Genocyber

Released in 1993, Genocyber is a heavily reworked adaption of a short lived and abruptly cancelled manga of the same name. Although the series itself as a whole is a fairly unwieldy, inconsistent mishmash of episodes, the arcs split into their own selves result in some shades of genuine genius clashing with unfortunate mediocrity. The first (and most well known) episode consists of two sisters, one that has artificial limbs and the other incapable of speech. Although there are elements of Akira and other grim dystopian works of fiction, this particular episode succeeds in creating a gritty, nightmarish vibe with easily the nastiest and most violentusage of on-screen splatter in an anime, something many have yet to trump. It also has a nihilistic yet well made soundtrack that echoes Brad Fiedel's soundtrack work in James Cameron's 1984 smash hit The Terminator at times and quite possibly the single greatest end theme ever seen in an anime. There's also an interesting use of live action and still paintings that while i'm not a big fan of, gives the episode a unique atmosphere. The English dub, which adds an absurd but acceptable amount of profanity, actually helps add to it unlike the dull original Japanese audio. Unfortunately, this episode is marred by underdeveloped characters, quickly picked up and dropped plot lines and a somewhat overtly compressed story. However, the rest of it is so strong enough, it helps raise this very episode to a pretty good 8/10. The second and third episodes, while a little bit of a regression from the claustrophobic urban decay of the first one, has it's own fair shares of strong points, mainly in a sympathetic lead heroine, the nurse that treats her like a daughter, decent antagonists and one of the most out of control, goriest opening sequences that kicks off Episode 2 (Episode 3 doesn't have such an opening though). Like episode 1, the English dub is an improvement to the original Japanese audio, However, the decision to turn the eponymous character into a superhero figure is a bit silly, the rest of the characters aren't nearly as interesting as those in the first episode, the naval setting less interesting than the urban nightmare presented in the first episode and overall feels like a somewhat hamfisted, cashed in attempt to turn what seems to be intended to be a sole OVA into a series of sorts. Despite those negative aspects, the music remains good, with a new, fairly good end theme and the overt violence is still as much of a highlight as it was before. Had these only been the episodes in this so-called series, I, overall, would've given it a 7/10, but unfortunately, the final two episodes are where the series takes a massive, tragic nosedive into mediocrity. Set decades after the last three episodes, the final two episodes attempt to return to the sights and sounds of urban decay, this time with a post-apocalyptic flavoring. These final two episodes follow a young couple that arrive in a so-called paradise in a hellhole of a world that is actually bathed in corruption, poverty and religious fanatics that, oddly enough, worship the eponymous character in a Christ-like parable. On paper, these last two episodes sound okay but the execution is incredibly awful, with the animation largely inferior to the previous three episodes, a very cashed in feel that makes these two episodes a bit unnecessary, a sense of tiredness to the pacing, largely uninteresting and at times unlikable characters, a severe lack of the series' famed on screen gore and a general unsatisfying sense of finality that really sinks the series hard with these last two turkeys included. Even worse is the English dub, which is just flat out terrible. Before the English audio helped the mood, but here it simply makes things borderline unwatchable, so watching it subbed in this case is actually mandatory, though watching these last two episodes to begin with shouldn't be required but rather avoided. These two episodes, forming a flat out terrible conclusion to a once promising series brings the rating down, for me at least, to a 6 out of 10 (mainly because of how strong the first episode is), with these episodes isolated a 3 out of 10. Despite the last two episodes, I do recommend watching the disturbing but memorable debut episode and if you liked that, watch the second and third ones just in case you need more Genocyber, but whatever you do, stay away from the last two episodes. In fact, read the sadly unfinished manga, then hunt down the excellent soundtrack albums instead.

It's a shame that Genocyber is seen as a single series of OVAs when there are three separate stories told over the five of them (1, 2-3, 4-5). If I were only reviewing the first OVA, i would give it a score of 9/10, because I think it's incredible. I saw it when I was 10 or 11 years old the first time and it marked me for life, and seeing it again recently some thirteen years later I can appreciate its awesomeness. Not only is the animation superb and the transformations of characters gruesome and original, its occasional use of CG and live-action footageof a brain getting crushed inside a skull was ahead of its time. I love the music, I love the characters, the premise is great... The only thing I've seen that might surpass it in over-the-top devastation of a city and its denizens is Akira, but here it's all being done by the main character, with whom you sympathize until she destroys everything indiscriminately. Watch it. Really. It's incredible. The second story arc is entertaining, but really nothing special. The best part of it is the shot of a little girl flying out of an exploding airplane, which is a flashback to an event in the first one anyway. It has its own moments, but I'd give it maybe a 7/10. The third story arc gets a 4/10. I liked the protagonists, and the underground ruins of the world look cool, but the story's pretty weak and it looks like it was made before the first one as far as quality of colors and animation is concerned. It's sad to say, but only the first OVA has passed the test of time. And there you have it. I would have loved to have been able to continue to call Genocyber one of my favorite animes and give it a 9/10, but my curiosity got the better of me and made we watch the other four OVAs. And, with my ratings for all of them averaged, we get 6.2, which I'll round down. I hope somebody reads this and watches the first OVA. I really do. It's excellent. But you might want to spare yourself the rest.

On the first day of Christmas, I reviewed a shitty show... Since Christmas is fast approaching I thought I would spread some festive cheer around MAL and what better way to do this than to make 12 consecutive reviews on terrible shows from past years and decades! So gather around kiddies; Papa LIQ is gonna tell you a tale of a little show called Genocyber! Genocyber was a short five episode OVA from the early 90s and is often considered to be one of the goriest anime ever made! Way before Elfen Lied or Akame ga kill made death and bloodshed popular for mainstream anime narratives, Genocybermakes both of these shows look like pussies with no shortage of people being ripped apart, blown-up or cut into tiny pieces. While this does sound great for anybody who loves bloodshed in anime, the script is far from perfect and is the most nonsensical thing I have ever watched. For starters, the plot is incredibly indecisive and it's hard to understand what the writer is attempting to do in regards to characters and narrative. The show is about a young girl who has physic powers and has the ability to transform into a machine-like creature which seems to be clearly going for a Guyver design but it fails horribly. She escapes from big bad scientists (totally not generic at all) and these guys want her back. She makes friends with a homeless boy before crap happens and the show turns into a huge bloodbath. This may sound like a really lukewarm plot summary, but the plot is so inconsistent and random that it becomes difficult to summarise. The writer attempts to write a heartfelt relationship between the homeless boy and the psychic girl but it comes across as forced as the puns in the latest Ghostbusters film. After China gets reckt, we get a time skip in which the story threads don't even connect what so ever and the psychic girl finds herself on a battlecruiser. This second story arc is even more stupid than the last and the plot is even more contrived. Here, the writer seems to have given up attempting to develop themes or characters and simply went for the easiest route; a bloodbath. Hell, the first shot of this arc features military helicopters shooting and ripping apart children with their bullets. I don't want to see that, man! You can argue it's my fault for being a pussy but the last thing I want to see are images of children's eye sockets being shot out of their head. The second arc can be entertaining at best for it's over the top gore, but it's not like it's even the best example of gore in anime. For starters, the art and animation aren't nearly good enough to convey all of the blood and mayhem which is taking place and most of the shots are just stills of people running away from monsters and the such. The entire sub-plot surrounding one of the newly introduced characters felt even more forced than the relationship with the homeless boy. The writer, again, attempts to build a relationship with the main character and a woman on the battlecruiser, as the main protagonist bears a striking resemblance of the woman's daughter who had died in the previous arc (this is literally the ONLY plot continuity from the last arc). This idea could of gone somewhere but is massively underdeveloped and the ending for the arc makes no sense. The girl transforms, flies into the monster, it explodes and both her, and the sub-character I mentioned before are perfectly fine. The third and final arc is where I gave up entirely. Not only is it the most boring of the three arcs with hardly any schlock action, it comes across as pretentious as it shoves these strange themes of religion and government down our throats. Again, the continuity from the second arc to the third arc makes no coherent sense and the physic girl doesn't even play a part in this arc until the final episode. Instead, the main characters for this arc are a blind woman and her boyfriend who are living in a corrupt government and escape into an underground religious cult for safety. These ideas could have been interesting if the narrative developed more in regards to the conflict between religion and the government systems and the such but the writer clearly didn't care. The art for this arc falls even further than what the standard was for this miserable excuse of an animation and the ending it so insane that it's hard to wrap your head around. Clearly, the writer had to fill up a certain amount of screen time but he had no idea what to do so he threw everything into a blender and out popped this deformed piece of crap. And it's not like the OVA is entirely without any good ideas, it's just that the execution of these ideas is done so terribly it makes me want to hook my nipples up to a car battery. The animation, dear lord, was a mess. The first episode was okay; nothing special but the rest feels so badly done and awful. OVAs typically look better from an aesthetic standpoint than most TV anime since the budget is not as big of a problem, but what the hell happened here? The voice acting for this show is also terrible, especially the English dub for this show. It's not like it's one of those things you can laugh at and pop a couple of beers with your friends since that would lose all fun within a few minutes since everything is so droning on the ear. The music... was surprisingly good in my eyes. While most of it is forgettable 'meh' two tracks stick out: Genocide and Confrontation. Both are generally great tracks that get me pumped up to watch the show. It's jarring and sticks out like a sore thumb as everything else is so awful. It's a shame too; both are wasted on such a terrible show. Even as a gore fest I find it hard to recommend this show. It may have a lot; more so than most but the novelty wears off by the second episode and when you do actually get to the gore, it's so short it's almost not even worth the wait. Terrible script, awful characters and everything else makes for a terrible example of an atrocious OVA series. Well, join me tomorrow as we go through another terrible show in the rundown to Christmas! On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: One Gorey, edgy piece of shit!