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Title (English) Oz
Title (Japanese) Oz
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book cover

Fantasy Novel

Notes From the manga by ITSUKI Natsumi, published in LaLa magazine.
OVA, 35min x2. LD 70 Min, 2 tapes 35 min each. [Shoujo Anime List].
Classification shoujo
Synopsis A nuclear war has killed most of humanity and split the USA into six warring states. By 2021, a legend has grown up about the fabled city of OZ where everything still works. Scientist Felicia sets out in search of it with the mercenary Muto and android 1019. At the end of the quest they only discover a military base and a madman. (GC)

A mercenary was hired by a girl to bring her to the mythical Oz (a paradise) where her missing brother supposedly lived. Accompanying them was a cyborg sent by her brother. But Oz was not the paradise it seemed and her brother was not as sane as he was smart. (LAP)

Review OZ #1 opens with a military helicopter flying over a desert landscape, while a complicated explanatory text scrolls up the screen. World War III has been followed by incessant local warfare. A young woman, Dr Felicia Epstein, is a passenger. The helicopter lands, somewhere in the former USA. In the next scene Felicia is in a city street, being bothered by louts, but she is rescued by a handsome young soldier, "Sergeant", who single-handed makes a mess of the thugs.
Apparently Felicia is going to a lab. where her father has been developing androids. She seeks news of her brother, Leon, who has disappeared. Unfortunately as she gets near the whole area is trashed in a series of explosions. In the ruins of the lab, the local forces with Felicia and the Sergeant uncover a refrigerated capsule containing an android of handsome and androgynous appearance. The androids revives and escapes while they talk. It makes a mess of some tanks with a laser weapon, and is about to throttle Sergeant Muto when Felicia emotionally intervenes. The android recognises her as "Master" and, speaking in a low-pitched but feminine voice it introduces itself as "Epstein 1019".
In the remainder of the episode, it is revealed that the android is under orders to escort Felicia to an utopian high-tech enclave known as 'OZ', in Central America, where her brother is working. Just to complicate matters, if Sgt Muto is to accompany Felicia he has to desert from his unit, and he runs into some old comrades. There are three series of androids, all from Oz, but of different development levels, diferent programming and different personal agendas. Leon has ordered that the 1019 series be scrapped but 1019 resists this order. In short, there is a lot more action and complicated goings-on including a plane crash, and a skirmish with mercenaries. There is also some romantic interest between certain characters and the very humanoid androids.
In OZ#2, the OZ operation has been perceived as dangerous, and Sgt. Muto, back in the US, has been given orders to infiltrate it. Most of the action in OZ #2 takes place in OZ, in Central America. There is a scene between 1024 and Muto's friend which really works as an emotional interchange, rising above the animation medium and the incomprehensibility of the dialogue.
This series has interesting ideas, with attractive designs in places, but it's quite 'talky' so unless you are fluent in Japanse you really need to watch the fansub. The story skips about rapidly, and it seems that more length and a bigger budget would have improved the videos but (in fansub form) it's well worth seeing. (GC)

What I like especially about this is the theme of whether a programmed machine, ie, the cyborg, can have feelings. Apparently, the cyborg's programming went awry (female mind inside a male's body) and he began to have a personality of his own. (LAP) Rating ***

Credits Dir: Katsuhisa Yamada.
Des: Toyomi Sugiyama.
Episodes 2
Release Jap:LD, Jap:VHS
TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date 1992
Production Madhouse
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

 

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