Cosmic Fantasy: Ginga Mehyou no Wana

Cosmic Fantasy, a role-playing video game series released on PC and Sega CD, received its first and only OVA adaptation in 1994. Having never played the games and going into this knowing nothing of the series' lore, this film doesn't require any previous knowledge of the franchise to be watched, as it establishes every character and setting in the beginning of the film.

Imagine a parody of anime involving ass-pulling power-ups, sexy alien villains, ridiculous, silly robot designs and an over-emotional, feminine female protagonist being absolutely head over heels for the strong, modest male protagonist. This film is that. Except, it's not a parody. It takes ... these themes and more to such a cheesy and predictable extreme. It feels like the true embodiment of a joke that conveys how 90's romance, sci-fi anime adventures were like. While some may find that dull and stupid, as someone who's always seen modern anime mock the old ways and manipulative, basic tropes 80's/90's anime used to rely on, this was really quite a palette cleanser and a fun adventure.

Not to mention the music is great. The soundtrack truly is the highlight of the film. Every moment has the right tone and style of orchestrated tracks, and the main theme encapsulates all the emotions of adventure and action the movie tried to convey.

Again, take of this OVA as you will: a cheesy, trope-heavy sci-fi romance space adventure, with neat action scenes and a great soundtrack. If this sounds interesting, you could end up enjoying the hell out of this.