The 1980s OVA boom gave a fresh new perspective to distributing anime to an audience. Free of broadcast restrictions and an open ground for experimentation this avenue had an appeal to older fans who grew up with anime now had jobs and wanted to absorb media for their more mature standards. This wasn’t true for every OVA and there are many that were pure garbage, but by the late 1980s it was perhaps the best way to satisfy a fix for compelling science fiction that not only had action, stories and characters, but also beautiful line work and production value. 2001 Nights, Crusher Joe, Gunbuster, Gundam 0080, Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Patlabor were part of this elite crop… as well a name that until now had yet been given a fair chance of viewing by my eyes … Hi-Speed Jecy.
… Just a word of note before I begin, Jecy is pronounced like the name Jesse…
Hi-Speed Jecy has been on my radar for quite a while and it’s not because it was some super popular title that I had missed. In fact I am surprised this never got a release here in the west where I live during the VHS era. It wasn’t recommended by anyone either, nor was it easy to come by for a longtime… I never had luck with a fansub either since that looked like the only avenue left to watch this one. I’ll give you a hint now, look at the characters! Look familiar, they do to me? Anime featuring character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto’s work are a must in my book, regardless of what it is. I loved his work since I was a kid (Macross/Robotech), can you blame me? Many of the so called ‘heroic’ designs are some of the most gorgeous and attractive examples of human rendering regardless of gender. Other examples include Orguss, Gunbuster, Gundam 0080 and Salamander… wait a minute, two of those I mentioned earlier as high class examples, seems quality anime share, great character designs 🙂
Spanning a dozen episodes, several acting as two parters, Hi-Speed Jecy follows the exploits of Jecy Moore, a young man who is after revenge toward the tyrannical clan known as Bismarck… they murdered his parents when he was a child in front of his eyes. He is most likened to a super hero in a way though nothing is much out of the ordinary for his powers except the man is very agile, not keen on weapons and can run, or move extremely fast. Oh, kind of like Sonic the Hedgehog speed? Yeah, but perhaps faster! Joining him is his sidekick, perhaps love interest, Tiana and a priest from the group Heartland, Falk Green, who is a crack shot with a gun. After all it is his mission to hunt down supposed malefic folk by shooting them with his nerve gun… sounds like a strange religion to me, yet how often do people kill for their concept of ‘God’? In any case he is a vital ally. … and then there is Paolon, our fourth protagonist who I will let you find out who that is… don’t worry you will find out in the later minutes of episode one 😉
Much like the roll call of OVAs I listed earlier I would put Hi-Speed Jecy into a similar category as Crusher Joe. Both are dramatic (more so Jecy), at times funny (more so Joe), action packed space opera that are fun and exciting. Both also began as novel adaptations. Hi-Speed Jecy and Crusher Joe also feature a quartet of differing heroic characters that play off each other. Jecy as a character study is a particular good one, his past and his major chip on his shoulder towards the clan of Bismarck are well represented in a few back story moments, including one whole episode. That being said a majority of the time we are essentially dropped into the middle of the action from the very beginning and asked to fasten our seatbelts and hold on tight, which to be honest… ain’t that bad an idea. Pass the popcorn!
There is just something about a space oriented sci-fi drama from the 1980s. Perhaps it’s nostalgia, or just the fact that I was spoon fed on it heavily as a kid, that it seems when unfamiliar good, or great, productions come into my view I kind of feel like I am at home. Jumpsuits, awesome hair, a synth-pop opening theme song (Please, Please Me no less, but not the Beatles song ), main characters with human flaws, it’s all beautiful. Though a product of another apparent time and place, Studio Pierrot’s work none the less (They do good work!), if you ask what keeps me going at looking at obscure anime, then Hi-Speed Jecy is just one answer I can give. Though my tastes have changed and expanded as I have matured, I always seems to find something to satisfy both the youth and adult in me, like Hi-Speed Jecy.
Here is a question… can you have too much of a good thing? In terms of Megazone 23 I sometimes say yes. I was satisfied with the original as a complete stand alone story. I accept the second part as a possible alternate ending to conclude the first, but where do we go from here? Into the even farther future after mankind has resettled onto the Earth and yet similar problems have re-emerged, such is the fate of humanity. The more we change, the more we stay the same? Potential is possible here, but much of Megazone 23 Part III feels like borrowed re-hatching from the initial installment of Megazone 23 from a certain point of view. The dynamic of young man on a motorcycle meeting a girl and a stoic rival and unraveling a mystery of the underpinnings of the structure of society are very, very similar. So how much is truly brand new here?
Welcome to the world of Eden, the new civilization for humanity, and meet a new face Eiji Takanaka. Our new protagonist has been hired by EX, a large tech giant, for his computing skills as well as his exception abilities in the arcade galleries. Eiji’s game of choice is the big hit of the moment, an immersive cockpit shooter that makes the SEGA classic Afterburner look like amateur child’s play. The name of this game he dominates with his friends is none other than… Hard On? (yes you can laugh here) Yet there is another name that seems to follow Eiji’s high scores and that name is Sean, a name that seems to be familiar to the girl Eiji just met, Ryo. Eiji’s later meetup with Sean would become a twist of fate where Sean parlays to Eiji to meet Eve in the heart of Eden. And when I mean meet Eve, I mean the real Eve… wait a minute… I thought she was a virtual idol?
Design consistency is something this series needs to learn. Following the trend from the previous two incarnations of Megazone 23 we get yet another character designer to join the group and new directors to run the show. Hiroyuki Kitazume would lend the his hand to character designs and as a fan of his work (Starlight Angel, ZZ Gundam, Char’s Counterattack as examples) I welcome it, but I miss the originals from Toshihiro Hirano. Directors Kenichi Yatagai and more importantly Shinji Aramaki would run the show behind the cameras. Aramaki had been with Megazone 23 since the beginning, as a mechanical designer (a skill he is quite good at), but now he flexed his directorship muscles which for this OVA came out pretty good… just don’t give this guy CGI films, the are really a snore fest (my opinion).
There was a song and album by the band King Crimson known as Three of a Perfect Pair and how fitting it is for this final installment of Megazone 23 as this was the third part and comprised of a pairing of episodes. But is it perfect? Well… It’s a sharp looking OVA, perhaps one of the most polished looking cyberpunk stories I have ever seen. And by being polished I mean very fashionable. Cyberpunk usually gets a little gritty, or has an air of danger, but Megazone 23 Part III is like a mix of Vogue and GQ stylings circa 1989, gamer and hacker culture, a sterile dystopian fantasy aesthetic, that could pass in Hollywood, and mecha fighting in the even farther future. Megazone 23 Part III parlays a whole lot of style and even adds to the progression of the history of the Megazone 23 universe. So in its own way, Megazone 23 Part III is kind of perfect. …except for Hard On, lol.
Imagine Leda: Fantastic Adventure of Yohko mixed with Amon Saga (ever hear of these two? they are worth a watch!) spiced with some scenes of “fan service”, or more precisely… bare breasts. We are adults here ok, or perhaps philosophically wise youths trapped in bodies of various ages, and just because some bits of nudity are shown does not equate porn. After all this was a project created by the same individual who did Plastic Little (oh lord not that one), among other things if you are at all familiar. Legend of Lemnear is at least watchable, with a plot and a supposed point… sort of, but it leaves a little too be desired. … and yes it is more than just a cheap ploy to show the upper halves of naked women.
The visual presentation is quite polished and well drafted, including anatomy… and not just the previously mentioned boobs, but also facial characteristics and muscle tone. Drawing talent was abundant for this 1989 release. Yet the story that holds it all together is bland and generic. A lone traveler comes into town wanting to avenge the killing of her parents and gets caught up in a maelstrom of action and mythology that ends up bringing everything around full circle. Yeah ok, sounds like a decent run of the mill fantasy and magic kind of tale, but I want to see the budget spreadsheets. My theory is that they spent 85% on drawing and 15% on story… what about the acting? Never mind that I am on a role here.
Like many one-offs that are just over a half hour in terms of total length of time don’t expect much here. I hope the next time that Lemnear gets released, which I doubt will happen, it will need to include, “The Following Program Contains Plenty of Cheese”. And let’s face it folks, we all like cheese, admit it or not. Some like Cheddar, some like Gouda, some like Provolone and even some like Cheez Whiz (that’s not even real cheese either!). I too like my share of cheese because I am human after all and yes I don’t love Legend of Lemnear, but I do watch it from time to time… and it’s not for the fan service, which is fairly tame for the most part. Now then, can you pass the Parmesan?
The Classic Anime Museum 
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