THE PLOT THUS FAR
Based on the comic book by the creator of Ghost in the Shell, a young female soldier Deunan and her cyborg partner Briareos survive through the post World War 3 apocalyptic New York in search of human’s future hope, the legendary city of Olympus.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Appleseed Alpha” is about people trying to survive in the model city of Olympus. Functioning as a sanctuary for survivors of World War, Olympus is also where we find Deunan and Briareos trying to save two young people from what appears to be outright death. The evil cyborg Talos is targeting these two, as the female Iris is tasked with stopping Talos from stealing some holdover weaponry from World War III. Unfortunately, Iris fails and Talos activates the giant Mantis bomb creature of death.
Anime takes so much out of me to enjoy. I love the design work and most of the ideas, it’s just that execution usually feels like Easterners trying to stamp down their take on Western action. The few anime powerhouses that make their own product and don’t try to concede to outside tastes are always my favorite. Therefore, I have a weird love/hate relationship with Appleseed. There’s no sense of urgency at any given time, but the flow and use of EDM provides enough pulse pounding moments that evaded the John Woo produced last installment. I know that I’m going to catch hell from fans for saying that I hated Ex Machina. But, what can you do?
The Blu-Ray comes with a Digital HD copy, commentary and 11 part documentary as the special features. The A/V Quality is pretty amazing. The 1080p transfer pops at every moment, as it blows away the Appleseed release from 2008. If that wasn’t enough, the DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track will shake your eardrums to the core. I’d recommend a purchase to all serious fans.
RELEASE DATE: 07/22/2014