Angel Cop has a promising beginning, but quickly goes south. The first episode gives us the impression that we'll be watching a violent political thriller with cyberpunk overtones. The plot looks like it will follow an elite government agency's attempts to stop a group of communist terrorists plotting to plunge Japan into chaos.
Then the psychics show up.
At the end of the first episode, a psychokinetic girl tears apart one of the terrorists. She is soon joined by two other, even more powerful psychics. Even though both groups oppose the terrorists, the cops soon start fighting the psychics, with the aid of mecha suits. From here, the plot simply goes insane.
The problem with this anime is that it simply does not make any sense. It is entirely style over substance, a convoluted mess of political intrigue and sci-fi violence. Further muddling matters is that the American distributor had to rewrite much of the expository dialogue due to anti-Semitic / anti-American content, further blurring the plot. Finally, the anime does not end so much as it stops. The overall political plot is never resolved.
The series does benefit from some good action sequences, courtesy of animators who worked on Akira. However, the plot ultimately sinks it.
Then the psychics show up.
At the end of the first episode, a psychokinetic girl tears apart one of the terrorists. She is soon joined by two other, even more powerful psychics. Even though both groups oppose the terrorists, the cops soon start fighting the psychics, with the aid of mecha suits. From here, the plot simply goes insane.
The problem with this anime is that it simply does not make any sense. It is entirely style over substance, a convoluted mess of political intrigue and sci-fi violence. Further muddling matters is that the American distributor had to rewrite much of the expository dialogue due to anti-Semitic / anti-American content, further blurring the plot. Finally, the anime does not end so much as it stops. The overall political plot is never resolved.
The series does benefit from some good action sequences, courtesy of animators who worked on Akira. However, the plot ultimately sinks it.