Gundress

Brethren... Today, we gather to eulogize an animation team that left us exactly 20 years ago. Studio Junio was barely known, yet was witness to a pioneering era. Under the guidance of Takao Kosai and Tetsuo Imazawa, who had recently left the defunct Hatena Productions in 1969, they contributed to the success of "Akado Suzunozuke" and "Hajime Ningen Gyators" as a debut. While they held their little fort for 30 years, Mushi Productions thrived thanks to Osamu Tezuka's business acumen. They saw the birth of Madhouse in 1972, initiated by Osamu Dezaki and many others. Additionally, their punctual partners, Daikichiro Kusube's A Production and Yutaka Fujioka's Tokyo Movie, spectacularly rose out of nothing, conquering the young television market right under Toei's nose. They were hardly the best animation producer around, but connoisseurs will remember them as the quietly devoted company that helped Toshiyuki Inoue become one of the greatest key animators of all time. They completed one subcontracting work after another with tedious application, looking to achieve mastery at their craft. So, what happened with GUNDRESS? What suddenly annihilated their hard-earned financial stability? Simply put, they took on more than they could handle. Sticking to the plan for what should have become the spiritual successor to "Bubblegum Crisis" is a whole different deal than what they were used to. It was their first time fully involved with the movie format, and they did terribly. On the day of release, only half of the animation was complete, leaving Toei's distribution branch particularly embarrassed in front of their pre-order ticket holders. Before spring of 1999, moviegoers were promised a new masterpiece by Masamune Shirow, but instead, they got a half shell of a ghost. As of now, theater seats are priced at an average of 1,500 yen, which is relatively high, so you can imagine the indignation this blunder caused. From the visual detailing of the Landmates (the mecha facsimile of the Knight Sabers from Bubblegum Crisis) to the barely elaborated-on art direction, nothing was completed. Yet, alas, this was a secondary complaint next to the animation's shape and size ratios often changing from one shot to another! Not to mention the lack of in-betweening in many scenes. Truly, GUNDRESS had the production values of an unfinished second-rate OAV. But it wasn't entirely Junio's fault. Even if they had upheld their part of the deal, this frivolous project still wouldn't have taken off. From the outset, it had the soul of a video game adaptation with an all-female cast as transparent as the Girl Detective Club's. Come to think of it, that's not surprising, given that the main backer of GUNDRESS was Masaya Nakamura's Namco, a company that owned Nikkatsu at the time. Bubblegum Crisis was successful because it came at the right time. Audiences were wowed by something they had never seen before. Unfortunately, it was a decade too late after AIC and Artmic, who had already squeezed the juice out of the sci-fi mercenary girls formula. As expected, the updated version of GUNDRESS was met with indifference following the scandal. Given the fiasco that it is, this movie is difficult to watch when considered in its historical context. Today, very little can be gleaned from it. Masamune Shirow's influence was limited to character design, so his brilliance only shone through in rare instances. The plot was nothing special, just a predictable political thriller that didn't live up to its cutting-edge science fiction setting. All in all, beyond the initial bravado of the pre-release marketing campaign, this endive was begging to be forgotten. Too bad the internet never forgets. Despite this faux pas causing their downfall, as well as the disappointing duds they delivered, such as the "Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.," no one acquainted with Junio hated them indefinitely. Even the shlocky part of their animegraphy is somewhat entertaining to rewatch as a whole. It would be nice to say that they are missed as much as the late Triangle staff, but that wouldn't be true sadly. They stay remembered as the little-known veteran corporal among a battalion of animation producers. Let us all salute this fallen contributor by quoting the dialogue from one of their anime, Ninja Ryuukenden: "Of course you are excited by battle! We all love violence! We all love getting drunk! We all love sleeping with women! Some of us even enjoy sleeping with men! The point is, we are MANLY men, and that is nothing to be ashamed of! Now, let's go kill some fucking demons and celebrate with some fucking beer!" Yes, Studio Junio! We do still raise a pint in your honor, good companion, even though you bite the dust that fateful day... ..| Colophon |.. The purpose of the Colophon is to provide practical information to the audience about objectionable content. .. Violence: There's nothing too objectionable here either. People die in large numbers, but not exactly in shockingly gore detail. The most unsettling death involves euthanasia, which is probably the most emotionally disturbing moment of the movie. .. Graphic Nature: There are two nude scenes for those who enjoy ecchi fanservice or want to avoid it. Still, they are not too racy; one involves the main protagonist being as she is, a cyborg with no concern for prying eyes. In the other, the main antagonist, Jean-Luc, and the arm trafficker, Hassan, are seen naked.

Rate a 6 English Dubbed Story Life is not as black and white as one depicts it to be. Criminals are not criminals and good guys are not good guys. Rather it is more of a wavering pool of data. No clear indication what will wind up on shore. Like any water source there is always the chance of pollution. Something to consider when taking in this anime. In terms of an introduction i was not a fan nor was i a hater. Visually it was action based but plot not so much. A believe to the shoot first ask later concept. Personally, all love of action aside i want to know off the bad who is good and who is bad or moreover whom they represent. As for conclusion it is harm hearted. An anime that will thrown a kick or two extra. Art Good drawing all around in general. They did couple things that were not appeasing. Such as rather than having a blue print idea of the enemy base they decided to go with a slow pulse flash picture. It was different but created the wrong idea. The problem with this is not only does it make it look like the show is dying (it would be more clear if you were familiar with old school film) but the show didn't jump straight to it. However, somethings were drawn quite well in a symbolic stand point of view. In one scene a girl does a farewell act to a somewhat impacting segment to her life growing up. As can be seen later on looking at her eye. That segment that she had is now gone as shown by partial blackness of her eye. Which makes sense if you are a believe to eyes are doors of the soul. Sound-no issue Character Each character worth mentioning had a good back story.One thing i did like what some of the word choice or comical character aspect. At one moment a somewhat powerful enemy is in view. An individual orders, "stop, you are surrounded." A very intimidating remark if it wasn't just the chief was. That is right the chief made that call when he was by his lonesome self. Enjoyment As you can see this anime has its pros and cons but nothing breathtakingly bad or cool. three things of note:police officers word choice you are surrounded when it is just the chief. Unneeded visual flashes of the base and the darkness of the girl's eye.

If Shirow Masamune did Bubblegum Crisis it would be this. Not too often we see original Shirow anime, it's usually an adaptation from his mangas. This may not be the best in his catalog but it is certainly more his early style. Humor, check. Mechas, check. Well drawn females, CHEEEE-YECK. Who knows, he may have had a stronger story in a bigger project, but this was simply a one shot that was never revisited. But for the era it was a good one. Has some personal impact with me you could say. Over a decade ago while at my first convention (Ikkicon, Austin), I added a good chunk to my collection of both manga and anime. This happened to be a disc I decided to open up and pop into my laptop one night in my motel room. I was already a fan of Shirow, mostly thanks to Standalone Complex and Appleseed. His adapted work is amazing, but often reflects the director's vision more than the author's. That's normal I guess. Won't win any awards from Crunchyroll, I doubt we'll see a Blu-ray release, unless it's a collection or something. But enjoyable. A guilty pleasure you can watch out in mom and dad's living room.

This movie taught me the value of how a truly good story, outshines the rest. Gundress was basically a production disaster during its conception phase, To the point that the movie looks really really really rough. Almost like an unfinished movie but the story is what kept me watching. I honestly thought I was gonna hate this when I started it randomly but I was left content and satisfied by the end of the movie. Definitely watch with an open mind regarding animation errors, It has superb voice acting and even good choreography in action scenes. One of the better Old movies I've watched.

Gundress is an average mecha anime with boring characters, dated animation, a lackluster plot, and poor pacing. The best part of the movie is the mecha designs. While they are not particularly unique they are well conceived. It is unfortunate that there is little focus on the mecha elements. The characters are shallow and rather stereotypical, most being forgettable. There are some scenes where the animation looks pretty good but overall it is mostly dated. The plot is uninspiring and while not awful does not lift up the anime in any way. Finally the pacing for the first half is extremely slow and boring, whereas the second half seems rushed. There is not much to say about Gundress, it's ok but there are much better things to watch.

I'd like to say that I enjoyed watching this more. It follows the 80's rule of cool almost to a fault, and on paper the description sounds like it'd be really awesome, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. While the animation is extremely aesthetic if you're a fan of that older style, I personally didn't get much out of it. The story was some pretty forgettable generic sci-fi. Ladies in robot suits had to go to a place and do a thing, that was probably the elevator pitch. I dunno maybe I'm being too hard on it. It wasn't bad or anything it just didn't grab much of my attention and was quickly forgotten shortly after it ended. 7/10