Tatakae!! Iczer-1

I have yet to see a yuri action series that is not idiotic to the point of being unwatchable. I mean, is it too much to ask?

This one started okay: we have an alien invasion, a superpowered heroine and her not-so-super partner (and love interest, of course) and a city to be destroyed. There even are some really good horror scenes in the first half of the first episode, which gave me some hope that it would be interesting to watch. However, after that it everything makes a nosedive and then continues to bury deep into the ground. There is absolutely no logic whatsoever behind ... anyone's actions (apart from the Iczer One maybe, but all she does is slicing invaders in half as they appear), the characters are annoying, and the dialogues can't be more cheesy. I liked the art, though; both the designs and the animation have a nice 80's feeling to it.

I gave it a 3, because of the visuals and one or two good scenes. But honestly, IT SUCKS.

Up until I watched Iczer 1, I thought the cliche of "tentacle rape" was a fabrication, or the realm solely of Urotsukidoji.

It really isn't. Iczer 1 has phallic tendrils in abundance, and its all-female cast getting drenched with a variety of organic fluids, tied up, and threatened with penetration. To be honest this is actually really creepy.

The plot is pretty much non-existent, with enemies invading and being fought by first human soldiers and then by the heroes with their mystical robot that involves naked girls covered in electrodes. It's got the bizarre pacing of something like Zeorymer, and a real focus on extreme gore and ... sexuality. The fights are not exactly dynamic or interesting, with the main robot having a limited range of attacks which often aren't that flashy or exciting. The on-foot stuff tends towards predictable sequences of people (mostly families) exploding messily into tentacled monsters who then shamble around and menace the female cast.

What it does have going for it is reasonable art. The style is classic 80s OVA, and handled well. However, the mech designs are nothing new if you've seen Zeorymer, Detonator Orgun or any similar OVAs, and the characters aren't massively interestingly designed either. Shiny black outfits predominate, and 80s hair styles.

The soundtrack isn't exceptional (not compared to something awesome like MD Geist's use of Merciless Soldier), either.

All told, Iczer 1 is worth watching only if you really like ecchi, bondage and guro interspersed with mecha action. Not one of Obari's finest hours, especially when compared to something hilarious and fun like Gravion or SRW The Inspectors.