Genocyber

Another OVA that (allegedly) was cut short in production, loosly based on an equally cut short manga by noted mangaka Tony Takezaki; this time directed by the man behind M.D Geist. Of the alleged planned 9 episodes, what is here is another beautifully violent slice of animated fiction. Over the course of the five episodes, Genocyber racks up what could possibly be the highest prospected kill count of any Animated feature, i assure you the title is no exaggeration. I would of course be be-miss to not mention the soundtrack, which leads to probably one of the most jarring disconnects between visual and audio you ... will probably ever see; its really good however, put it on your workout mix. If you're unsure, just watch the first episode, its the longest of the series and works rather substantially as a one-off. The stories after are both Two-Parters and really do not connect outside of Genocyber itself and a theme of mass destruction. Overall i would however recommend it in full, especially if you love high detail violence.

Genocyber is considered to be the most explicitly grotesque and gory anime of all time. Having now seen it, I can't say I disagree. It was produced in 1994 by studio Artmic, best known for producing most of the Bubblegum Crisis franchise. It finished airing just a few days after yours truly was born.

It's another product of the 80s era of ultraviolent cyberpunk OVAs. The premise is pretty simple. Man creates some kind of new bioweapon, the Genocyber. It unsurprisingly gets out of control and the End Times™ ensue. I've lost count of how many 80s OVAs I've seen at this point where humanity meets ... a gruesome end with little to no redemption. It's amazing the kind of nihilism that gets instilled into the psyche of a people when they've got 2 nuclear cataclysms in their national history.

Among other things, Genocyber is part of the transforming hero craze of the 80s and early 90s. I don't quite understand the apparent obsession the Japanese had with drawing these nightmarish scenes where machines meld together with flesh into these horrific and disgusting displays, much like in Akira, but here we are. There is plenty of that, but also no shortage of exploding heads, chests, flying intestines, eyes, spines, the whole 9 yards. One guy is shown somehow still alive while on an operating table, his torso all cut open, and his ribcage and intestines all exposed. You witness him gain consciousness and scream in terror upon seeing himself that way.

Funnily enough, I got the distinct sense that, although completely gratuitous in its depiction of blood and guts, Genocyber displayed an obvious unwillingness to show female nipples. There are several shots of nipple-less naked women in the show. Just felt like a weird thing to be prudish about, all things considered.

Unless you have a dread fascination with this sort of thing, I can't say I recommend it. I am hard-pressed to describe it as time well spent. It's not that it's sickening or offensive or anything. It's as straightforward as shock value gets. That's not the issue. The issue is that it's largely just boring.

Going into this, I expected a hyperviolent gore fest. The kind where you can turn your brain off and enjoy some good ol' '90s edginess. What I got instead was a confusing mess of utter nonsense. There is some of that touted gore and violence (which, if you don't like, you shouldn't be watching a series like this in the first place, getting offended is on you) but honestly, the rest of the show is just... boring. The ending leaves no satisfaction at all either, so you don't even feel like sticking it out for all five episodes is worth it. It fails on just ... about every selling point it was supposed to have (though MAYBE you could argue the first ep or two make some promises, the rest of the show completely fails to deliver). The violence and gore was surprisingly sparse despite the show's reputation though I do admit, its few scenes are somewhat shocking but that doesn't carry the show at all.

Honestly, I'd avoid this and go look for your gore and violence fix from something more competently put together. Supposedly, the OVA was cut short in development but I don't think more episodes would have saved it much, since the existing ones were so damn boring. I do not know why I bothered finishing it and I implore you to find something else that's actually worth watching.