Now This is Heavy Metal

It really is a lot of work to enjoy summer while it lasts, especially while other people are doing the same at my job, hence my lack of recent updates. But I did have time to bum around my local F.Y.E. Recently, where I was lucky enough to find used copies of Venus Wars and Hades Project Zeorymer, neither of which I had seen before. I snapped them up, because when has Central Park Media ever licensed anything bad?

Venus Wars takes place in a future where humans have colonized Venus, and two rival factions now fight for its control. Earth reporter Susan Sommers arrives just as Ishtar launches an all-out surprise attack, and in the chaos falls in with a team of competitive bikers led by Hiro Seno.  Hiro hates the war as well as the fat cat politicians and greedy opportunists he sees as the cause, and the film follows him and his gang as they deal with the ongoing struggle and slowly come to terms with it.

The amount of time and effort put into this film clearly shows; it looks quite good by 80s standards. Unfortunately, I feel my expectations of the movie blunted my enjoyment of it in several ways. First of all, it's nowhere near as creative and vibrant as director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's masterpiece Crusher Joe. Unfair as the comparison may be, the dry, colorless atmosphere of Venus couples with the more realistic backgrounds and mechanical designs to create a somewhat workmanlike effect. Very little catches your eye visually. I can understand that crazy war machines and slam-bang action wasn't exactly the focus, but I still can't help but be disappointed at how few truly impressive scenes I can recall.

The second, bigger complaint (just as unfair) is that the story has been done before. Better. Recently. When Venus Wars came out, it was just a few years removed from real classics like Akira and the Megazone 23 OVAs. Both had rebellious youths dealing with problems caused by adults through their lust for power, unwillingness to correct their own mistakes, and/or simple stubbornness. Trouble is, both also had much more focused plots than Venus Wars, which meanders into scenes that don't always serve much purpose. It sure doesn't help that this particular group of rebellious youths is probably the least interesting of the three films' heroes, whither it be personality-wise or purely on a visual level. Venus Wars just doesn't hold up as well; a shame considering the money and talent behind it.

Turns out Hades Project Zeorymer brought forth a similar feeling of deja vu. In this four-episode OVA, fifteen-year-old Masaki gets forced by a shadowy government organization to pilot the giant robot Zeorymer. He then fights a series of imposing-yet-gimmicky enemies created in a similar manner to his own mecha, but as his discomfort with piloting grows, the focus shifts to Masaki's daddy issues and the existential dilemmas of the supporting cast. There's also a mysterious girl of similar age, who acts just odd enough to frequently be referred to as doll-like.

Ring any bells?

Yep, it's Eva. . . before Eva! Whereas Venus Wars recalled the big hits of years past, Zeorymer, released a few months prior to the film, bears an eerie resemblance to another hit years in the future.

I can't go very deep into the rest of the plot due to massive spoilers (conveniently included on the back of the DVD case!); they really cram a lot into four episodes. This could have easily gone on longer, and one of my complaints is that some payoffs feel rushed and underwhelming. Still, there's plenty of enjoyment to be had if you like mecha battles and crappy people coming to terms with their flawed personalities. That's a lot more than I expected from the director of Apocalypse Zero!

Hopefully my next post gets up a little quicker; August was a busy month for me, so I kinda cheaped out with my initial impressions of some impulse purchases. The current season's kinda stumping me for content, as most shows are either just okay or full of so many problems that writing about them intimidates me. You saw my rage with Gate already, and hopefully a Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace review will follow soon.

On that note, see you all next time!