Angel Cop | Anime Review | Pinnedupink.com

Angel Cop

The last of the bad-ass anime Angel Cop was released during the peak of American action films and embodied the era’s cold war grit. It was created and directed by Ichiro Itano, who was the animator behind such anime as Mobile Suit Gundam, and Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, to name a few. It was released in 1989, a year of political upheaval that would see the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet-Afgan War, and the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Manga Entertainment distributed Angel Cop, and an updated 2018 release is available for streaming and Blu-Ray.

Angel Cop takes place in post-twentieth-century Japan. Japan is the dominant world economic power and is under attack by communist terrorists known as the “Red May” or Communist Red May if we’re specific. The left-wing organization, the Red May, seeks to destroy Japan internally due to its capitalist greed and avarice and control of Japan’s government. Sound familiar? I thought so!

To deal with this threat, Japan has created the ultra-secret organization known as the Special Security Force. Referring to them as “Specials” going forward, these agents are the Judge Dredd’s of Japan, meaning they can dispense justice as needed and operate outside of the bounds of traditional law enforcement agencies.

These Specials, given are the task of destroying the “Red May,” find out that they are not the only ones out to destroy them. Lurking in the shadows, a vigilante group with psychic abilities is also after the Red May and the Specials if they continue to investigate and get closer to the truth.

Every good action film has a good protagonist, an excellent supporting cast, and a few good villains, and believe me, Angel Cop delivers the goods! Angel, our main protagonist (I’ll be using the shortened names from the dub), is a hard nose, get the job done agent. She is often referred to by her partners as a “cold-hearted bitch” for her lack of empathy. She has no qualms about killing terrorists and hostages if it means completing her mission.

She has a noticeable accent in the dub, and I’m sure she is a Jersey girl. I had images of the South Park episode “It’s a Jersey Thing” and ladies screaming “muff cabbage!” Her partner Raiden was the opposite. He was more sympathetic and cared that civilians were not harmed during the operation.

Like Angel, he carries a commitment to duty. When he is severely injured, he undergoes cybernetic enhancement surgery to become Robocop; I mean Guyver, I mean an asset to the force in service of Japan. The two are used in the story to balance each other out, with Angel becoming less of a killing machine and human while Raiden maintains his humanity in a device’s body. The supporting members of The Specials, Peace, Chief Taki, Hacker, and Kuwata round out the unit, helped add to the mixture of grit and humanity.

Angel Cop, like many anime, has multiple villains and agendas at play (spoilers). In the beginning, we have the Red May, with Tachihara becoming the leader. Behind-the-scenes players are Togawa, the division chief for the Tokyo Police, and Masaka, the governor of Tokyo and the ultimate puppet master. There are the vigilantes Freya, Asura, and Lucifer, with Lucifer being the primary antagonist. Lastly, I wouldn’t call him a villain, but Ichihara, who creates the cybernetics used by Raiden, comes off as tired and has a bit of a god complex as the Hunter Program replaced his cybernetics program.

First and foremost, Angel Cop is an eighties anime and borrows very heavily from ’80s culture, and for someone who grew up in the era, I found it hilarious. For example, Angel, like several other characters, has big hair. Common in other anime, Ken from Fist of the Northstar, Hikaru, and Lynn Minmey had great hairstyles. I also feel that the creators of Angel Cop were fans of Brigette Neilson, as Lucifer bears a striking resemblance to her. Including the white fur coat, she wears.

The anime itself is dated, which is to be expected for its time. It’s not vivid, but the use of darks and hues shapes the Japanese underworld’s grit and violence. There are scenes in which the animation looks dated, and it is apparent that a corner or two were cut. On the flip side, there are scenes and stills in which the art and animation are praise-worthy.

The soundtrack isn’t anything spectacular but it fits the gritty themes of Angel Cop. The organs in episode 6 stand out as they set the mood for the climactic battle with Lucifer. Angel Cop keeps the intro simple with its blood splatter intro; no music just the sound of blood speeling the name “Angel Cop.” The outro is very upbeat though the animation reminds me of something from a 16 bit Nintendo game.

I wanted to be harder on this anime, but I can’t! It is a gritty cop/terrorist, “Japanese-exploitation” drama that provides a historical narrative regarding cold war politics, police corruption, and capitalist greed. It shows how dehumanizing certain situations can become, and ideals can become skewed. At six episodes, it is short, it left me entertained but it did not leave me clamoring for more.

The violence and nudity were standard fare and not excessive. The villains were nothing special and were similar to other anime and films of the period. Lucifer wore her name well and was a vicious idealist who believed her cause was just and absolute. I had hoped for a twist in her persona when she was told Masaka was using her, but that was not the case. All in all, it’s worth the watch, and I would give it a safe 6/10.