Megazone 23

Shougo Yahagi is a young motorcycle enthusiast living in a world of hot bikes, hard rock, and J-pop idols. The general populace go about their lives in peace, under the watchful eyes of a computer program in the guise of pop idol sensation Eve, unbeknownst to them. Shougo himself is mostly concerned with riding his motorcycle and picking up beautiful women like Yui Takanaka, who aspires to be a dancer.

Shougo's life suddenly changes when his friend, Shinji Nakagawa, shows him a top-secret project: the "Garland," an advanced motorcycle that can transform into a robot. Ambushed by the military, Shougo hijacks the Garland and escapes into the city. Evading the military with the help of Yui and her friends, he gradually discovers that their idyllic society is only an illusion.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yahagi, Shougo Main

Kubota, Masato Japanese

B.D. Main

Shiozawa, Kaneto Japanese

Takanaka, Yui Main

Kawamura, Maria Japanese

Takanaka, Eiji Main

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Narahara, Ryo Main

Kasahara, Hiroko Japanese

Yumekanou, Mai Main

Shou, Mayumi Japanese

Tokimatsuri, Eve Supporting

Miyasato, Kumi Japanese

Murashita, Tomomi Supporting

Tominaga, Miina Japanese

Dump Supporting

Sakamoto, Chika Japanese

Dominique Supporting

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Uchiyama, Shuuji Producer

Ishiguro, Noboru Director

Itano, Ichirou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Animation Director

Aramaki, Shinji Director, Original Creator

Reviews

Sep 4, 2021

Kryptonot_7471

Recommended

Megazone 23 is a 4-Part Sci-fi Anime Film/OVA Series that tells an excellent story in its first two parts. While the character designs and Artstyle differences for Part 2 can be jarring at first, don't let it detract from the story which is nothing short of fantastic.

It has a Sci-fi Plot that is ahead of its time and a lot of that is due to Part 1 being directed by the legendary, Noboru Ishigoru (man behind works like LotGalacticHeroes, SDF Macross & Space Battleship Yamato 2) who presents us with a Sci-fi Premise that would later inspire movies like The Matrix, Existenz, etc.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄: ... (1985 film - directed by Noboru Ishiguro)
The way the Story unravels in the Part 1 is nothing short of masterful. You are presented with pretty standard characters (bikers and chicks) that develop as they start to get crushed by the reality of their city. There is quite a bit of Romance in this movie which is surprisingly well-done for a movie like this.
During the middle portion of the Film, they discover what their City really is and this is where the Sci-fi Stuff really starts to get good. It becomes pretty damn suspenseful as you wait for Shougo to desperately find a way to combat the Government Conspiracy on his own. It ends on a Cliffhanger but still the way it ends is nothing short of brilliant, as you get crushed by the despair that the characters are going through in a sort of Semi-tragic Fashion.

9.5/10

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄: (1986 film - directed by Ichiro Itano)
The Second Film picks up after a Timeskip with Shougo still fighting against the Government with his gang of bikers and punks. We get some of the same sort of Sci-Fi Action, Romance, Drama and Suspense, which on its own is pretty great but definitely weaker than the First One.
The way that Part 2 concludes the story, although lacking in comparison to the first, is still pretty satisfying and great on its own. Everything is about as Good, It just has One Little Issue.
Yui Takanaka and Shougo's character designs look completely different which can be jarring. I understand they wanted to show the passage of time but at least get the facial features right. They did it with EVE and the main villain from the previous film B.D. so I don't understand why they couldn't have kept it consistent for Shougo and Yui. I get wanting to show them to be older but keep the faces accurate at least.

Despite the Artstyle change, the characters still have the same personality and their development is pretty damn good. You really see how Shougo learns and completes his Character Arc by the end of it and B.D is one of the more interesting villains I've seen in Anime. What's interesting about him is that he isn't completely evil, his motivations are completely understandable. In a lot of ways, he did nothing wrong, and I was surprised with how the confrontation between B.D. and Shougo was handled by the end. It was nothing like what I expected. You could even call it disappointing but IMO it was a good choice. They did well to not make it generic.

8.5/10


𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄𝙄: (1989 OVAs - directed by Shinji Aramaki & Kenichi Yatagai)
Part 3 is a 2-Episode OVA which functions more as a Sequel/Side Story as it introduces completely new characters in the same setting and is set some 100+ years after the First 2 Parts. This means the characters from the first two are gone but it still builds on the setting and continuity from the First.
Parts 1 & 2 tell a self-contained story focused on a seperate conflict that is already resolved by the end of Part 2 so in a lot of ways it is definitely a departure from the First Two Parts. The Story on its own is okay but it’s definitely a dip in quality when compared to the First Two. It even feels a bit unnecessary.
There are entertaining scenes and bits of dialogue (from the ADV dub) I liked - ie; "I'm afraid we disagree" *bang* - but it was mostly just your average late-80s OVA shit. Not anything groundbreaking and doesn’t have much re-watch value but still worth checking out, at least once. It is quite entertaining but not too interesting.

7/10


𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡:
Megazone 23 should be a must-watch for any honest Retro-Scifi Fan. It has interesting Sci-Fi Concepts, Romance, City Pop Music and a Great Soundtrack, Bloody Voilence and a Suspenseful Plot (at least in the first two). It is true and has been said in other reviews that the quality fluctuates drastically but do not let the low ratings fool you. Part I and Part II are Excellent and Part III is worth checking out even if it’s rough around the edges.

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄:　9.5/10　・　𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄:　8.5/10　・　𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄𝙄:　7.0/10　

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 25, 2023

DISKOWN

Mixed Feelings

Megazone 23 is an OVA series that can really be broken down into two parts. The first following Shougo and the second following Eiji. The first part is really well animated and has an intriguing plot line but that's about it. The narrative, while interesting, is not fully developed. The characters are not overly memorable and the pacing is erratic. In contrast the storytelling of the second part is executed much better. However the animation, while good, is not on par with the first part. Also the characters remain a weak point. Despite numerous promising concepts, Megazone 23 ... suffers from overall inconsistency, leaving much to be desired.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 23, 2021

thiccvader

Not Recommended

Original story with sloppy execution. Sigh, what a shame.

An illusionary city set above a top-secret underground cyber hardware was definitely not a conventional narrative the 80s Japanese directors would dare enough to initiate. I can get why this was revolutionary in Japan back then, the story was way ahead of its time. Megazone 23 successfully introduced the phantasm of virtual reality and oh boy you wouldn’t believe the amount of films this OVA have influenced. It starts with a really convincing premise, but once it crispens up... well, things are not quite what they seem.

It felt so disjointed and set forth my attention span to ... hit the lowest. There are too many plot holes that are based on ambiguity, thus I don’t think their original story will carry the film effortlessly and let us overlook its really reaaaally bad narrative. Half of their transition cuts seems like it was too rushed and the whole idea of emphasizing its cheesy sexual love scenes when finally they’ve set the right pace, for me, is the worst marketing idea to boost up a film’s popularity. Up until the end it still left me so confused dammmittt. Yeah I won’t waste my time trying to find the explanation on google. It aint worth it.

So go watch it at your own risk, don’t get fooled by its originality.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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