AD Police Files | |
Original video animation | |
Directed by |
|
---|---|
Written by | |
Music by |
|
Studio | |
Licensed by | |
Released | May 25, 1990 – November 22, 1990 |
Runtime | 26 minutes per episode |
Episodes | 3 |
Related works | |
AD Police Files is a 1990 three-part original video animation produced by Youmex and animated by Artmic and AIC. Set in 2027,it is a prequel to the Bubblegum Crisis OVA series,focusing mainly on AD Police officer Leon McNichol,the future rival and love interest of Knight Saber Priscilla Asagiri.
Due to the legal conflict between Artmic and Youmex,the production of the series was stopped with only three complete episodes made.
Chronologically set 5 years before the events of Bubblegum Crisis,it focuses on AD Police (Advanced Police) inspector Leon McNichol's early days in the AD Police.
Character | Japanese [2] | English | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Southwynde Studios (1993) [2] | World Wide Group (1994) [3] | |||
Leon McNichol | Toshio Furukawa | Brad Moranz | Adam Henderson | |
Gina Malso | Youko Matsuoka | Regan Forman | Shelley Thompson | |
Dieork | Tesshou Genda | Mark Fincannon | ||
1 | Phantom Woman | Youko Asagami | Kelly Chalaire | |
Alus | Atsushi Abe | Trampas Thompson | ||
Saeki | Ryuusei Nakao | Donn Ansell | ||
2 | Iris Cara | Miina Tominaga | Juliet Cesario | Anne Marie Zola |
Vanessa Bach | Emi Shinohara | Amy Nelson | Larissa Murray (asLinda Mathieson) | |
Police Chief | Kiyoshi Kawakubo | William Gibson | ||
Caroline Evers | Mika Doi | Hadley Eure | Liza Ross | |
3 | Billy Fanword | Norio Wakamoto | Pierre Brulatour | Seán Barrett |
Yoko Takagi | Sakiko Tamagawa | Suesann Cullen | ||
Psychologist | Tamio Ooki | |||
Hyde Cash | Kiyonobu Suzuki | Paul Sincoff |
Japanese: [2] Hideyuki Umezu,Hitoshi Horimoto,Kiyonobu Suzuki,Morite Murakuni,Rena Yukie (as Rena Kurihara),Satoko Yasunaga,Shin'ichirou Miki,Toshiya Ueda,Toshiyuki Morikawa,Wataru Takagi
English (AnimEigo): [2] Amanda Tancredi,Amy Parrish,Charles Page,Christopher Alexander,David Kraus,Eddie Harrell,Eric Paisley,Matt Blazon,Michael Sinterniklaas,Rod Barker,Scott O'Quinn,Scott Simpson,Vincent Schilling
Episode | English title (AnimEigo)/ English title (Manga UK) Japanese title | Original release date [4] |
---|---|---|
1 | The Phantom Woman/ Voomer Madness Maboroshi no Onna (幻の女) | 25 May 1990 |
At the beginning of the episode,a heavily wounded Leon McNichol,who is still part of the Normal Police,faces down and kills a rampant Boomer prostitute. The action then cuts to a later incident,where the Normal Police are trying to destroy an older-model female Boomer that has gone rampant in a local Chinese restaurant. The Boomer proves too tough for them as it kills and injures several officers,and the AD Police are called in to assist. Several AD officers rush the Boomer and attempt to physically shut it down. Alus,one of the AD Police's veterans,is shot dead when the Boomer slips out of the squad's control. Having obtained the shop owner's permission,the squad commander orders the boomer to be destroyed by firing squad. Later,as the squad mourns Alus,an administrative official calls the legitimacy of his death into question. He says that after some investigation,there were no faults found in the Boomer’s programming,it was simply overworked,and wasn’t at fault for going haywire. He claims Alus knew the Boomer that killed him,frequented the tea shop regularly,and theorizes that he had tampered with the Boomer to kill him so that his family could collect on his large life insurance policy. Leon and his partner Gina Malso disagree,and aim to disprove the claim. They set out to show that other local Boomers had hidden faults as well. They make a visit to a hacker contact of Gina's who is able to provide them with a list of possible users that have been illegally recycling old and decommissioned Boomers. Meanwhile,they are shadowed by an unknown female,who is revealed to be the boomer Leon killed when he was with the Normal Police,obsessed with finding him. Gina and Leon split up to follow separate leads on Boomer recycling operations. After interrogating a shady factory owner,Gina discovers that the original,recycled Boomer was part of an underground sex trafficking business. Leon is stalked by the Boomer,but does not recognize her,instead taking her for a common prostitute. The boomer begins erotically fantasizing about Leon killing her again,is driven mad with bloodlust,and attacks him,hoping that he'll shoot her again. In the ensuing fight,Leon is again injured,and runs out of bullets. Just as the Boomer is about to kill him,Gina arrives and kills it,saving him. The episode ends with Leon questioning whether humans have a place in the city,or whether it belongs to the Boomers. | ||
2 | The Ripper/ The Paradise Loop Za Rippā(ザ·リッパー) | 24 August 1990 |
After a gruesome murder of a prostitute on the Tokyo subway line called Paradise Loop,AD Police steps in to help the Normal Police find the killer. 6 prostitutes in total have been murdered on the Paradise Loop line and it is believed that a Boomer is the culprit. Two officers of the Normal Police,Iris Cara and her partner Vanessa Bach,believe the killer is a human and was done out of hatred. While all the victims share the same stab wound to the abdomen,they died from massive cardiac arrest or shock. Feeling pain in her right eye,Iris goes to the organ bank to replace it with a cybernetic one and runs into Leon,who knows her from his time in the Normal Police. Leon tries to change her mind,saying she'll lose part of her humanity,but Iris laughs it off. Later,during a meeting with the doctor,Iris overhears an argument started by another patient,Caroline Evers,a billionaire and CEO of the Green Food Corporation. Iris has a hunch that Caroline is connected to the murders,and asks Leon and Gina to help shadow her. They track Caroline to an abandoned industrial district that Paradise Loop runs under. After further investigation,Vanessa and Iris learn that Caroline’s entire lower body was replaced with cybernetics. While investigating Paradise Loop,Iris is ambushed by Caroline. Caroline explains to her that long ago she had been competing for the title of CEO of her current company,however a man got the job because he concocted a falsified chart that compared her menstrual cycles to her productivity. To alleviate the concerns of the company's board of directors,she had most of her organs replaced with cybernetics. As a result,she got the job. In time,the same man came to work under her and they fell in love and eventually married. She later discovered he had cheated on her with a Paradise Loop prostitute,and when asked why,his response was "real women are better after all." After finishing her confession,Caroline loses all self-control and tries to kill Iris,but AD Police officers led by Leon and Gina arrive to save her,and Caroline flees. Shortly after,Leon tells Iris that if at least 70% of the human body becomes cybernetic,he or she is treated as a "Boomeroid" and can be killed with the same prejudice as a Boomer. But Iris believes Caroline is still human,and should be arrested instead. Fleeing to a subway train on the Loop,Caroline enters a car full of lowlifes and exposes herself,hoping to feel like a woman again. After AD Police stop the train with crash foam,she is found raped and stabbed to death. Leon then tells Iris that she got her wish:that Caroline died as a human. The episode closes with Iris opting to undergo the cybernetic surgery,and to "throw away a bit of her humanity." | ||
3 | The Man Who Bites His Tongue/ I Want Medicine Shita o Kamu Otoko (舌を噛む男) | 22 November 1990 |
Billy Fanword is the captain of the AD Police Special Mobile Squad. After sustaining massive injures during a fight with a rogue Boomer and almost dying,his only remaining viable organs—his brain and tongue—are transplanted into an experimental battle cyborg body. He has a habit of biting his tongue,as the pain of it reminds him that he was once human. After Billy physically tears apart a heavy Boomer,concerns are raised about his combat abilities and performance. Dr. Manabe,who created his body,blames him for what she sees as degrading performance,but her colleague argues that since he retains his brain and memories,it is an emotional issue. He suggests that Billy's memory be erased to improve his performance. Manabe develops an unhealthy sexual attraction to Billy and ups his dosage of DA-27,a sensory stimulant drug,so that he is more receptive of her advances. Billy gets hooked on the drug and becomes increasingly aggressive whenever he is deployed,which happens more and more frequently thanks to Manabe’s influence. Suspecting something is amiss,Gina,his former lover,confronts Manabe and accuses her of intentionally addicting him. Manabe waves the accusation away,saying that Billy is simply getting back to normal again. Gina disagrees,saying the she can feel that he's changed. As Manabe attempts to wean Billy off DA-27,he flies into a rage and experiences hallucinations. He obtains DA-27 from an illicit source to keep getting high without Manabe’s permission. After finding out that she plans to let him die in the line of duty once she has gained prestige from selling his design,he helps himself to a massive dose of DA-27 that finally causes him to lose touch with reality. Billy kills Manabe when she comes to check up on him,and goes on a rampage through the AD Police HQ,gunning down many officers. Gina,who has discovered his drug connection,arrives with an anti-tank rifle just in time to stop him from killing Leon. Billy begs her to kill him,saying that he can't feel anything and that pain will make him human again. As his final request,he asks her to shoot him in his tongue. The episode closes with Billy being buried in the cemetery atop AD Police HQ. |
In North America,the series is licensed by AnimEigo,who first released the series to VHS and Laserdisc in 1993 in Japanese with English subtitles. They later reissued it in both formats in 1995 with an English dub produced by Southwynde Studios in Wilmington,NC. [5] The show was released to bilingual DVD in 2004,with bonus content featuring music videos for various songs featured in the series as performed by Filipino singer Lou Bonnevie in addition to translation notes and production artwork. [6] On September 27,2015,AnimEigo announced that they will be funding a brand new HD telecine of the series from the original 35mm film in-house through Kickstarter,with a Blu-ray release planned for 2016. [7] Though according to an update by AnimEigo on 30 December 2022,it had been reported that the film materials to A.D. Police Files had been lost. [8]
In the UK,the series was licensed by Manga Entertainment,who produced their own English dub for VHS in 1994,and later issued it onto dub-only DVD in 2004. [9] Their release is now out-of-print.
Critical reception of A.D. Police Files has been generally positive. Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies describes The Phantom Woman as the video "definitely not for the faint hearted",noting that the "design is good and the atmosphere well maintained,but it's Aikawa's script that will stick in your mind". [1] She also praised The Man Who Bites His Tongue as a "stylish,dark retelling of RoboCop". [10]
Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network described A.D. Police Files as being "a flawed work,but has enough memorable moments and beautiful,macabre touches to redeem it in some way." [11]
Raphael See of THEM Anime Reviews gave the series a rating of 3 out of 5 stars,praising the story and soundtrack but considered the animation to be "average." Overall,See states that "If you're a BGC junkie,you'll definitely enjoy this one. Other people might want to save this one until they run out of other things to watch." [12]
A.D. Police:Dead End City (Japanese:A.D.POLICE 終焉都市,Hepburn:A.D.POLICE Shuuen Toshi),a seinen manga series written by Toshimichi Suzuki[ citation needed ] and illustrated by Tony Takezaki, [13] is set between the first and the second part of A.D. Police Files. It was serialized by Byakuya Shobo on its seinen magazine Bandai B-Club between November 1989 and August 1990. Its chapters were compiled into a single volume that was later translated into English by Viz Communications for the United States and by Manga Books for the British audience and in French by Samourai. [13]
The manga is set in 2032. [13] The A.D. Police are an elite group of highly trained and specially equipped police officers,who have been formed to deal with terrorist activities and Boomer crimes in the city of Mega Tokyo.
The A.D. Police are offered a great deal of leeway in their activities,often blockading large sections of the city and causing great amounts of property damage in the course of fulfilling their duty. Despite their dedication to their jobs,however,the citizens of Mega Tokyo tend to dislike and distrust members of the A.D. Police,seeing them as corrupt and ineffectual.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2016) |
In 1999, AIC created a reboot of A.D. Police Files called A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve that was broadcast by TV Tokyo. Unlike A.D. Police Files, it is set in universe of the reboot series Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 , and serves as a prequel to the aforementioned series.
Another OVA series revolving around the A.D. Police, Parasite Dolls , was released in 2003 by AIC. Like A.D. Police Files, it is set in the original Bubblegum Crisis universe and takes place directly after the events of the original OVA series. As of 2024, it is the last Bubblegum Crisis-related series to be released.
Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic.
Otaku no Video is a 1991 Japanese original video animation (OVA) produced by Gainax. The anime spoofs the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax and its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles with a more traditional anime storytelling fashion. It is licensed in the United States by AnimEigo. The DAICON III and IV Opening Animations from the early 1980s are also featured in this OVA.
Tenchi Muyo! is a Japanese anime, light novel and manga franchise. The original series began with a six-episode OVA called Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. This original series was created by Masaki Kajishima and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, and it was released in Japan on September 25, 1992. The series was released by Pioneer LDC in the United Kingdom in 1994.
Original video animation, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV, are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA series may be broadcast for promotional purposes. OVA titles were originally made available on VHS, later becoming more popular on LaserDisc and eventually DVD. Starting in 2008, the term OAD began to refer to DVD releases published bundled with their source-material manga.
Oh My Goddess!, or Ah! My Goddess! in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from September 1988 to April 2014, with its chapters collected in 48 tankōbon volumes. The series follows college sophomore Keiichi Morisato and the goddess Belldandy who moves in with him in a Buddhist temple; after Belldandy's sisters Urd and Skuld move in with them, they encounter gods, demons and other supernatural entities as Keiichi develops his relationship with Belldandy. The manga series has been licensed for English-language release by Dark Horse Comics.
Bubblegum Crash is a 1991 OVA anime series produced by Artmic and Artland. It is the sequel to the 1987 OVA series Bubblegum Crisis, taking place a year after the series. The Knight Sabers seem to be finished, as each of its members except Nene Romanova have seemingly drifted off to pursue their own goals. But at the same time, a recent string of robberies, murders, and Boomer malfunctions begin to occur. Knight Sabers' leader Sylia Stingray is then forced to recruit Nene and the other members back together. The group tries to find out who or what is behind the recent string of crimes which are somehow related to the creation of an advanced artificial intelligence.
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is a 1998 cyberpunk anime television series produced by AIC. It is a reboot of the 1987 OVA series Bubblegum Crisis, which focuses on the Knight Sabers, a rogue vigilante group made up of four women who use powered suits to fight rogue Boomer robots made by the megacorporation Genom.
Gall Force is a metaseries of science fiction anime OVAs by the studios Artmic and AIC, with production by Youmex. The original character designs were by Kenichi Sonoda, though these were dropped for the Gall Force: The Revolution remake. Central Park Media has licensed most of the films and OVAs with the exceptions of Ten Little Gall Force, Scramble Wars, and The Revolution.
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licensing anime and helped give anime a noticeable following in the region. Over its history, the company has released many anime titles, such as Urusei Yatsura, You're Under Arrest, Vampire Princess Miyu, Otaku no Video, the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA series, and Kimagure Orange Road.
Vampire Princess Miyu is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally adapted as a 4-episode original video animation (OVA) series released in 1988 and licensed by AnimEigo, and later as a 26-episode television series released in 1997 and licensed by Tokyopop and later Maiden Japan.
Gunsmith Cats is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda. It was published in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from 1991 to 1997 and was followed between 2004 and 2008 by a sequel series Gunsmith Cats Burst which included the same characters and situations. The series describes the adventures of young women fighting crime in Chicago.
Parasite Dolls is a three-part original video animation produced by AIC and Imagica Entertainment, and written by Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuto Nakazawa. The series is set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe and takes place after the events of the original OVA series, from 2034 to 2040. It is set in the city of Megatokyo, and focuses on a division of A.D. Police known as Branch. They are tasked with stopping terrorist activities as well as Boomers (androids) that have become harmful to society.
Megazone 23 is a three-part Japanese cyberpunk original video animation co-created by Noboru Ishiguro and Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, written by Hoshiyama and Emu Arii, and directed by Ishiguro, Ichiro Itano, Kenichi Yatagai, and Shinji Aramaki. The series debuted in 1985. It was originally titled Omega Zone 23 but the title was changed just before release.
Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura, a Japanese anime and manga series, has six films and ten OVA releases. During the television run of the series, four theatrical films were produced. Urusei Yatsura: Only You was directed by Mamoru Oshii and began showing in Japanese cinemas on February 11, 1983. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer was also directed by Mamoru Oshii and was released on February 11, 1984. Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on January 26, 1985. Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever was directed again by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on February 22, 1986.
Riding Bean (ライディング・ビーン) is a 1989 anime original video animation following the exploits of courier-for-hire Bean Bandit and his partner, gunwoman Rally Vincent.
Crusher Joe is a series of science fiction novels written by Haruka Takachiho and published by Asahi Sonorama from 1977 to 2005. During the late 1970s one of the founding fathers of Studio Nue, Takachiho, decided that besides being a designer he would try his hand at penning novels. The result was Crusher Joe, a group of antiheroes who were not the typical self-sacrificing types but noble in their own right nonetheless.
Genesis Survivor Gaiarth was an anime OVA series produced by AIC and Artmic in 1992. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, chronicling the story of a young man named Ital Del Labard and his partner, the war-roid Zaxon. It was licensed and distributed in North America in 1993 by AnimEigo, an anime subtitling/licensing company. It was released on VHS and Laserdisc with the title Genesis Surviver [sic] Gaiarth. This title is still one of the publisher's many titles without a DVD release in the United States. There has only been a DVD release of the title in Japan published by Geneon Universal.
Youmex was an anime production company and record label established in 1985 as a subsidiary of Toshiba EMI and founded by Junji Fujita. The company was absorbed back into Toshiba EMI in 1998, after taking on debt defaulted on by Artmic.
Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 is a 1987 original video animation produced by AIC, Soeishinsha and Pony Canyon and directed and conceptualized by Shinji Aramaki. It has been licensed in the United States by AnimEigo. The plot centers on a mechanic who comes across the MADOX-01, a heavy powered armor suit designed to fight enemy tanks. After getting trapped in the suit before reading the user's manual, the military attempts to reclaim it, leaving him with no choice but to defend himself.
Hiroki Hayashi is a Japanese animator and director associated with AIC. He is best known as the director of the first Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA series and co-creator of El-Hazard.