Back to WTFHachs's Profile WTFHachs's Profile

When one thinks of Dog Soldier ~Shadows of the Past~, quality isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Well, aside from "Quality" being with a capital 'q' and only in the instance where that indicates a mistake of real quality in a piece for irony. Looking at the scores assigned to this review, it's pretty mediocre with one shining moment; however, looking at my own personal view of it, it's an abysmal 3. One's final opinion is all in what is expected from the viewer, which is probably it's greatest strength.

If you're looking for a serious adventure about a man's fight against a military ... industrial complex, you're going to find an anime that rounds out to that 3 I assigned it. This anime is bad. The art style is decent; it's a bit clunky and it shows its age but it is not so horridly ugly or spectacularly beautiful that it'll leave you clamoring for more. When I viewed this anime, I viewed it on my Japanese LaserDisc release and I've seen the dub at anime conventions over the years. The OAV itself was from the late 1980s and was licensed in North America in the early 1990s - and hasn't been seen since on a retail shelf. The sound is what you'd expect from it; again, a decent rating but I'm not trying to devise the ultimate speaker set-up to watch this.

The story and characters are also fair, but I rated the enjoyment much higher. That's because I find these elements to still be more subjective than visual and sound qualities. Again, if you're looking for a serious adventure about one-man-versus-military-industrial-complex, you'll be missing out. If, you have a penchant for the absurd, though, you should be pleased. The characters are over-the-top and stereotypical of 1980s pop culture. The plot points, which shouldn't be spoiled, are a new level of absurd, you can only expect them from someone like Saruwatari Tetsuya (Riki-oh, Shootfighter Tekken). Just when you tell yourself "They can't be serious", they are. The stoic facial expressions used very liberally aren't like when Jimmy Fallon spoils a joke (in Fallon's defense, it's much easier to do in animation than live comedy). And because they are so serious, it is that much funnier.

If you can find a copy of this, then it's certainly worth checking out. Don't expect a cinematic masterpiece because you won't find it. This is something that has to be viewed through the same lens as you would a really horrible B-Grade science fiction film. The creators, both of the original manga and of the anime did their best to make something good, but it didn't quite come through this time. I say, enjoy it for the absurdity; get your friends together and have a good laugh!