"Gold, they called him. Tall, courageous and known by all just men for two things: his lightning sword, and the cherry blossom tattoos that mark him as the most feared warrior in space."
"Samurai Gold is a bold space adventure that recasts a famed swordsman and genuine hero of old Japan - Toyama No Kinsan - in a future of interplanetary intrigue and rocket fast action. In the next century. major cities and space colonies are controlled by a huge computer system called " EDO". Utilising Edo's sophisticated information systems, five Senior Administrators rule the universe in peace. But evil still lurks in dark corners. And so like Kinsan before him. Samurai Gold acts as a quiet, sharp-eyed undercover agent, spotting criminals where no police force can go and bringing them to justice. The badge of his authority, just as was Kinsan's, is the tattoos of the samurai's sacred symbol, the cherry blossoms."
"Gold is a fair man, but his sense of justice explodes into a bomb of intense retribution and stunning action when criminals attack one of the five Senior Administrators - a man who also happens to be Samurai Gold's father..."
Director: Atsutoshi Umezawa Screenplay: Akiyoshi Sakai VHS version: Language: Japanese with English subtitles Label: Western Connection Running time: 60 mins Certificate: PG Catalogue no: WEST 018 Price: £10.99 Release Date: 12th September 1994
A title that I hadn't heard of before. Like Grey this title has an enjoyable if slightly tired plot. While watching it I had the feeling that I had seen it all before. Think of a mixture of Crying Freeman, and any cute anime, forget the sex and violence and you will be thinking along the right lines.
Gold Disus Mount is a samurai warrior who had been disowned by his father, the powerful overseer Reklaad Disus Mount five years ago. Gold's father gets attacked by a mysterious person, and is put in hospital. Gold attempts to discover the truth behind the attack, why it happened and who the attacker was. Gold finds cover-ups, intrigue, conspiracy and a plan to kill all the overseers.
This title does have its comic moments; at one stage Gold dresses up as a woman, so he can tease a gay hired killer. Although Gold may be a samurai warrior, he can behave like a spoilt little boy at times.
I quite liked this title, and I would guess that it would appeal to many anime fans. It has a good mixture of cute girls, sci-fi, and quite a few twists and turns in the plot. I probably wouldn't have bought this if I had seen it on the shelf. But having watched it, I would have bought it.
Western Connection seem to be moving away from the sex and violence "end" of the market, and are going for a more sci-fi market. In my opinion this is going to be a good move. WC have this 'Fan Subtitled' feel about them. There are errors in the text, mis-timings and the tape quality can be a little disappointing. However, if this means that they can bring to the 'proper' anime fans, titles that would not sell enough to be released by the likes of Manga Entertainment I am quite happy. Neither Grey nor Samurai are mainstream titles, and WC are aiming them at the fans. I hope that WC can find a market, they have listened to the fans, and will hopefully continue to release 'fan' titles. [Steve Whitcher]