Angel Cop (original) (raw)

"Unless you want a .45 caliber lobotomy real fucking back, you better tell your friend over there to put the fucking knife down." - Angel

I have returned once again, from the gratuitously ultraviolent era of anime past... the 80s OVAs! For those who aren't yet in the know- the 80s are now famous for having produced some of the most outrageous, over the top bloody, gory, and violent anime ever. Back when you had to get anime on sketchy bootleg VHS tapes that cost $40 a pop just to see an animated titty. Back when blowing heads off and turning characters into meat fountains was... chic. This turned a series of widely varying in quality and appeal anime into cult classics.

Titles like Violence Jack, Genocyber, Mad Bull 34, Wicked City, and our very own Angel Cop will forever be remembered for their contribution of an obscenely ridiculous plot with dubs to match.

This is not to say that Angel Cop is by any means a good anime, no matter what the underground following says.

Sound and Voice Acting: 6

The dub is not as hilariously bad as it was described to me, but decidedly hilariously average, and probably even a good quality production for the time. Sure, there's a few memorable one liners that sound like something someone from another planet who'd studied only extremely dated euphemisms and idioms from 20 years before this anime was even made would say... or just ad libbing. I did once read about the ADR director that worked for Central Park Media at the time- named "One Take" Tony Scorlietti. He had a thing for making every character have a thick NY accent and cursing as much as possible. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT... PIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSS!

Sometimes it felt like Tourettes Guy was the scriptwriter for this series, no lie.

Artwork and Animation: 8

What was decidedly above average was the art in this OVA. Its contemporaries Violence Jack and Mad Bull look like ASS in the animation department. They're straight up terrible. Angel Cop, surprisingly, looks really nice. It's fluid for the most part, and the animation of the characters and their models are fleshed out and not recycled over and over, or with horrible drops in detail level. Angel Cop keeps the gore level high, and there are some pretty squishy, grotesque killings. Cool factor +2 for disgusting displays of viscera.

Characters and Story: 4

The characters are as follows: Robocop, Impossibly Badass Female Supercop, Steve Perry mixed with Steven Tyler, complete with an enormous 80s glam rockstar-do, Doll Girl, Dick Tracy, and Arnold Schwarzenegger with boobs and psychic powers.

Do with that as you will.

The story is a snoozer, and I didn't even care enough to go back and listen to what was supposed to be happening, and it didn't much matter. What matters is that a psychotic psychic bitch named Lucifer is going on a rampage for some suits who want to turn Japan into a nuclear waste pit, in the vein of Fallout. "When kids start growing two heads, you don't think people will notice that shit?" Dick Tracy says.

So, in order to stop the suits, their psycho test subject has to be subjugated to reveal the really poorly planned get rich quick scheme behind the murders. It's up to Angel and her partner Robocop to shut that shit down... and totally annihilate everyone in their way. Yay for drama. Yay for murder.

Enjoyment and Overall: 7, 6

While not nearly as crazy or funny as Mad Bull, nor as graphic as Violence Jack, Angel Cop falls somewhere in the middle. The dub is classic Central Park Media, and worth watching for that alone, but the actually decent visuals are a plus too. Imagine if Mad Bull had half the budget of Akira, and you've got something in the ballpark of Angel Cop.

There's also an unintentionally hilarious scene where a guy gets shot multiple times because another character can't aim with the other hand that basically makes the OVA.

This is must-see TV for 80's OVA fiends like me, or anyone who enjoys a short romp in the realm of the bloody ridiculous.