s Megazone 23 begins, self-assured biker Shogo Yahagi is more or less on top of the world. He has friends, he has a job (albeit at a fast-food place), he has a motorcycle that can outpace the police, plus the skills to do so without getting himself killed, and above all he has self-confidence. When he nearly runs down Yui Takanaka on the sidewalk, he's abashed, but only for a few seconds—then he's offering her a ride, hitting on her and getting her phone number.
But life takes a sudden unpleasant turn for Shogo when he's called to examine a cycle prototype that a friend "borrowed" from work. The vehicle is ridiculously wide and overpowered, as far as Shogo's concerned. But he's barely had a chance to look at it when gun-toting thugs show up to demand its return. Determined to keep the cycle from the would-be thieves, Shogo jumps on board and drives away as the thugs kill his friend. Outraged and positive that something suspicious is going on, Shogo attempts to get the word out to the media about his new bike, but his efforts are stymied, and everywhere he goes teams of heavily armed men attempt to capture him, in an escalating series of conflicts that culminate in a shootout with giant robots on a blocked-off highway. Suddenly, Shogo's new bike also transforms into a robot and carries him to safety. At that point, he's forced to concede that the situation is serious.
Not that this keeps him from continuing to hang around with and hit on Yui. After he interferes with her show-business career by keeping her from joining a sleazy producer on his casting couch, it becomes clear that his interest in her is more than casual. But he still can't bring himself to tell her when he learns what his bike is really for. Among other things, he finds out that it's actually 500 years later than he thinks, and his entire city is an isolated illusion, preserved inside a spaceship. But those are actually the least of his increasingly horrifying discoveries.
So-so animation, but who cares?
According to a lively and highly informative commentary track by ADV vets Matt Greenfield and David and Janice Williams, Megazone 23 was Japan's second OVA ever—it first came out in 1985. So it goes pretty much without saying that it's not about to win any contemporary animation awards. The animation is flat, with a limited palette and sketchy, crowded outlines; the motion is relatively minimal; and all the characters look like their faces are made of Silly
Putty and their hair belongs on troll dolls.
But Megazone 23's main appeal has nothing to do with its impressive-20-years-ago animation. The series (two more installments are on the way) stood out back in the 1980s for its complex and adult storyline, which treats both sex and violence seriously and packs a surprising amount of complexity and detail into each episode. The writing is nearly as stiff as the animation by today's standards—Shogo talks largely in clipped, bluff lines, while Yui's a dizzy stereotype—but it's still astounding to see how much characterization each of them gets, and how moody and human they are in the face of the disturbing unknown. Megazone 23 takes viewers into the little details of their jobs and their relationships, giving them friends and lives outside the central plot, which shapes their reaction to it in interesting ways.
And that central plot itself is set on an astonishing scale, worthy of a Golden Age science-fiction novel. As the central mystery unfolds bit by bit, the conspiracy behind Shogo's bike gets steadily more complex rather than simpler, and the tone of the story steadily darkens. Like Kaneda in Akira—just one piece of anime that seems to have borrowed
from Megazone 23—Shogo isn't so much a hero as a dumb lunk who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the burden of his knowledge steadily weighs him down. This installment ends on a fairly tragic note, setting the scene for more to come—and virtually ensuring that anime fans will want to grab the next episode as soon as it's available.
The extras on this DVD are pretty minimal, though the new dub track is meant to be a serious bonus. Mostly, though, the commentary track is so entertaining, and so packed with interesting detail, that it makes up for any other lacks.
— Tasha
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