Parasite Dolls

This is one of my favorite anime of all time. It takes place in Bubblegum Crisis universe, but you don't really need to watch that anime to pick this one up. It is some old school, hand drawn, gritty cyber-punk. It is very adult themed, with ideas about human sexuality in the age of androids being interwoven into the story. The soundtrack is really, really good. It is some underground type EDM stuff that goes really well with the dark drawing and atmosphere of the whole show. Old school cyber punk style anime is kind of my thing, and this is one of the bestout there.

Parasite Dolls is set in the universe of the anime series Bubblegum Crisis(BGC), which is a futuristic world that involves battles between man and machine. The OVA also happens to join the ranks of the previous spin offs of the series: A.D. Police: Serve and Protect, and A.D. Police: Files 1-3. I'll start by pointing out as mediocre as it is, this is definitely the best of the BGC spin offs, because to me both incarnations of the A.D. Police were very close to utter trash and this is coming from a fan of the franchise. Parasite Dolls has quite a bit going for it,but it does have a few issues keeping it from being a must see title. Parasite Dolls has its moments in the visuals department. The very beginning suffers from lackluster animation, character designs, and backgrounds. It definitely starts out with the look of a low budget OVA. Eventually, the series picks up with the visuals in the later episodes. The artwork becomes a little more pleasing to look at with pretty backgrounds and the well use of lighting and camera angles. The action scenes are limited because the anime attempts to push the story through its characters. However, the action scenes really aren't impressive in the least bit. They completely lack imagination which happens to be the trend with all of these spin offs. The animation doesn't suffer from stills, or an over abundance of reused cells; but there was one moment where it was definitely inconsistent. One of the side characters named Angel, whom had the appearance of an African American female with white hair, all of the sudden was Caucasian with white hair. This type of inconsistency is just in your face and is very hard not to notice. The soundtrack is alright at best and it delivers a cyber punk feel. The opening song called "Get on the Beat" is a techno track with an electronic beat. The background music which is almost of the same type has a nice sound as well. I especially enjoyed it in a scene where it was dimmed down to the point where only the bass can be heard. I really didn't have a problem with the English cast or the Seiyuu. They were both fine to me and seemed to fit well with the character types. The series is definitely meant for those whom are familiar with the BGC mythos, because the organizations such as A.D. Police and Genome have already been covered in detail. There is a certain story point covered here such as the purpose of Boomers. Therefore, someone whom is unfamiliar with the franchise will still know what's going on, but there will be questions that aren't fully answered or answered at all. The series is broken into three separate stories. I definitely give the series credit on the stories despite how derivative the series may be overall. It does ask the same age old question: Who is the real monster, man or machine? There happens to be dual plots taking place with one concerning the Boomers developing emotions, along with the sick perverted minds of man. The writing is pretty strong developing both through some disturbing content. However, I felt the actual ending didn't exactly wrap everything up on a strong note. Character development is very shaky from where I see it. The main characters Buzz and one of his subordinates a female named Reiko Michaelson are given a bit of depth; but there were situations injected that really didn't go anywhere, and it came off as meaningless filler. The interactions between these two could have been jettisoned altogether and focused on an additional character whose actions played a part into the ending. This would have given the series a more satisfying conclusion. In all honesty, most of the boomers were developed better. One more thing that bothered me is the exact same thing that bothered me with the other spin offs. Other than dealing with androids or cyborgs. The series doesn't have a real futuristic feel. The original BGC trumps this as well in regards to the futuristic atmosphere. The weapons, landscapes, vehicles, technology all seems too modern. This is some of the reason why Ghost in the Shell and even Armitage have little competition in the sci-fi and cyberpunk department; and if anime studios continue churning out stuff like this. They may never be toppled. All things considered, Parasite Dolls is slightly average at best and that's pushing it. The series does contain soft sex scenes, nudity, and disturbing images, however the meaningless comedy that ruins a series image is completely non existent which is a good thing. I mainly recommend this to fans of BGC and die hard cyber punks. If you enjoyed either one of the A.D. Police spin offs. Then give this a shot. Highs: Dark setting, mature themes Lows: Action is not impressive nor very imaginable, not for everyone

The final nail in the coffin and the final adaptation of the Bubblegum Crisis franchise, ending under a different name - Parasite Dolls. OVA in the style of the 90s, interesting characters and a good plot, the drawing has become better. Police against cyborgs. A thriller in the style of Blade Runner and Koukaku Kidoutai, their twin brother in no worse performance. In general, it was the right decision to release an OVA (film), and not a drawn-out series, it looks good, even though we have seen it many times already, but in the new cover it turned out nicer or something. Unfortunately, the same cannotbe said about the franchise as a whole. It all started quite cheerfully about stylish four policewomen killing cyborgs, and ended with a police cyberpunk thriller on the death throes of the genre. Unlike A.D. Police and Tokyo 2040 I recommend watching this film, it is a kind of culmination of everything that came before it in a dark atmospheric wrapper with a philosophical understanding of AI and an open ending.