Tatakae!! Iczer-1

Up until I watched Iczer 1, I thought the cliche of "tentacle rape" was a fabrication, or the realm solely of Urotsukidoji. It really isn't. Iczer 1 has phallic tendrils in abundance, and its all-female cast getting drenched with a variety of organic fluids, tied up, and threatened with penetration. To be honest this is actually really creepy. The plot is pretty much non-existent, with enemies invading and being fought by first human soldiers and then by the heroes with their mystical robot that involves naked girls covered in electrodes. It's got the bizarre pacing of something like Zeorymer, and a real focus on extreme gore and sexuality. The fights are not exactly dynamic or interesting, with the main robot having a limited range of attacks which often aren't that flashy or exciting. The on-foot stuff tends towards predictable sequences of people (mostly families) exploding messily into tentacled monsters who then shamble around and menace the female cast. What it does have going for it is reasonable art. The style is classic 80s OVA, and handled well. However, the mech designs are nothing new if you've seen Zeorymer, Detonator Orgun or any similar OVAs, and the characters aren't massively interestingly designed either. Shiny black outfits predominate, and 80s hair styles. The soundtrack isn't exceptional (not compared to something awesome like MD Geist's use of Merciless Soldier), either. All told, Iczer 1 is worth watching only if you really like ecchi, bondage and guro interspersed with mecha action. Not one of Obari's finest hours, especially when compared to something hilarious and fun like Gravion or SRW The Inspectors.

(SPOLIERS) This is an interesting Sci-Fi. Not really like a lot of the Mecha Genre I have seen before. While most like this might fight aliens, this wasn't half bad. Now of course it was very cheesy. But that is more of it's age talking. Nice visuals for an 80's Anime. Yes they are very 80's. But it's some of the more nicer ones, as opposed to the sloppy hand drawn, looking Anime out there. Music quality, again speaks for it's age. Heavy Synthesizer use, took away from what could be a good quality score. Dubbing Quality, hard to say. Now I'm trying to be fair on it basing on it's age. If this we're made say 2 years ago, I would find it rather mediocre, or flat out bad. But it's okay. Yeah some rather dry expressions, but nice. Wendee Lee gives a great performance as always. It has a nice tone. Dark sleek, depressing, post-apocalyptic world. You really feel sad when the Aliens Take over Nagisa's Parents. And when Iczer must kill Nagisa. But there is a lot of fan service. Plenty of nudity, and some sexuality. What's up with that? I don't know. But oh well. So overall, cheesy, but in a good way. Flawed, but worthy.

Well what can i say??? good transfer from tape to dvd and this one ppl, this animation for the 80's is quite well done i mean LOOK at the hair and the charachter designs. 25+ years since production and its still considers amongs older animefans as a silver ore under ova's, and many prob don't really accept this kind of stuff today ONLY because 'its old and timeconsuming'.... SCREW THAT! 3 ova's with and very dark and twisted story, the kind u don't see much of it today. Dont take this anime lightly because female's are the centre of this story, its violent aheel with big mechafights, lightsaber duels and supernatural brawling, but sometime's a bit cheesy and shortened. Also the backgrouind art could look a bit better as well the minor aliens , look past that for the brutal unforgiving dark story. and DON'T watch the english dub. it give's mostly a depressing feeling as ppl in the story suffer some wrenching losses! and hell it starts strong, ends strong! i enjoyed it much more than the seq.

One of the most difficult things involving Anime is what to show someone who hasn't seen one before. Many suggestions come to mind, but most of those are probably dozens upon dozens of episodes long and most people don't have that kind of time and the shows themselves are usually genre specific. So, what can you show someone that more or less covers all the bases of Anime but is short enough to watch in one sitting? I submit "Fight!! Iczer-1" Based off the manga "Golden Warrior Iczer-One" and brought to us by the studio AIC, known perhaps best for "Tenchi Muyou", this 3 act OVA has so many staples and tropes of Japanese Anime both of it's own 1980s origins and even the modern pieces of today, that it serves as a wonderful orientation for what to expect from the most popular animation in the world today. Even for those initiated already it's an enjoyable little title with some unique twists and turns and a retro charm. The plot can be best boiled down to this: an alien being known as Iczer One has come to Earth and chosen a human girl named Nagisa to be her partner to fight an evil force known as Big Gold and the alien forces soon to arrive to take over the planet. It seems Nagisa is the key to powering Iczer One's counterpart Iczer Robo, a giant robot, with enough energy to successfully vanquish the foes they face. This leads to some wonderful action sequences involving mechs, monsters, hand-to-hand combat, laser sword combat, and some very unsuccessful assists from the Japanese military as they attempt to fight the invaders. If you've seen any Godzilla movie, you know how well that turns out. The whole experience feels like a dozen episodes boiled down into 3. Meaning there is very little time for character development but it also doesn't dilly dally. Things move quickly and pretty well considering how many questions one probably has with so much going on. I'm not someone who needs to know why everything is happening and everyone's motivations, so I was more than keen to enjoy the show. Beyond featuring things similar to mechs, magical girls, and ecchi fan service, there are some genuinely creepy moments with monsters and lots of gore making it a mature experience and certainly not something for the kids and definitely NSFW. Even though it's from the mid-1980s, the art itself isn't too bad. It's definitely got that VHS feel to it, but it holds up well and features a very brass-heavy soundtrack of uplifting heroic fight music that is indicative of the genre and the time. I was somewhat reminded of "Doctor Who" at times with the situation of an alien showing up to Earth and a poor innocent girl being snatched up into the chaos and adventure that is saving the world, but I think even The Doctor is more gentle than Iczer One in some cases. You definitely feel for Nagisa at times, though I can't help but think they did a better job giving depth to the bad guys than the heroes. The first two featured, Cobalt amd Sepia, are lovers and when the first one falls, the other is quite devastated and you feel sympathy for her. Something Anime is often good at, giving us villains with understandable motivations. While "Fight!! Iczer-1" is a good bit of fun, it doesn't deliver anything ground breaking for the time or even since then. Having only seen the English dub, the voice acting leaves A LOT to be desired. Weak performances all around. Very Fox Kids quality. And just as your starting to enjoy yourself, the whole thing ends. Yet with an odd feeling of having had enough. That more would have been too much. I was happy that it ended sooner rather than later. This could have been a wonderful backdoor pilot for a longer series, but it works well as what it is. A modestly entertaining R-rated Anime. Quintessentially 80s with lots of gore, nudity, and mindless action but with enough care to the characters that it salvages itself from being mindless. I recommend this to anyone interested in starting Japanese Anime but also for anyone just in the mood for an old-school bit of fun. A solid 6/10. Check it out. Cheers!

Rate of 5 (average) Seen via english dubbed Story: had a confusing intro. A girl fighting a monster solo perceived to be of aid for town. Then you jump into a spaceship/crew and a woman speaks with a man's voice. A lot of the show has to unfold before you begin to put two and two together. As for the ending how? So many questions left unanswered. If more of a backstory was applied maybe there would be more joy. Sound: Aside from gender voice i referred on i was happy with the vocal artists assigned. Character: exact origin/purpose unknown but well illustrated in artwork. To better grasp where they are coming from try watching the movie Groundhog day first.

Is Iczer One revolutionary? Is it a highly influential classic? Is it perfectly paced, with a tight story? Is it a highly original story? The answer to all of these is probably no. However—Iczer One is fun. It's pure 80s schlock, with fluid animation impressive for the time and makes for a decent enough sci fi movie. It is a kitchen sink of tropes where at times you barely remember its supposed to kind of be a mecha anime. The primary draws of Iczer One are its overt yuri/lesbian content and its strangely lovecraftian creatures which contrast with what otherwise looks like a standard high school sci fi romp. The wction is brutal and hopeless - i dont think the sky is ever not dark past like the 20 minute mark. I cant recommend to everyone, but Iczer One is enjoyable enough to be a forgotten classic worth remembering.

"Fight! Iczer-1" is a largely unmemorable mecha OVA with gory body horror, hand-to-hand light saber battles, androids, and elements of tentacle porn. Largely unmemorable except for its largely female cast. Who are also largely unmemorable. Oh and the hilariously bad English dubbing, which may actually be worth the watch for fans of movies with bad dubs and above-average-for-the-time animation and soundtracks. Watching the dub, it's clear the voice actors were just as confused by and unconvinced of the film as the people who ultimately watch the film. It's not quite as hilariously bad as the "Urotsukidoji" English dub, but it's also (thankfully) less overtly sexual or disturbing. Still, as a viewer, the most believable and relatable part of the film is Nagisa's frequent outbursts of "What?" and "Why?" and "No!"

Tatakae!! Iczer-1 shares many similarities with OVAs from this period of time, boasting amazing art and animation, albeit with a somewhat average storyline. The character designs are visually appealing, while the monster designs skillfully incorporate elements of horror. The animation is both expressive and well-executed. The narrative is somewhat shallow but sufficient at propelling the plot forward. The series as a whole is somewhat disjointed, although the last two episodes show improvement and better cohesion. While the conclusion falls short of its potential impact, it remains satisfactory. The series truly shines in its expertly animated body horror, elevating the overall experience. Tatakae!! Iczer-1 is a delightful OVA series that will surely captivate fans of '80s action.

I wrote a review on my blog, compressing it a bit (and a few changes) for MAL. I like to call this the "BROKEN BAE SHOW". IMPACT/STORY: Pronounced “ik-zah”, this short OVA was produced in a dark era called the Gore genre. These anime popularized splitting faces, saliva-dripping maws, disfigured loved ones, popped out eyeballs, and everything being ripped or melted. Tatakae Iczer-1 is a total shock, and Nagisa gets to suffer with the watchers as her hometown is secretly invaded by Cthulhu. Since it’s sci-fi, the aliens can propagate in the body and take control. There is some traditional sci-fi action as well with both small and large robots. SOUND/ANIMATION: This is Hirano Toshiki’s (平野 俊貴) debut leading work; he did Dangaioh, Zeoraimer and Iczer-1 adjacent to each other. He and composer Watanabe Chuumei work closely, and Iczer-1 (and even Hirano's other works) are given this nice heroic tokusatsu touch that fits with the action. The design for Iczer-1 is flamboyant and there is a lot of tone overall, representing the dark quality. The VA cast are good as well, even though they are slightly vague these days. You may recognize C.V Yamamoto Yuriko as your favorite nice sister who can fight for you (Saint Seiya’s Eagle Marian, Dancouga’s Sara). One of my favorite C.Vs is Toda Keiko, providing the voice of the cold-hearted Iczer-2. Nagisa herself is Sho Mayumi, who had lead in the above-mentioned Hirano works, has proven a performance in gentleness (Nagisa), dignity/strength (Yuretei) and a bit of both (Alice). Oh yeah! Shiozawa Kaneto. Just Shiozawa Kaneto~ CHARACTER: Remember when I mentioned Watanabe? Outside of the soundtrack, there is an influence of classic tokusatsu and Kikaider in this series as Izcer is an android with a laser beam and sword (ie: Kikaider, Gavan). She values the mission, likes Nagisa and wants to protect Earth. Nagisa is a gentle girl pushed into despair and Iczer focuses on the mission; Iczer-2 adds on to the pain given by this OVA's gut-wrenching quality but because of that, she is an excellent enemy that you wish to see defeated. I don't have an opinion on Big Gold. It is (?) basically the thing that drives the main antagonist by the reigns and gives orders. CONCLUSION ("Do you like zetsubou anime?"): It’s difficult to place in my heart. It’s done well, it has a shock factor (a good point and bad point), but it feels indeed conceptual. A “sit on the couch” (and hold on to dear life) show, and it promotes the original work. It feels like an OVA. When animation was mostly cels, OVA releases were popular, especially for an original work or following the popularity of a comic or tv series. Thus, production cost aid and promotion, going right into the 90s. In many classic OVAs, however, the endings are left vague or just plain rushed. I don’t think the origins of Cthulhu and Violet are completely clear either, and I was a bit disappointed by the ending itself.

Fight! Iczer-One is a gorgeous, grotesque little mess. The character designs are fantastic: cute, colourful and unmistakably 80s, which makes the body horror hit even harder when everything starts splitting open, mutating and spraying blood everywhere. The gore is easily the standout, and when the animation really kicks into gear there are some genuinely brilliant looking sequences. Unfortunately, the story is somehow both incredibly simple and needlessly confusing. The pacing is all over the place, events barely seem to connect to one another, and huge developments are thrown at you before immediately moving on to the next thing. Nagisa and Iczer-1 look great, but neither has enough personality for their relationship to carry the emotional weight the story wants it to. The relentless music doesn’t help either, regularly barging into scenes with completely the wrong tone. And then there’s the bizarre ending... Great character art, excellent gore and some lovely animation buried inside a story that never gives anything enough room to breathe.

A three OVA series, Tatakae!! Iczer-1 it's an experimental piece of animation that came out from Japan between 1985 and 1987. Its a blend of sci-fi, horror, mecha and unapologetic erotism. A mixture that defined the 80s and early 90s OVA scene in Japan. Hirano Toshiki, the director, worked on major productions in different roles such as animation director for Macross: Do You Remember Love? and Urusei Yatsura 1981 series, but also as a storyboard and character design for Megazone 23. He went on to direct other OVAs like Kyuuketsuhime Miyu, Project Zeorymer and a couple of modern ONAs, a non-negligible portfolio even though not the first of the class. The direction in Iczer-1 it's pretty good even though the action scenes might not be considered that memorable. The animation, on the other hand, it's not consistent but quite satisfactory to watch when it's well exectued, with creepy creatures and erotica-themes tailored for an adult audience. Background music it's okay, even though not outstanding in any department while the ending it's what you would expect from that era: guitar riffs and catchy heroic tunes. A solid anime to watch if you're a fan of the 80s productions: mecha and a sexy heroine, what's not to love there? Story: 1/2 Direction: 1/2 Animation: 1/2 Characters: 1/2 Music: 1/2 Bonus points: 1/2 Final score: 6/10