Director: Hiroyuki Kitazume/Shinji Aramaki/Hideaki Ooba Screenplay: Shinji Aramaki/Emu Arii/Hiroyuki Kitazume Character design: Hiroyuki Kitazume Copyright: AIC and Toshiba EMI First release: Language Format: Japanese Language, English Subtitles Running time: 51/45/46 mins Certificate: 15/PG/15 Label: Anime Projects Catalogue no: AP094-006/AP094-007/AP094-008 Price: £12.99 each Release Date: ?/31st Oct/28th Nov 1994 Second release: Language Format: English Language Running time: 142 mins Certificate: 15 Label: MVM Catalogue no: MV 1005 Price: £14.99 Release Date: 2nd August 1999
This attractively designed animated video is set in a future where the remnants of humanity are both sheltered and threatened by the war-robots created by their ancestors and which have near-magical powers.
In the first of three action-adventures, Ital, a young man raised by an ageing War-roid, meets Sahari, delicious red-haired leader of a band of junk-hunters, and Zaxon, an amnesiac War-roid with a fabled past, in combat against an old evil.
The action is well-paced but I found the mixture of SF and swords-and-sorcery wasn't very believable. On the other hand the Japanese animation work and character designs look good and the music is lively. Should appeal to younger viewers, and animation buffs too. [Geoff Cowie]