It is the year 2024.
The city is Tokyo. The enemy is a
demon horde greater than imagination can comprehend: The Lucifer Hawks. Standing against them: The AMP, a unit of
brave women who use science and sorcery to defend humanity from these
monsters. Katsumi Liquer has come to
Tokyo to be with her ailing mother.
However, she is about to be drawn into the AMP’s fight and her destiny
is about to unfold. A new battle has
begun. And this time, depending on
Katsumi’s resolve, it could mean the salvation or the end of mankind.
After putting up with 26 episodes of nonsense from the TV
series, I was prepared for anything going into the two Silent Mobius feature
films from the early 90’s. They couldn’t
be any worse than what I had already seen right? Well, color me surprised, I liked them a
little bit more than the show. Both
films carry over several of the problems the TV Series had but also works to
improve many things as well, especially in the first film.
The animation is amazing.
For films straight out of the early 90’s, the Silent Mobius films look
just as good as The End of Evangelion or the X-1999 movie (which this feels
kind of similar too in a way). I also
feel like this looks closer to the source manga than the TV show ever did. The movie level budget gives this double
feature a grander, more mature and scary feel to it. The Lucifer Hawks look terrifying. The AMP girls look more beautiful and
confident (emphasis on look). There’s blood,
there’s nudity, there’s a shower scene straight out of a Hentai film…which
isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds. And
thank freaking God, it’s consistent.
There’s no pesky 3D animation trying to muscle in on hand drawn
work. Nope, this is all 100% hand crafted
and it feels all the better for it. Even
by todays standards, the look of these two films still holds up and reminds me
of why Anime gained it’s audience in the early 90’s in the wake of Akira.
At first I wasn’t sure why this story was split into two
films as it essential is the same story as a whole (granted they do work in
their own way as stand alone films too).
The first film starts off in 2028 when the AMP are dealing with a
Lucifer Hawk before flashing back to 2024 when Katsumi first joined their
ranks. The bulk of both films is very
much a feature length pilot as we don’t go much beyond how the group first came
together. Though I will admit, I’m glad
we got some future scenes with Katsumi being an unrivaled bad ass with
Grosspoliner and her magic. That’s
because the Katsumi of the past is a handful.
Yes, yes, yes, she sees some incredibly freaky stuff in these films (the
shower scene especially). She sees
monsters from Hell, the death of her mother and a glimpse of the destructive
power magic can bring. That should freak
anyone out but Katsumi refuses to do anything else for the bulk of the
films. Worse yet, just when she seems to
accept her destiny at the end of Part 1, she resets and we have to watch her go
through the same process AGAIN in Part 2.
It does make you wonder why anyone would want to save Katsumi other than
for her powers alone. And listening to
Yuki cry about how Katsumi is her best friend in the future doesn’t really
help. It would make Katsumi feel more
one note if it weren’t for the knowledge that she does become a bad ass in the
future.
As I mention Yuki above, I guess I should say that sadly,
a lot of the problems I had with the TV Series do pop up in these two
films. Nami, Lebia and especially Yuki
have next to nothing to do once again than just be there. Lebia should have more of a role since she
seems to stand in for an absent Isozaki as Rally’s second in command, but she
doesn’t. Yuki is there to whine and be a
stalker. Nami is…well the same as she is
in the show, forgettable. Only Rally and
Kiddy seem to have gotten any upgrades here.
Besides her green hairdo (she had in the manga I guess?), Kiddy is the
most bad ass member of AMP before Katsumi arrives and she looks like she can
actually do damage with guns as well as her cyborg strength. She even tackles a Lucifer Hawk with only one
arm…I love her. Rally seems a bit more
forthcoming with information, necessary I guess since this is only a combined 2
hour film and not an extended series.
There is opportunity to see Rally in battle that is sadly wasted and we
spend more time with Yuki following around Katsumi like a lost puppy desperate
for attention.
So yeah, the film is essentially a two parter. The first part shows Katsumi coming to Japan,
meeting her mother and the AMP and being introduced to the secret war in
Tokyo. Part 2 is Katsumi trying to
grapple with her destiny while Yuki strongarms her way into her life. That bit about Part 2 is why I think Part 1
is the stronger half of this feature. It
has more of the scare factor with the Lucifer Hawks and does a pretty good job
of introducing everyone, save for Yuki but she’s barely in Part 1 as Part 2 is
clearly all about her. Part 2 does have
Lebia using her tech to the AMPs advantage and Kiddy’s battle with a Lucifer
Hawk with only one arm. But Part 1 has
Katsumi unleashed and in full control of her abilities in the future scenes,
something we never saw in the TV show cause of its animation limits. Overall this whole thing feels like a “proof
of concept” than a fully realized set of films.
Flaws and all though, I’ve gotta say that I definitely
prefer these two movies to the TV Series anyday. The second part stalls thanks to Yuki and the
slow build up to the final battle.
Lebia, Yuki and Nami are just as dull and annoying and uninteresting as
their TV counterparts. And Katsumi can
be grating. However, presentation wise,
these films are mostly solid. The
animation is exactly how this kind of story should always be handled. The enemies feel genuinely scary and the AMP
feel a bit more useful as a whole, though Katsumi is left to deal with a threat
all on her own, she does it as the sexy bad ass I know she was always meant to
be. Why this never went past two films
I’ll never know. More than likely I
suspect that it was because the manga was far from finished, so they’d rather
not rush with material they didn’t have.
I suppose that’s smart but I still wish we had seen more. Cause, flaws and all, this is the Silent
Mobius I expected to see weeks ago. I
guess I’m glad I waited to review these two films last.
Final scores for this double feature are:
Silent Mobius: The Motion Picture-7/10
Silent Mobius 2: The Motion Picture-6/10
Well, that does it for Kia Asamiya’s Silent Mobius. Next week we reunite with some old friends
for more military maniac antics. Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori are back in Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. See ya then.
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