Dark Warrior

by Kenneth Jin-ho Cho

With anime taking off into mainstream America, companies are seemingly rushing in to fill the void for more anime that the consumers want. Some studios seem to be slow at bringing over new titles while others, like A.D. Vision, keeping grinding them out. But which is better for the anime fan: less or more? Quality or quantity? DARK WARRIOR: FIRST STRIKE is a prime example of the anime that should've been left on the shores of Japan.
A 45 minute OVA that is the first of a series, DW:FS follows Joe Takami, a computer genius who recently conquered Silicon Valley and is on the cover of all the major magazines. However, all is not well with Joe. After a chance meeting with a girl he once knew, Joe tries to uncover the girl's mysterious past and in turn, discovers that he himself is an experiment of sorts. And thus, the fun begins...
Dark Warrior has all the elements of a Hollywood suspense film: intrigue, shadowy government-types, a hidden past and, of course, mean-looking ninja thugs who chase Joe throughout the video. Can you say THE NET? Like this Sandra Bullock vehicle, DW:FS has all the components of a potentially good video, but because of several reasons, just doesn't bring it off.
Probably the main reasons this video doesn't work are the main character and the lack of any decent supporting characters. Here's a spoiler alert and the fact that I'm even giving you one should tell you something about this title: Joe is a guy who starts off a total geek but then becomes an ultra "cool" fighting machine. The reasons how he becomes so are somewhat interesting but the whole premise was lame. Experiment or no, I just couldn't buy Bill Gates turning into Kenshiro. Also, the only supporting character that had anything remotely more 2-D then the cel it was painted on, Rudy the detective, gets killed very early on.
After Joe's self-realization of being the ultimate fighting machine, DW:FS degenerates into nothing but mindless violence and action, a la HOKUTO NO KEN. It's not often that this reviewer is able to be disappointed, much less disgusted, by anime of any sort. Heck, I've sat through SAILOR MOON. But DARK WARRIOR: FIRST STRIKE is one of the few. For a good example of the government experiment self-realized, look into Masamoru Kanzaki's manga, XENON.
This title just seems to be one that A.D. Vision has thrown out to the consumers to tide them over and generate a little income until their heavy-hitters, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION and GOLDEN BOY, hit the streets. If that's the case, A for effort. But, I'd say that DARK WARRIOR: FIRST STRIKE is strictly a renter and I'll leave it at that.