Angel Cop

Original Title: エンジェルコップ
Romanized: Angel Cop
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Sometime in the future, terrorism in Japan has become commonplace, and the police have become almost as brutal as criminals in response. One cop, known as Angel, is the best of the best, stopping at nothing in her fight for justice.

Angel and her new partner are investigating a series of murders in which the victims are the terrorists, killed in very unpleasant ways by a group of rouge psychics working together to hunt down the lowest scum in the city. But with opponents this dangerous, even surviving this case will be a challenge for Angel and her team.

Review

Rating: 1.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-10-28

This would have to rank among the more disturbing anime I've seen. It's not disturbing because it's the most graphic, or the most violent, or even the most inane. No, Angel Cop is disturbing because of the politics and morality involved (particularly in light of world events since it was created), combining xenophobic overtones with brutal heroes who will stop at nothing to bring criminals to justice.

Things start out on somewhat shaky ground when the plot setup starts sounding unsettlingly like anti-Western isolationist propaganda, but if anything the bigger problem lies in the people that are supposed to be the good guys later on. Among the "how far will you go for justice" questions raised: One of the main characters is initially put off by the idea of discarding his human body for a powerful cybernetic frame more suited for crime fighting, but he eventually comes around, and realizes that it's better to be really tough and ready to whup some criminals than completely human.

But that's not so bad. How about this: in an effort to extract information from a criminal, a group of cops proceed to torture him by cutting off circulation to his arm and letting gangrene do the rest... and worse. Worse, scene didn't indicate that it was anything beyond people willing to do whatever it takes to get vital information--I don't know about you, but even by NYPD Blue standards, that probably qualifies as police brutality. The fact that, so far as I can tell, these people are supposed to be the good guys in the story honestly scares me.

If you put the questionable politics aside, Angel Cop is a decent piece of violent action anime, with a bit of plot thrown in to back up the action. The characters actually have a fair amount of depth, particularly by action flick standards, and the lack of a clear border between the "good guys" and the criminals they're after is handled relatively well--there is some interesting moralizing within the story about the border between criminal and cop (albeit seriously tainted by the story's own messed-up morality).

The story itself is a half-decent detective yarn with a psychic twist, though toward the end things get a little weirder and the mood evolves into more of a desperate showdown/how far will you go to beat the bad guys kind of thing. (Don't take that to mean that the characters start questioning their own brutality--it's more along the lines of self sacrifice.) Had I not had such serious issues empathizing with, or even rooting for, anybody at all in the story, it would have been a pretty good plot.

On the technical end of things, Angel Cop is around average. The animation isn't spectacular, but holds its own, and the character designs are a passable variant of the "dark and angular" style. As for action, there's quite a bit, but less cyberpunk-cop shootouts and more psychic havoc than I was expecting--more Akira than AD Police Files. On the bright side, the psychic stuff is done well. I haven't heard the Japanese version, but the dub is passable--no particular standout performances, but they get the job done.

Overall, if you don't get put off by the supposed good guys (and you should be put off--you might just be able to ignore their "tactics" or find an ironic air I didn't see), and you enjoy a good bit of psychic mayhem and violent overkill, you will probably enjoy Angel Cop--but you've been warned.

(For an alternate opinion, check out this reader's comments...)

Related Recommendations

Angel Cop has some things in common with AD Police Files, but can't compare in terms of style. Ghost in the Shell also deserves a mention, mainly for the setting and far deeper moralizing.

US DVD Review

The bilingual DVD features the whole series in stereo audio in both languages and not much else.

Content Guide

Graphic violence and rough language easily bump this into the 16-up category, and definitely don't let your kids near it unless they have a good sense of what a good guy is supposed to be.

Violence: 4 - Generally violent and bloody, with a few particularly disturbing scenes of torture.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing of note.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Not really.

Language: 3 - Enough expletives in the dub.

Notes and Trivia

There is a single-volume manga adaptation, originally serialized in Newtype starting a year after the first OAV was released. By Taku Kitazaki, ironically much better known for romance comics (in fact, only known for romance comics outside the Angel Cop adaptation), it has a significantly different story and stronger characterization.

Availability

Available on one hybrid DVD from Manga Video; was also available on six dubbed VHS tapes, as well as a one-tape compiled version of the whole series.

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