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Armitage III - The Complete OVA

Armitage III - The Complete OVA

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sister Under the Skin
Review: Anime science fiction seems endlessly fascinated with the question of the borderline between humans and robots. The answers are surprisingly complicated as the directors confront us with humans who are little more than sophisticated and psychotic machines, and robots that have the finer emotional constructs that their human counterparts are often lacking. In this DVD, which collects the original OVA series, we find one of the works that laid the groundwork for a whole genre.

Ross Sylibus has done what many cops do. Memories too intense he has left earth to become a detective in the Martian Police Department. His new partner is Naomi Armitage, a wisecracking, independent cop who dresses like a street girl. Their first assignment is to solve a string of murders where the victims are all beautiful robots. Special robots that are so close to human that they can become pregnant. They find a lunatic behind the killings and a web of conspiracy behind the lunatic.

The relationship between Naomi and Ross moves past an argumentative partnership as they discover some of the truths about each other in their struggle to stop a wave of anti-robot sentiment that seems about to overwhelm the Martian colony. Their feelings for each other tells is what human really means, even if it is clear to the end that few on either world really understand.

Director Hiroyuki Ochi has created a series that owes much to 'Bladerunner,' but avoids being a hackneyed copy for all its borrowing of plot devices. The aggressive role played by Naomi sets the two films apart, underlying the core humanity of the Type III robots that have been queued up for slaughter when they have outlived their use. Visually the film work and illustration are deeply satisfying, using a style that is more naturalistic than the anime stylings to which we've become accustomed. It is difficult to talk about work done in 1994 as 'seminal,' but the OVA and the related film had a great deal of effect on other anime. Consider this a must see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sister Under the Skin
Review: Anime science fiction seems endlessly fascinated with the question of the borderline between humans and robots. The answers are surprisingly complicated as the directors confront us with humans who are little more than sophisticated and psychotic machines, and robots that have the finer emotional constructs that their human counterparts are often lacking. In this DVD, which collects the original OVA series, we find one of the works that laid the groundwork for a whole genre.

Ross Sylibus has done what many cops do. Memories too intense he has left earth to become a detective in the Martian Police Department. His new partner is Naomi Armitage, a wisecracking, independent cop who dresses like a street girl. Their first assignment is to solve a string of murders where the victims are all beautiful robots. Special robots that are so close to human that they can become pregnant. They find a lunatic behind the killings and a web of conspiracy behind the lunatic.

The relationship between Naomi and Ross moves past an argumentative partnership as they discover some of the truths about each other in their struggle to stop a wave of anti-robot sentiment that seems about to overwhelm the Martian colony. Their feelings for each other tells is what human really means, even if it is clear to the end that few on either world really understand.

Director Hiroyuki Ochi has created a series that owes much to 'Bladerunner,' but avoids being a hackneyed copy for all its borrowing of plot devices. The aggressive role played by Naomi sets the two films apart, underlying the core humanity of the Type III robots that have been queued up for slaughter when they have outlived their use. Visually the film work and illustration are deeply satisfying, using a style that is more naturalistic than the anime stylings to which we've become accustomed. It is difficult to talk about work done in 1994 as 'seminal,' but the OVA and the related film had a great deal of effect on other anime. Consider this a must see.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good animation, weak plot
Review: Hey, it's eye candy. The plot was a reach, and the voices seemed out of place. But overall, it was worth the $$.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good animation, weak plot
Review: Hey, it's eye candy. The plot was a reach, and the voices seemed out of place. But overall, it was worth the $$.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great cyberpunk anime.
Review: I first saw "Armitage III: Poly-Matrix" on the Sci-Fi channel. Immediately I noticed a distinct "Blade Runner" influence, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the film. I liked Elizabeth Berkley's and Kiefer Sutherland's (even though Berkley seemed too excitable and Sutherland seemed half asleep). The movie had some moments of confusion, but overall it was far less confusing than "Akira" (which is still my favorite anime of all time). I'd also seen the sequel, which I won't go into here. So when I finally bought the OVA on DVD, I was sure I was going to love it. I was right.

First off, the storytelling in the OVA is slightly better (if you couldn't follow the first film, then you must have ADD or dyslexia...it's not that complicated). The additional scenes that were left out of the film version help give a better flow to the action and a better sense of plot. Extra scenes with Pluto/Julian give more to why Armitage actually cared for his character. And we also have a better sense of how D'Anclaude kept popping up. Some scenes are just done differently, like Ross' flashback (which is a lot more violent and I dare say cliched in the OVA) or even D'Anclaude's first fight with Ross in the church. There's better character development in the OVA as well, especially for the smaller parts like the other cops. The dialogue is pretty much intact (a rarity for animes...the English movie version actually holds up pretty well in keeping the dialogue the same), and the music is still awesome. All-in-all, if you liked the movie, the OVA will not disappoint. It's different, but the addition of certain sequences and bits of dialogue do help give a better flow to the story. The scenes that are left out or altered from the movie give the OVA its own feel. The special features on anime DVD's are always a joy, especially for a graphic designer like myself or anybody with an interest in art.

The "Armitage III" OVA is a treat for fans of cyberpunk, for fans of sci-fi, for fans of anime, and for fans of Armitage. Buy it! It's well worth it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great cyberpunk anime.
Review: I first saw "Armitage III: Poly-Matrix" on the Sci-Fi channel. Immediately I noticed a distinct "Blade Runner" influence, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the film. I liked Elizabeth Berkley's and Kiefer Sutherland's (even though Berkley seemed too excitable and Sutherland seemed half asleep). The movie had some moments of confusion, but overall it was far less confusing than "Akira" (which is still my favorite anime of all time). I'd also seen the sequel, which I won't go into here. So when I finally bought the OVA on DVD, I was sure I was going to love it. I was right.

First off, the storytelling in the OVA is slightly better (if you couldn't follow the first film, then you must have ADD or dyslexia...it's not that complicated). The additional scenes that were left out of the film version help give a better flow to the action and a better sense of plot. Extra scenes with Pluto/Julian give more to why Armitage actually cared for his character. And we also have a better sense of how D'Anclaude kept popping up. Some scenes are just done differently, like Ross' flashback (which is a lot more violent and I dare say cliched in the OVA) or even D'Anclaude's first fight with Ross in the church. There's better character development in the OVA as well, especially for the smaller parts like the other cops. The dialogue is pretty much intact (a rarity for animes...the English movie version actually holds up pretty well in keeping the dialogue the same), and the music is still awesome. All-in-all, if you liked the movie, the OVA will not disappoint. It's different, but the addition of certain sequences and bits of dialogue do help give a better flow to the story. The scenes that are left out or altered from the movie give the OVA its own feel. The special features on anime DVD's are always a joy, especially for a graphic designer like myself or anybody with an interest in art.

The "Armitage III" OVA is a treat for fans of cyberpunk, for fans of sci-fi, for fans of anime, and for fans of Armitage. Buy it! It's well worth it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good choice if you have not already seen Poly Matrix
Review: I give this a 3 because it's almost the same as the Poly Matrix Movie. It's just chopped up to 4 series and added a few new scenes to the begining of each searies. I got both not knowing this was the same as Poly Matrix, just a way to swindle people into buying more. If you have not seen Poly Matrix get this instead, but if you have Poly Matrix, don't waste your money on this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good choice if you have not already seen Poly Matrix
Review: I give this a 3 because it's almost the same as the Poly Matrix Movie. It's just chopped up to 4 series and added a few new scenes to the begining of each searies. I got both not knowing this was the same as Poly Matrix, just a way to swindle people into buying more. If you have not seen Poly Matrix get this instead, but if you have Poly Matrix, don't waste your money on this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE BEST
Review: I would give it 5 more stars if possible as its so GOSH DARN GOOD!!!!

The Series is the best ARMITAGE III, BUY IT,if you even liked movie BUY IT, its worth every cent!!!! And if you hated the movie you still gotta love this one.

Oh and before I leave, the Series came first, then the movie.
The series has a better ending and a much more detailed storyline even if it is only 50 mins longer, what?? thats almost an hour HMMMM I belive it is MUCH better than the movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great! great! and great!
Review: one of the best animes you will ever see!
The action is great, so is the story telling!
The only thing thats bad about this is the voice acting can be a bit off at times!
If you like cyberpunk, blade runner....etc.
this is for you...............


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