And I thought this was a 90s anime… goes to show I need to read the release dates more carefully. Megazone 23 is supposedly not done telling it’s cyberpunk mecha storyline just yet. The original from 1985 is a personal favorite of mine and the 1986 sequel is quite good as well, but I thought the story was over? As much a sequel as well as a reboot, Megazone 23 Part III would bring back the legendary red Garland motorcycle and virtual pop star Eve Tokimatsuri one more time to finish the decade of the 1980s with this third installment in the guise of a two part OVA.
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.
Shaken up I was initially with this sequel compared to the original OVA in terms of presentation and even the story. Gone are the familiar character designs of Toshihiro Hirano with that slick fashion magazine look and enter a more punk esthetic mixed with the detail of Yasuomi Umetsu’s handy work. Familiar faces like Shogo, Yui and B.D. have all changed, becoming unrecognizable, but Eve still retains her style with slight updates from the original design by Haruhiko Mikimoto. For a while I played the polarity fence of favoring the first part over this second part. Over time I have come to enjoy both installments, recognizing them as great anime titles on their own, but I will always have a deep place in my heart for Megazone 23 (Part 1). Now on with the show…
Months have passed in Tokyo since we last left Shogo Yahagi’s ‘final’ encounter with B.D. Shogo is on the run and has aligned himself with a bike gang of street punks known as the Trash. The war in space is still on with Megazone 23 going against a strange enemy that uses tentacle like weapons that drill through anything, including human flesh (not for the faint of heart). All the while to the general public it is business as usual, though there is some war that is still talked about on the news; bliss in ignorance. B.D. is still trying to crack the main computer controlling Megazone 23 and the EVE program from that mainframe continues to call out with, “Operator 7G please respond!” Operator 7G of course is Shogo and he continues finding Eve on various media streams calling out to him. The time has come to answer this call, but first… Shogo has to get the Proto Garland back! And this is only the beginning of this story.
Megazone 23 Part II has the familiar mecha action from the first installment, but with a new director Ichiro Itano. Itano was known primarily for his animation kills with action sequences that have lots of firepower and intricate motion. This is on full display during the heat of action. Yet this is so much more than an all out action fest. The moments of character interaction particularly with Shogo and his friends are where we get the real message of Megazone 23 Part II. A message of anti-authority distrust and attitude towards corrupt adults only bent on power and narcissism are of no concern to Shogo and the Trash. Though they may be street punks, they do have a sense of honor and respect for the simple pleasures of life and friendship. So ‘stick it to the man’… literally. … And as a side bonus, we even get another love scene for those of you who like hot romance… very steamy!
I still feel that the original version stands on it’s own as a total package even with an ending that was open ended, yet satisfyingly complete. I feel this second installment gives an alternate future of what could have happened to Shogo, but maybe not the definitive. The beauty of Megazone 23 Part II is the fact that we do get a silver lining at the end. After all the insanity, the violence and the hardship, we get a breathe of fresh air, some peace. Much like life when coming out of hardship, the moment you take a look at what’s in front of you and smile in content you realize it was all worth it. Megazone 23 Part II, in the end you are worth it… no grudges anymore.
The Classic Anime Museum 
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