Appleseed

Nice distopia animated film from Japan. Complex storyline, but told nicely.

Released the same year as Akira, this Masamune Shirow story is far more an artifact of 80s Anime, whereas Akira points the way to how anime will look in the 90s. This early Mecha movie is violent, profanity laden and action packed, with a really nice story and interesting philosophical undertones. And interestingly, this is one of the very few animes where the English track is actually the best one.

Great anime movie, one of the first I saw.

not that my anime needs to be bloody, but for what this is, its good, but its not bloody enough.

Gainax production or no, it feels as if much of the flash (and budget) got poured into the endearingly cheesy little live action companion to this OVA. Still, it delivers a relatively decent one-off story that makes use of the setting and the sort of questions it's built to pose, and a bit of action when it comes to it. Though it does presume familiarity with the setting and characters, as you won't really get to know them much from watching this.