Goku: Midnight Eye
If art imitates life, and in this case anime, then I think that optimistic expectations of a post-eighties future were bleak. Movies like Blade Runner, The Running Man, Robocop, and anime like Angel Cop, Megazone 23, and Metal Skin Panic MADOX 01 display themes in which government is oppressive, society is lawless, and technology dominates our daily lives. While we have fully arrived at some of these themes, I think it is safe to say that we can point the finger and say that we are safely or unsafely on our way to arriving at them all.
In the late eighties and throughout the nineties, many cyberpunk anime was released, perhaps in tandem with the economic bubble in the eighties and the Japanese economic recession, which lasted from 1992 to 2002 (Brookings Institute).
This economic uncertainty gave rise to many philosophical cyberpunk delights as well as a few mental distractions to keep our minds from spraying the walls! Older Otakus will undoubtedly recall the collapse of Atari and the collapse of Sega post-Dreamcast.
Goku: Midnight Eye was released in 1989; a bit of post-eighties cyberpunk goodness riding on the heels of 1988’s Akira. Goku: Midnight Eye or “GME” was animated by the legendary Madhouse Studios under the direction of Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Kawajiri is a fan of the cyberpunk film Blade Runner and director John Carpenter, director of multiple dystopian films including Terminator (1988) and Escape from New York (1981). Elements from these films are seen in GME. Finally, it goes with saying that GME is TV-MA and is not for kids.
GME is an anime adaption of the manga of the same name written by Buichi Terasawa. It follows the story of Goku; a former cop turned private investigator. Like most eighties cops, Goku was an apparent loose canon, a cowboy who subsequently was kicked from the force.
When four of his friends and former colleagues commit suicide, Goku pays his former Chief a visit. Goku is warned about digging his nose where it doesn’t belong, and he digs a little too deep, nearly costing his life and the life of a friend. Goku has a vendetta to settle.
Sound like your typical 80’s action movie? Hell Yes! If anything is to be said about GME, it follows all the usual tropes. It has an untouchable villain (Genji Hakuryu( who operates a nightclub but has his hands in everything from drugs to arms dealing, prostitution, etc., the usual villain vices.
Obviously, he’s above the law, and he wears a white suit! To add to his grandiosity, our villain is complete with a prominent downtown skyscraper, a science team with a mad scientist, and a paramilitary unit.
Goku is the typical 80’s western-style anti-hero sprinkled with a bit of Japanese samurai goodness for good measure. He embodies the spirit of Fist of the North Star’s Kenshiro. A man of honor who cares for his friends and doesn’t play by the rules. Because this is a short OVA rather than a series, there is not much backstory outside of him once being on the force.
We know that he had a romantic interest in the minor character Youko, with who he reunites midway through the story. Youko is introduced as a former colleague he once served with on the force. She assists him in taking down Genji until she is mortally wounded.
When Goku is severely injured, he is given the “Eye of God,” a cybernetic eye that allows access and control over all the world’s computer systems and a mechanical quarterstaff as a weapon of choice. Like the Japanese Tambo and his bionic eye, his weapons meshes the old and new orders, an aesthetic I enjoyed. It is with these tools that the hero is victorious.
GME is well animated with quite a few uniques character designs. Animated by Madhouse Studios, the animation is hand-drawn. The dark colors show a dystopian world with speckles of pinks, yellows, blues, greens, etc.
The lights shown in the landscapes are often blurry and distorted, perhaps due to the business of art, but also helps to amplify the distorted nature of society. The Harley Dancer is an excellent example of this distortion of humanity. She is a mixture of many ideas related to AI, vice, gratification, and death.
Viewers will find themselves immersed in this short OVA featuring great sound and sound effects. There is not much to say here except that GME has a solid sub, and the English dub is no slouch. Come for the action and stay for Steve Blum, I always say. Just now!
For the uninitiated, Steve Blum is to anime dubs in the West what Kamiya Hiroshi is to voice acting in Japan. Steve Blum, best known for voicing Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Roger Smith (The Big O) adds the same flair to Goku that made Spike so famous. Couple Steve with a good ending OST (Fighting in the Danger), and you have the makings for a solid anime.
Admittedly this is not your mama’s cartoon. Anime like GME landed in the West when parents were finding out that this isn’t a kid’s film, and the media was referred to as Japanimation and not anime as it is today.
Ironically, fans of fan service favorite High School of the Dead or Kill la Kill may be put off by the nudity and violence. Released in an era when there was a bit more creative license, Goku: Midnight Eye pushes the boundaries of violence, and nudity, familiar tropes in many action media.
Fans of cyberpunk anime will find this an enjoyable watch, and after some mental gymnastics, safely say this Goku: Midnight Eye, Akira, Big O, and Cowboy Bebop may be part of the same cinematic continuity. Well, maybe not Big O, but think about this, Spike and Goku both have cybernetic eyes received from unknown sources. “SEE YOU LATER, SPACE COWBOY……”
