Terrorists attack a U. S. Embassy in Japan. The Special Security Force (SSF) are put on the case. Great detective work, graphic action, thrilling motorcycle chases, gruesome torture, counterterrorism, government corruption, and classified documents revealing a chemical weapon plan (unloading nuclear waste on the Japanese population) all unfold. And it all worked. I loved it! Enter a group of psychic hunters who are also pursuing the terrorists. Their abilities change to serve the plot (I hate that). You'd think they and the SSF are on the same side. Right? They both want to stop terrorist attacks against Japan. However, midway through the series, the nuclear weapon, government corruption, and terrorism story is sidelined. Instead, one of the three psychic hunters named Lucifer goes rogue and starts fighting and killing the SSF. Lucifer starts off as a tall, cold-stone fox (think young Brigitte Nielsen). Later, she becomes some huge, Hulk-like villain who battles the SSF, mainly Angel Cop and this goes on and on. She's indestructible, so the fights go on and on and on until the final episode. It became a different series. It became the Lucifer show. In the end, the show tries to bring it back to the nuclear waste, terrorism, corrupt government story, but it's rushed and too late to save the series.
16 Reviews
First Half Hooks and Thrills You. Second Half is an Unfocused Lucifer Show.
jamericanbeauty20 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
great movie
abadgorilla23 January 2014
i saw the American dubbed version and loved it...
i wish there were more movies like this now-days..no production will spent money on that kind of films anymore. the plot is not really clear.. and i heard that the original version is anti-American / antisemitic. still think it does not matter for this kind of movies... i liked the animation and the style of drawing the "villain" character is ridiculously strong.
so if you like those old gory anime with a basic plot line, and amazing character design, this movie is for you! & you would also like: wicked city ,ninja scroll.
enjoy
i wish there were more movies like this now-days..no production will spent money on that kind of films anymore. the plot is not really clear.. and i heard that the original version is anti-American / antisemitic. still think it does not matter for this kind of movies... i liked the animation and the style of drawing the "villain" character is ridiculously strong.
so if you like those old gory anime with a basic plot line, and amazing character design, this movie is for you! & you would also like: wicked city ,ninja scroll.
enjoy
angel cop
rgmitchell1 January 2005
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
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
Violent anime at it's best
cpudsey5 May 2003
OK, this isn't exactly the thinking man's Manga, but a kickass, nonstop action romp nonetheless. A lot of people will criticise this movie for having a weak storyline, underdeveloped characters or whatever, but it has one thing in spades - violence! Head popping, limb wrenching, flesh burning violent action in all of it's glory. And isn't that the main reason why people watch these kind of Manga films? Also, the standard of the animation is very high, an essential requirement for any kind of animated feature in my book. An anime film could tell the greatest story since War and Peace, but, if it has the kind of animation that makes early Hanna Barbera cartoons look like masterpieces, I'll turn it off after about ten minutes. Anyway, the plot and storyline aren't as bad as many would have you believe, certainly not compared to the standard of most anime features. Maybe it wasn't surrealistic enough, perhaps some people would have been happier if it all turned out to be a metaphor, unveiling the mysteries of evolution and the spirituality of man. For me, this flick has it all - violent "cops on the edge", slowmo shootouts, vengeful cyborgs and psychotic superhuman killers. If there were a live action film that had all of this backed up with cutting edge effects, I'd go see it in a minute. Angel Cop is well worth watching for any fan of in-your-face, violent action anime.
At first, a hard Boiled cyberpunk show, finally lapses into a crazed inflammatory finale.
c-conley9029 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Angel Cop would seem like any other dark and extreme Japanese anime from the late 80s/early 90s. The thing that makes this movie infamous is the sudden final act of the OVA, the inflammatory, crazy reveal that turns the show from a mundane action show to a laugh riot of obscene wrongness. People with extreme politically correct attitudes will probably not approve and neither did Manga Video. They censored the long winded conspiracy theory rant from the police force leader at the end of the OVA to remove heavy themes of Anti-American and plain racist talk in a final part of the OVA. But really it only comes from the obscenely wrong police force leader who let's face it isn't good either. No one's good in this story. Or innocent. It's still an inflammatory and offensive scene that turns the otherwise action packed and somewhat character driven series off the rails to crazy land. It's laugh out loud hilarious in the true meaning as well as the dubbed take of it.
It's honestly if the final reveal was written by a Anti-American, Neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist.
And it would have been one thing if it was just Anti-American conspiracy theories.
It's honestly if the final reveal was written by a Anti-American, Neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist.
And it would have been one thing if it was just Anti-American conspiracy theories.
Decent action, hilarious dub
ReptiDomus15 January 2017
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.
Brainless ultraviolence
kaworu-331 December 2000
"Angel Cop" is mind-numbingly violent, no question about that. It is also mind-numbingly stupid.
The plot to this six-part direct-to-video anime series revolves around a Communist terrorist organization out to topple Japan's economy on their first step to taking over the world, three psychic assassins that take orders from some very powerful (and corrupt) government positions, and the Special Security Force, which is the only police force in Japan that is actually allowed to fire their guns.
"Angel Cop" is idiotic, but it does have some redeeming values. First off being the English dubbing, which is laughably bad ("If this is justice, then I'm a banana!"). Second is that it does not pretend to be any smarter than it actually is. Third is the above-average animation quality.
I'd recommend this one for anybody seeking a mindless action fest, but make sure the kids are in bed first.
The plot to this six-part direct-to-video anime series revolves around a Communist terrorist organization out to topple Japan's economy on their first step to taking over the world, three psychic assassins that take orders from some very powerful (and corrupt) government positions, and the Special Security Force, which is the only police force in Japan that is actually allowed to fire their guns.
"Angel Cop" is idiotic, but it does have some redeeming values. First off being the English dubbing, which is laughably bad ("If this is justice, then I'm a banana!"). Second is that it does not pretend to be any smarter than it actually is. Third is the above-average animation quality.
I'd recommend this one for anybody seeking a mindless action fest, but make sure the kids are in bed first.
So close to brilliance.
trismale1 January 2019
As I've put in the title. This series came very close to being an all time classic. Hence my 9/10 instead of a possible 6/10. To explain... Angel Cop is essentially an 'Indie' style of anime with all the same flaws. Some talented people came up with a great concept and did the absolute best they could with limited resources. The result is average animation, passable voice acting and a much shorter series length than the concept deserves. Even today, I believe it's well worth a look, so long as you have an open mind.
When bad anime attacks...
Zombified_6601 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Most anime, especially those from the 80s got a major mauling from companies rolling over themselves trying to get them into English. Nowadays, dubbing is much better and normally exactly the same as the subtitled screenplay, but back around '89-'96 it was a different matter, and anime was viewed mainly as fodder for action movie buffs and cyberpunks, so it was dubbed as so. Didn't matter how sensitive the original was, the western version sounded like Die Hard. With more swearing. I start with this anecdote because Angel Cop is so bad, the cheesy and unnecessarily vulgar 80s dubbing is the least of its problems.
Even in the original Japanese, Angel Cop would have still limped in over the finish line somewhere around the 99th place mark. The animation is so unnervingly rigid and stagnant it makes La Jetee look action-packed, the character design makes it almost impossible to discern what gender characters are without looking at their chest or waiting for their first line of hideously cheap, unpleasant dialogue, and it manages to pretty much clinch the victory for the most vile main character in history with the titular Angel.
Angel makes Bad Leutenant look like Willy freaking Wonka. This woman is mean, unpleasant and difficult to get along with from the get-go. When she's not indiscriminately shooting anyone not in a police uniform Death Wish style, she's either espousing patriotic garbage about how great the government in her society is, or she's yelling at people for no obvious reason. Dysfunctional characters are one thing, but Angel is about as much fun to spend screen-time with as a bad case of the mumps.
That's pretty much enough to wreck it, given that all movies and TV series need a key character or two you can relate to, but there's more. The plot is awful, a generic Z Grade political thriller come Blade Runner rip-off that should have been shot by snipers as it attempted to enter the building. Add to that an alarming level of pointlessly tasteless violence, bad mecha design from the 'I can't be bothered to draw today I'm going to trace Shinji Aramaki's...WHOOPS I SLIPPED' school of production design, and Angel Cop is hobbling down the track with two busted kneecaps. Seriously, avoid this series. Like you'd avoid a giant rat with rabies.
If it serves any purpose to society and culture at all, Angel Cop is a footnote and a dire warning as to how far even generic, lowest-common-denominator anime has come, and how far it potentially has to fall. It's a badly dubbed, nasty, sloppily put together heap of anime waste product, and as such should be avoided as carefully as possible.
Even in the original Japanese, Angel Cop would have still limped in over the finish line somewhere around the 99th place mark. The animation is so unnervingly rigid and stagnant it makes La Jetee look action-packed, the character design makes it almost impossible to discern what gender characters are without looking at their chest or waiting for their first line of hideously cheap, unpleasant dialogue, and it manages to pretty much clinch the victory for the most vile main character in history with the titular Angel.
Angel makes Bad Leutenant look like Willy freaking Wonka. This woman is mean, unpleasant and difficult to get along with from the get-go. When she's not indiscriminately shooting anyone not in a police uniform Death Wish style, she's either espousing patriotic garbage about how great the government in her society is, or she's yelling at people for no obvious reason. Dysfunctional characters are one thing, but Angel is about as much fun to spend screen-time with as a bad case of the mumps.
That's pretty much enough to wreck it, given that all movies and TV series need a key character or two you can relate to, but there's more. The plot is awful, a generic Z Grade political thriller come Blade Runner rip-off that should have been shot by snipers as it attempted to enter the building. Add to that an alarming level of pointlessly tasteless violence, bad mecha design from the 'I can't be bothered to draw today I'm going to trace Shinji Aramaki's...WHOOPS I SLIPPED' school of production design, and Angel Cop is hobbling down the track with two busted kneecaps. Seriously, avoid this series. Like you'd avoid a giant rat with rabies.
If it serves any purpose to society and culture at all, Angel Cop is a footnote and a dire warning as to how far even generic, lowest-common-denominator anime has come, and how far it potentially has to fall. It's a badly dubbed, nasty, sloppily put together heap of anime waste product, and as such should be avoided as carefully as possible.
Amazingly amusingly and uncompromisingly violent gore-fest.
FilmernasGud26 October 2011
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.
Badly Plotted Anime
TheExpatriate70011 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
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.
Cyberpunk Full Metal Alchemist for adults.
nyarnebbanot26 March 2020
Saw Angel Cop on YouTube, but it's better seeing it on blue ray. Anyway Angel Cop is a 80's Japanese Anime that is violent as it gets. Here is the thing the actual Sub version of this mini series is anti-semetic.
STORY In a not to distant future the Nippon empire becomes so powerful that it could not be stopped. Except for a large communist coup de' tat terrorist group.
A woman named Angel and a bunch of other task force and the police departement are going to take down the conspiracy against Lucifer and a little girl with super powers who is being used.
Lucifier is basically like Lust from FMA. There are many scenes like in FMA where one of the characters get interrogated and tortured but heavily for the truth. Many swat scenes like in FMA. Many many men.
CHARACTERS Imagine all the charm of FMA flushed away for pure mean spiritedness and you have Angel cop.
Angel is stern yet caring. We also have a guy who dresses like a complete tool with no shirt. His name is Raiden and he becomes a cyborg later just like Al.
Most of the characters are either good or bad. But they all feel the same so you can't really tell the difference.
Also there is a nerd girl named Hacker who is just like the librarian from FMA.
ANIMATION The animation is really great. It either goes from really bad to really good. Like most of the animation in itself are fluid and nice despite the characters acting like stiff robots 90% of the time. And the art style is nice. A bit intense but I like how they make the large detailed characters and detailed machinery and violence.
SOUND The sound in Angel Cop is good but the dub is GOLD.
"AHH! THIS PISTOL F-D MY SHOOTING ARM!" "YOU'RE GONNA BE THE DEAD RANGER!" So many swearing. Angel sounds like an angry lesbian dodgeball coach. It's quite wonderful. I feel like nothing has aged about this series at all.
OVERALL Angel Cop is a fun must watch. But probably too much for feminine FMA fangirls.
STORY In a not to distant future the Nippon empire becomes so powerful that it could not be stopped. Except for a large communist coup de' tat terrorist group.
A woman named Angel and a bunch of other task force and the police departement are going to take down the conspiracy against Lucifer and a little girl with super powers who is being used.
Lucifier is basically like Lust from FMA. There are many scenes like in FMA where one of the characters get interrogated and tortured but heavily for the truth. Many swat scenes like in FMA. Many many men.
CHARACTERS Imagine all the charm of FMA flushed away for pure mean spiritedness and you have Angel cop.
Angel is stern yet caring. We also have a guy who dresses like a complete tool with no shirt. His name is Raiden and he becomes a cyborg later just like Al.
Most of the characters are either good or bad. But they all feel the same so you can't really tell the difference.
Also there is a nerd girl named Hacker who is just like the librarian from FMA.
ANIMATION The animation is really great. It either goes from really bad to really good. Like most of the animation in itself are fluid and nice despite the characters acting like stiff robots 90% of the time. And the art style is nice. A bit intense but I like how they make the large detailed characters and detailed machinery and violence.
SOUND The sound in Angel Cop is good but the dub is GOLD.
"AHH! THIS PISTOL F-D MY SHOOTING ARM!" "YOU'RE GONNA BE THE DEAD RANGER!" So many swearing. Angel sounds like an angry lesbian dodgeball coach. It's quite wonderful. I feel like nothing has aged about this series at all.
OVERALL Angel Cop is a fun must watch. But probably too much for feminine FMA fangirls.
Oh man....
fragwall2 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Just to clarify, I am not a huge anime or manga fan. Angel Cop is far from worst but it is not good, either. I watched it in original Japanese language; not the English dub, because it was laughably bad. It's really hard to review this but I'll try. The only thing I like about this anime is Angel herself, but not in terms of character (let's not ignore the fact that she's a heartless cop who does not care about killing baddies, although she did gained sympathies and showed concern towards the end, which is a good thing) but in terms of appearance: she's hot, let's admit that. Her blue armor was hot, too. Aside from that, this OVA was abysmal. It is wasted potential. I find the gore to be very unneccessary. There's some good stuff like the fight scenes and the terrorists infiltration scenes was suspenseful. Would I recommend this to anyone? I have not much positive things thing to say as I thought I just wasted my time on this abysmal OVA. Seriously, it is bad and a waste of time.
A n underrated anime gem that is a must-see for fans of this era's anime
kevin_robbins21 September 2023
My daughter and I recently enjoyed Angel Cop (1989) on Tubi. The plot unfolds in a futuristic society where a specialized police force is established to combat terrorist organizations. However, when members of this force begin to turn up dead, a relentless female officer takes it upon herself to track down those responsible and serve justice.
This series, brought to life by Ichirô Itano (Fist of the North Star), features the voices of Sharon Holm (Batman), Jeff Harding (Hackers), Daniel Flynn (The Bill), Peter Marinker (Labyrinth) and Lorelei King (The Saint).
Angel Cop is a delightful anime gem from the 1980s, characterized by animation that evokes memories of "Street Fighter" graphics. The series presents a captivating premise, an engaging storyline, and a gritty depiction of the future. The characters are charismatic action heroes, making it easy to root for them, and they are equipped with cool weapons, vehicles, and costumes. The action and fight sequences are nothing short of amazing and deliver intense moments with gore and blood splatter. While the ending is satisfying, I'd love seeing a sequel.
In summary, Angel Cop stands as an underrated anime gem 💎 that is a must-see for fans of this era's anime. I would give it a solid 8/10 and strongly recommend it.
This series, brought to life by Ichirô Itano (Fist of the North Star), features the voices of Sharon Holm (Batman), Jeff Harding (Hackers), Daniel Flynn (The Bill), Peter Marinker (Labyrinth) and Lorelei King (The Saint).
Angel Cop is a delightful anime gem from the 1980s, characterized by animation that evokes memories of "Street Fighter" graphics. The series presents a captivating premise, an engaging storyline, and a gritty depiction of the future. The characters are charismatic action heroes, making it easy to root for them, and they are equipped with cool weapons, vehicles, and costumes. The action and fight sequences are nothing short of amazing and deliver intense moments with gore and blood splatter. While the ending is satisfying, I'd love seeing a sequel.
In summary, Angel Cop stands as an underrated anime gem 💎 that is a must-see for fans of this era's anime. I would give it a solid 8/10 and strongly recommend it.
Crappy animation, crappy characters, crappy story in one single package
TooKakkoiiforYou_32116 December 2020
That completely destroys itself in the incredible time of ONE EPISODE AND AN HALF with the introduction of psychic villains that have NOTHING to do at all with the starting premises. A fourth-fifth rate product of the late 80's anime invasion at best, completely forgotten and for a good reason. If you want something equally silly in its premises and violent but still watchable and with a better animation go with the two Goku Midnight Eye OAVs (NOT the awful manga) and you'll be better served, even if they're not masterpieces of any kind.
Easily one of the worst animes I've ever seen in my life (and I've seen a lot of them).
Generic anime feature.
DigitalRevenantX72 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
