Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) [OVA Review]

Cyber City Oedo 808; or, Never Enough of Cyberpunk

     I’d rather blow this thing off. But first, I’ll get rid of this city’s parasites and scum.

This an unplanned anime review which came about due to my dissatisfaction related with the latest Rental Reviews video from Cinemassacre. I know that in their talk about Akira (1988), they reference Cyber City Oedo 808 humorously as an inferior instance of anime; however, some of the unaware viewers might get the wrong picture about old OVAs because of that. My intention is to stand in defence of Cyber City Oedo 808 and explain the controversy behind the infamous goddamn vampire line.

Release Info

Directed by: Yoshiaki Kawajiri Voice actors: Hiroya Ishimaru, Tessho Genda, Kaneto Shiozawa

Language: Japanese Original Title: サイバーシティ OEDO 808 No. of eps: 3

 

Synopsis

It’s the year 2808. With the advancement of technology and lifestyle, the crime rate also skyrocketed in the dystopian city of Oedo. In order to combat this trend, Cyber Police began recruiting criminals with a history of hi-tech offences and other crimes. Among them are three: Shunsuke Sengoku, Gabimaru “Goggles” Rikiya, and Merill “Benten” Yanagawa. For catching criminals, each of them shall receive a reduction in their prison time. Tired with the monotony of orbital penitentiary, they agree and, as a result, start cleaning up the town from the bad guys. However, Cyber Police have limited trust towards them. They wear a special collar which can explode if they go AWOL or fail to complete their missions.

 

"Most Starlight is Never Seen"

Firstly, we should start with defining what OVA is. It means Original Video Animation and serves as a category for animated films intended for direct-to-video releases. One could think that these are low-budget productions of questionable quality in comparison to television anime. However, the situation is actually the opposite. OVAs have better financing and more creative freedom than standard TV anime series. Aside from promotional purposes (attachments to manga, for example), their purpose is to tell a story that is not suited for television. Such OVAs have higher-quality animation, more violence, and darker tone than TV episodes. The perfect example is Cyber City Oedo 808.

 

The show focuses on the adventures of three main protagonists when battling crime in Oedo. It is a city very similar in style to Blade Runner’s Los Angeles of 2019, but on a much larger scale. Apart from robots, flying vehicles, and rainy streets, we get to see skyscrapers reaching space (the ones which Arthur C. Clarke wrote about), top-of-the-line medical facilities, and military cyborgs. The world of Cyber City Oedo 808 feels very fresh, yet familiar at the same time. That is the case because the creators borrowed from many sci-fi motives of the 1980s, which can be reflected in the characters’ glam rock design, sound clips (taken directly from Alien or Back to the Future), and retro computer technology (the intro at the end of this review says it all).

 

Now, it’s high time to go over the horrendous clip featured in Rental Reviews. The English dialogue line taken from OVA’s third episode says the following (censored): “Get lost. You wouldn’t recognise a goddamn vampire if one jumped up and f**king bit you on the end of your f**king d**k!” This line was “creatively invented” by US Manga Corp., a dub company hell-bent on adding as much swearing into anime as possible. The most saddening part of this “translation” process is that there is little to none swearing in the original version of Cyber City Oedo 808. For instance, in the Japanese audio of the same scene in episode 3, Benten says: “Actually, the vampires of legend were tragic creatures. Eternally young, but forever craving human blood.” So… an exposition scene was turned into a pointless swearing scene. That’s why I avoid English dubbing.

 

With regard to Cyber City Oedo 808 in general, it’s a fairly well made cyberpunk story. Evidently, it does not have the level of polish which Akira has, but it delivers in terms of sci-fi feel and futuristic style. The premise of the story is great and the characters are very much likeable. I enjoyed the trials and tribulations of Sengoku and Goggles, but Benten is my personal favourite due to his cold voice and bishōnen appearance. Synth music score combined with J-Pop songs by Hidemi Miura also add further merit to the show.

 

Recommendations

Highly recommended to anyone who is into science fiction/cyberpunk. Cyber City Oedo 808 offers a memorable story with lots of action and artistic design. My concluding point is that sometimes it’s unfair to compare an OVA to a theatrical feature. That being said, this classic anime deserves a wider recognition in the modern age. It’s a real fun to watch. Will the real world in 2808 look just like the anime predicts? Only time will tell.

Overall score: 8/10