All you really need to know is Angel Cop boasts decent action scenes, gratuitous violence and a hilarious English dub with such gems as "If this is justice, then I'm a banana!" Starts with an anime Dirty Harry, throw in a cyberpunk element and psychic powers like so many anime of the time, and you have an admittedly interesting setup. Unfortunately, the plot is flimsy and silly, the protagonist is easy to hate and the villain masterminds are practically cardboard cutouts. The final fight with a nigh-invulnerable psychic is neat, but all importance is quickly diminished by our incredibly inept hero. I like the weapon concepts; Recoil so high it breaks your arm, or muzzle flash so bright it fries your retinas. Not surprisingly, there's excessive violence to go along with it. Anyway, watch it for the laughs.

Plot Synopsis: Japan in the early 21st Century. Due to an increased incidence of terrorist attacks, the Japanese government has created the Special Security Force, an elite six-man team with wide ranging powers including a licence to kill. They have been assigned to take down the Red May, a Communist group that has been trying to bring down the government. While pursuing some members of the Red May, one of the SSF agents, Raiden, is injured. His partner, Angel, catches up with the terrorists, only to find their mutilated corpses. Later the SSF captures the leader of the terrorists, who reveals that he has information that implicates the higher echelons of the government in a secret deal with American companies to turn one of Japan's islands into a toxic waste dump. But before they can arrest the remaining Red May members, the terrorists are killed by a trio of immensely powerful psychic vigilantes known as "hunters". The leader of the hunters, Lucifer, decides to eliminate the SSF on the supposed grounds of aiding the terrorists. As Lucifer cuts a swathe of destruction throughout the city, picking off the SSF agents one by one, Angel & Raiden (who has been converted into a super-powered cyborg by a rogue scientist) must defeat her while trying to survive attacks by the regular army.Film Review: Angel Cop was one of the early OVA (Original Video Animation) features to come out of Japan. OVA features were anime films that were edited into several episodes & released direct-to-video. In a way they were the Japanese equivalent of the USA's DTV market.This particular OVA feature has a real bizarre identity crisis. Anyone who first sees the title would think that the film is about angelic police officers (without looking at the video cover, which features a half-naked woman holding a gun). But once you watch the first episode, you get the impression that it is a political action thriller. Indeed, from here it looks like an interesting concept with some very highly-charged political story lines involving communists trying to overthrow Japan.But once the second episode begins, the show's real intent becomes clear – it is just another standard anime sci-fi / action series disguised as a political thriller (it seems that the makers were either disinterested in the plot or simply didn't know how to continue the story along without throwing in cyborgs, psychics or countless explosions).Angel Cop features all the hallmarks of the genre, as well as the clichés – powerful near-indestructible cyborgs, ridiculously powerful psychics, lots of big guns & an insane amount of explosions that, if were the show filmed in live action, would bankrupt any effects company daring enough to try it. Each battle outdoes the previous one in terms of size & destruction caused that it all becomes mind-numbing by the last episode – not only that but the show misses the opportunity to build up the battles dramatically, with the show limping from one battle to the next.As nothing else than a catalogue of destruction, Angel Cop manages to entertain enough for it to be rated as strictly mediocre (although it does manage to compare to the works of Michael Bay, the infamous American director who enjoys making films that cater to the lowest common denominator by employing mindless destruction scenes). The initial confrontation between the SSF & the hunters is the show's highlight, with the appearance of the young psychic bathed in flames but not actually burning proving to be intensely weird. In this regard, it's hard to fault the show. Another problem is that Angel Cop tries to act very ambitious, with the villains being some corrupt politicians in the pay of the Americans (indeed the original cut of the series was incredibly anti-American – the English redub largely cuts such content out although some of the essence remains). It is also quite amusing to note that Angel Cop was made shortly before the Asian economic crisis dragged Japan down from near-superpower status.The other problem with Angel Cop is the severity of its content – it is needlessly gory, with bodies blown apart, heads exploding & the like. I like gore but gore without context (such as featured here) is just mindless. It also features a lot of foul language.It is interesting to point out that Angel Cop's core concept – that of an elite counter-terrorist unit – was later used twenty years later for GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX, a more authentic series that managed to carry out its goings on with a whole lot more intelligence to it.

Angel Cop isn't quality in the political correct sense of high culture, perhaps a bit depending on the audio-track. In the west its "known" for its cursing. Im not a fan of it normally. I would even say i dislike it. But even i have to admit its done in special combinations in release from the ordinary ordeals. Its not political correct in any way, for that matter. Our "Angel" is a really ruthless agent and doesn't even cry to many rivers if one of her own men gets hurt. The unusual stile is to my knowledge closest to "I come in peace" with Dolph Lundgren. Its starts out as a Police-typo story with heavy firefights against natural bad-guys. But later a new threat is on the menu. Its up there with the most violent animated features ever. But its well made. There is also a political sidetrack which makes it hold together a bit better. For me personally a very entertaining classic.

This DVD is well worth your time only if you are a serious anime fan. This is not mindless violence and the overall character development throughout the series is solid. I must admit it's one of my favorites right up there with Berserk.Angel is a female cop fighting terrorist with an unknown enemy behind the scenes called "Hunters"Keywords: Hard Boiled Cop, Gun-Play, Female Gun-Play, Special Powers/Hero Powers, Japanese Manga, Shonen Jump, Shonen Sunday.Anime quality is not top of the line but those who know Anime will certainly appreciate this type of 'drawing style' along with the eerie music. It's harder edge for a more mature male audience. Shonen "Sunday" demographic.It's well worth it and throw it on your Netflix Que or pick it up at your local video store. The Japanese spoken word with English subtitle is always the best way to go.Special Security Force…sign up! RGMitchell