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good song and trippy animation, old 3D has an uncanny look and feel to it that makes it unique and i like it that way. i have this dvd, it seems to be easy to get where i live, but very obscure everywhere else. it was released by a norwegian company called escapi, a record company that decided to venture out into other things, one of them virtual idols. there were 3 dvd's released, a 4th called Yuki Terai: Virtually Real was supposed to come out but it never did, there was no explanation, even going through different versions of their website on wayback machine ... the announcement which featured a release date sorta just disappeared from their site. after that they slowly regressed over time, they stopped producing dvd's and went back to just records, then they disappeared completely, sad. it is obscure, but not hard to find, just look it up and you can watch her dance, she is a nice piece of uncanny valley polygonated ass.

UNCANNY VALLEY POLYGONATED AAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Virus buster Serge is like an in between for bubblegum crisis and tokyo 2040, in fact there are a ton similarities to 2040. as well has having surreal moments similar to evangelion. So if you enjoyed those you will like this. its set in Neo Hong kong during the 2090's, people carry implants in their brains that allow them to enter the 'NET', but a virus has spawned can infect people and merge them with machines.

the story is interesting, its told in a abstract and indirect fashion and doesn't hold your hand, you have to piece it together yourself. i think i managed to piece ... it together, though it does leave some unexplained things.

the art style is great, sharp angles and exaggerate features make it unique, after all anime is the last medium in the world which people should argue about realistic character proportions. the animation is somewhat limited but the choreography is great. the surrealistic moments are also where the art shines, when the characters have cryptic flashbacks, or have to go into the NET(sorta like the matrix) and face physical incarnations of the virus. these often take place in distorted landscapes which contrast against the setting outside the NET. another way these scenes contrast is the coloring, one sequence has a landscape completely in white, black and red, and my favorite one has warm and hazy glow over everything, when one of the characters is somewhere nostalgic.

The soundtrack is very good, and well handled. it is a mix of rock and techno with some jazz. its more ambient tracks are especially good. its used well here, the music fits the scenes and the scenes are timed to fit the music. though one part i didnt like, was when a important fight at the end began with some very emotional music, i thought it would continue but they just used some of the normal music from other fights. my favourite is this https://youtu.be/dc5WVCcOSjU?t=2971

this should probably have been a 24 episode show, as the characters, outside of the main character serge do not get time to be fully developed. though they are well designed(this show has a lot of fanservice for both men and women) and have strong personalities, that makes up for it for me, but that could put off a lot of people.

though one thing, i wish that the NET was a much bigger part of the setting, its a very interesting concept, a place where everyone in the world can connect to each other to work or play, from anywhere. but it does not show its inner workings, and when we do see it, the characters are entering their own personal realm where its just them and the virus. from what i hear the NET is a much bigger part of the story in the sega genesis game, i will need to get it someday(but it is untranslated).

the dub is pretty funny at times, but serge's voice actor great at playing Milan, also brain lizard was really good too.

Edit: also i found out that this anime was not based on a game. they were both made at the same time, and based on the same concept. the producers wanted two groups to make something based on the same idea but get two very different things out of it. if anything the anime technically comes first, as obari first created serge and erika, and they were redesigned to be used in the game.

i always look for animes of a specific style, the same style of trigun and cowboy bebop. heat guy j has that style, and something the rest of them dont have.

bagpipes, a whole lotta bagpipes.

its structured in the same way as cowboy bebop, its mostly filler, a story episode in the middle and then it finishes with a bang in the end. most of the interesting stuff comes from seeing the characters and their backstory's, how they get along with the other characters.

the art is good, nothing out standing, but it has its own unique style. all the backgrounds and vehicles are cgi and the ... characters are animated in 2d at all times, even fight scenes. it doesnt stand out, the characters fit in with the 3D enviroment perfectly and allows for the camera to be played around with alot more.

the music is great, everytime the android, heat guy 'J', gets into a fight bagpipes start playing. the opening and endings are great and i never felt like skipping them, the second ending i didnt like first but it grew on me. but the music has its own unique style to it.

all the characters are bad ass, it doesn't always focus on the main characters, all the side characters have their own story and develop throughout the show and i grew to love them.

when i watch an anime i either absolutely love it or i forget about it all together. a big factor is how re-watchable it is. something could be great like hellsing ultimate but after watching it i dont feel i need to see it again. an anime can be flawed like hellsing tv but much more memorable this is a flawed and very memorable anime that you will come back to every so often.

one thing that i dont like is that each episode has a case to be solved, and there is a buildup to that case being resolved, the climax of each episode is very short, they find the bad guy fight him in a cool, but short scene and then case closed. they could have made these sequences longer.

even though i said its flawed im giving it a 10 because i either absolutely love an anime or forget about it all together, and i absolutely loved Heat Guy J.

Edit: forgot to mention that this has a great english dub. all the voice actors fit the characters perfectly. i watch the dub whenever possible(though i do check if its good first) and this is safe to watch in english.