIMATION: This is Hirano Toshiki’s (平野 俊貴) debut leading work; he did Dangaioh, Zeoraimer and Iczer-1 adjacent to each other. He and composer Watanabe Chuumei work closely, and Iczer-1 (and even Hirano's other works) are given this nice heroic tokusatsu touch that fits with the action. The design for Iczer-1 is flamboyant and there is a lot of tone overall, representing the dark quality.

The VA cast are good as well, even though they are slightly vague these days. You may recognize C.V Yamamoto Yuriko as your favorite nice sister who can fight for you (Saint Seiya’s Eagle Marian, Dancouga’s Sara). One of my favorite C.Vs is Toda Keiko, providing the voice of the cold-hearted Iczer-2. Nagisa herself is Sho Mayumi, who had lead in the above-mentioned Hirano works, has proven a performance in gentleness (Nagisa), dignity/strength (Yuretei) and a bit of both (Alice). Oh yeah! Shiozawa Kaneto. Just Shiozawa Kaneto~

CHARACTER: Remember when I mentioned Watanabe? Outside of the soundtrack, there is an influence of classic tokusatsu and Kikaider in this series as Izcer is an android with a laser beam and sword (ie: Kikaider, Gavan). She values the mission, likes Nagisa and wants to protect Earth. Nagisa is a gentle girl pushed into despair and Iczer focuses on the mission; Iczer-2 adds on to the pain given by this OVA's gut-wrenching quality but because of that, she is an excellent enemy that you wish to see defeated. I don't have an opinion on Big Gold. It is (?) basically the thing that drives the main antagonist by the reigns and gives orders.

CONCLUSION ("Do you like zetsubou anime?"): It’s difficult to place in my heart. It’s done well, it has a shock factor (a good point and bad point), but it feels indeed conceptual. A “sit on the couch” (and hold on to dear life) show, and it promotes the original work. It feels like an OVA. When animation was mostly cels, OVA releases were popular, especially for an original work or following the popularity of a comic or tv series. Thus, production cost aid and promotion, going right into the 90s.

In many classic OVAs, however, the endings are left vague or just plain rushed. I don’t think the origins of Cthulhu and Violet are completely clear either, and I was a bit disappointed by the ending itself.

"Fight! Iczer-1" is a largely unmemorable mecha OVA with gory body horror, hand-to-hand light saber battles, androids, and elements of tentacle porn.

Largely unmemorable except for its largely female cast. Who are also largely unmemorable.

Oh and the hilariously bad English dubbing, which may actually be worth the watch for fans of movies with bad dubs and above-average-for-the-time animation and soundtracks.

Watching the dub, it's clear the voice actors were just as confused by and unconvinced of the film as the people who ultimately watch the film.

It's not quite as hilariously bad as the "Urotsukidoji" English dub, but it's also (thankfully) less overtly sexual or disturbing.

Still, as a ... viewer, the most believable and relatable part of the film is Nagisa's frequent outbursts of "What?" and "Why?" and "No!"