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I was not aware of the visual reputation of this one until I saw Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody a few years ago, where there was a massive left-field style change at the beginning with people smoking in a dark billiard room and our characters becoming unrecognizable through said style change. It was both a gag and an excuse to revel in that aesthetic (the third Project A-Ko entry is bar none the most fun after the first for this and many other reasons), but it sure did spark a curiosity to see what the fuss was about its influence; Megazone 23 – Part II

And oh boy was the aesthetic jump between parts 1 & 2 undersold! Not only did I not recognize the characters if their names weren’t said outloud but the general air pressure of it all has just changed entirely. 

I HAVE NEVER SEEN AN ANIME THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY ANIMATION THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS. The closest proxy is basically any hyper detailed offshoots that came AFTER in the late 80s and early 90s like the entire career of Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Lensman, his last work before this came out, looks far more standard and maleable and closer to the first Megazone than anything that came after in his career) and maybe Angel Cop by the same director as this, but even then they do not capture the absolute eye melting and hand-breaking animation that is on display here. The actual movements of said animation can’t help but be highly uneven and stiff at times under the weight of all visible detail, even making me wonder if they had any model references for shots that are wider than a medium, yet at times it stuns when it seems to be sped up in a such a way that combined with the style I felt like I was seeing something absolutely new and ceiling breaking in this medium for the first time in years!

And yet it has largely fallen into oblivion since its hay day in all likelihood due to the unspoken requirement to watch the lesser first film, which is its own acquired taste cocktail of nonsense and a bad action ‘action anime’ that is so unlike this that its unlikely you’ll connect to both, and even with the first film you are still so very much in the dark about what is happening, who is who and what is going on at all times due to the tone shift, the character design shift and the overall events that have transpired between. It’s not TOO oblique, as I was able to follow it enough to get invested and even thematically picked up on what it was putting down, but it is a tall ask for most general audiences (this is why we can’t have nice things) and has almost certainly contributed to no one REALLY being too passionate about it. The third entry also looks dull as hell in comparison to this and even the first, so interest def fainted fast after this one peaked the series.

Sincerely I do like it for more than just for it being aesthetic porn. It has a really interesting and rightful message about how the punk youth shall inherit the future because they are the only ones willing to fight for something that is innately human and built on connection in the face of oppression, I love the darker sequel set-up of the various elements, I love that we get an actual larger woman character in this who is brass, confident and kicks ass and is NOT PUNISHED FOR IT or diminished for her looks, and I am always in the camp for having an exchange of philosophies inside a simulated dreamlike pocket world, having massive destruction set to pop music and loud ultraviolence and 80s soaked fashion, environs and visual flashes. For something that is so essentially about youth it sure feels and looks more adult than 99% of most anime that actually purports to be made for and about adults. Hell, it does a way better job at conveying the message of ‘sincerity is the new punk’ than something like James Gunn’s Superman by having actual punk characters fight for a sincere tomorrow and the ones they love and care about and wrestling with their feelings in a genuinely oppressive world and never once winking and putting itself on a pedestal for it. It is achingly human and begging for people to maintain connected at its core, no matter the personal cost.

This initial watch was perhaps a bit too much to take in on the face of it, but it sure will be revisited for all those positives and in the search of even more as there were plenty of other glimmers in the visual and narrative noise of it all. For now I’ll simply relish in what an astounding piece of visual media it is and toot the lonesome horns it has giveth in the hopes that enough folks will find a renewed interest and that creatives look to it again to see that animation is a truly limitless medium of pure soul, craft and vision. Let the punks tell us which way to go, always.

PS: It’s so fun seeing how many animes in the 80s borrowed literal sound effects from the original Star Wars trilogy blatantly without permission. This is the first time I’ve head the speeders from Return of the Jedi in any other piece of media (trust me, I’d know, that sound is engraved on my soul) and of course you have the obligatory light saber sound (but not too loud and not fully, gotta avoid copyright y’all).

PPS: I need everyone to see how delicious the Project A-Ko 3 opening is.