Anime ● Review: Cyber City Oedo 808

English Title: Cyber City Oedo 808

Japanese Title: サイバーシティ OEDO 808

Director(s): Kawajiri Yoshiaki

Screenwriter(s): Endo Akinori

Studio: Madhouse

Released: 1990–1991

Runtime: 3 episodes, ~45m each.

Starring: Ishimaru Hiroya, Genda Tesshou, Shiozawa Kaneto, Wakamoto Norio

My Verdict: Classic cyberpunk. The plot and characters are engaging enough, and the visuals are awesome. It deserves at least eight episodes rather than just three.

● Set in 2808 AD, the city of Oedo is suffering from high crime-rate, so the need for the police to get extra help.

● Sengoku, Goggle and Benten are in an orbital prison with sentences lasting a few centuries. They are given a chance to work it off by the Cyber Police of Oedo.

● Under the command of Hasegawa, the three are on a short leash, having to wear an explosive collar.

● The characters follow the usual template. Sengoku is the moderately cool and slightly aggressive one, Goggle is the genius hacker despite his appearance, and Benten is the mysterious and androgynous pretty boy with superb athletic ability. Hasegawa is the shrewd commander who knows how to play politics.

● The three episodes are standalone stories. Although all three convicts are involved in each case, one of them takes the lead role for each.

● In “Memories of the Past”, someone has hacked into the computer of a space-scraper. Sengoku infiltrates the building to regain control.

● In “The Decoy Program”, the military is after a hacker named Sara, who used to be partners in crime with Goggle. He protects her and so has to fight the military.

● In “Crimson Media”, three unlicensed bio-engineers are murdered with a message left at the scene, seemingly by a vampire. Benten is tasked with solving the case.

Sengoku

Sengoku’s car.

● Visually, the designs are true to the genre and the execution is excellent.

● The details and rendering are awesome, whether it is the cityscape, vehicles, interiors, computer terminals and monitors.

● The tone is dark, making extensive use hard shadows. Glow is also employed. Although somewhat like detective-noir in these respects, it is not overtly gritty even if the environment is sometimes filthy, so it still looks slick.

● The music uses synths a lot, which is consistent to productions from the 1980s. Most of it is functional; for example, serving to go with the mystery and suspense.

Goggle

Benten

● The three episodes are tight and paced very well with a good balance of detective work and action, although the former can be stronger and more intriguing.

● The weakness is the support droid Varsus that speaks in mechanical monotone. Whilst it is understandable that it is meant to be simple and an obvious contrast to human characters, it need not go to that extreme. After all, this is supposed to be set in 2808.

● The other weakness is Jounouchi Kyoko, a young lady who assists the group. She is capable and somewhat naively thinks too well of the three convicts. She is a cool addition but is too much of a token female character, when the character has potential.

● Although not sufficiently long enough to truly explore them, the main characters are not as complex as they could be. They are not simple, which is appreciated. Even if they are on a leash, one expects them to be less like “good guys” and stray more into the morally grey region. But this is a minor issue given the runtime.

● Overall, it is solid work, especially for fans of the genre. Age notwithstanding, the plot and characters are engaging enough, and the visuals are awesome. It deserves at least eight episodes rather than just three.

---

Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list so you get each new Opinyun that comes out!

---