DVD Review: R1 Fight! Iczer-One
Touted as one of the first OVA series, AnimeWorks presents 1985's Fight! Iczer-One. It is a romp stomping tale of giant robots, short skirts and monster goodness.
The lesbian race, The Cthulhu, have lost their home world and are roaming the galaxy in search of a new world. They are convinced by a powerful entity, Big Gold, to take over Earth, destroying humanity using creatures called Bedem. Only two people stand in their way. Iczer-One, offspring of Big Gold, and her human companion, Nagisa. Together must fight to save humanity and Nagisa's lust for revenge for the death of her parents and her psychic energy can help Iczer-One defeat Big Gold and the Cthulhu hordes.
The creature design is impressive and strengthens the horror component of this series. The animation overall though is not going to be the greatest that you will ever see. It is very indicative of the 1980s. One of the series claims to fame is that the mecha were designed by Masami Obari whose work I have also seen in Dangaizer 3 [another anime series with scantily clad girls piloting giant robots – though not naked, their breasts do jiggle an awful lot during the series – not that I noticed or anything *cough*].
The video quality is par. I didn't find it all that clear of a transfer to the digital medium. I would have liked to have seen what a little more digital mastering could have done to the video quality. And no, it wouldn't be to make the nudity much clearer. Dirty Birds.
Though I will never be a proponent of dubbing I am willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of doing reviews and give them a go. I cannot account for the accuracy of the translation but if the subtitles are anything to go by then liberties where taken with the script. Though not outlandish in any fashion it does throw you off if you wish to listen to the English audio and read the subtitles at the same time. The voice acting is suitable.
The audio is only available in 2.0 stereo [Meh. What can you do?] in both English and Japanese. The subtitling is clear and comprehensive.
DVD extras include trailers and a behind the scenes featurette which it appears aired between the second and third episode. The featurette includes a video of the recording of the final episode theme song. Please be mindful that this was made during the 80s. Oh boy. Also a part of the featurette is a table discussion with the creative core behind the anime. Not terribly enlightening in any fashion but good for AnimeWorks for finding the featurette and including it in the package. Its all good for a laugh anyways.
While certainly not the most entertaining anime I have ever seen there are a couple things you will learn when viewing this series...
1. short and revealing latex mini skirts will protect you against the forces of evil
2. when you pilot a giant robot you are stripped of all clothing and you must pilot the thing naked as a jay bird.
Hooray for naked girls and giant robots I say.
