Essentially, ICZER-ONE is the story of an extremely dysfunctional family. Iczer-One hates her mother, and her sister was created to destroy her. This trauma has turned Iczer-One into a classic co-dependent who needs a young girl to help her stand up to her family. The origins of this feud are dim and confusing, but no one on Earth would really care because these girls do not just throw lamps at each other. Toss in some revenge, kill a few thousand people, and you've got yourself a movie!
This show's animation is good and the characters are lively. The action scenes are explosive, and the monsters are frighteningly hideous. Nagisa, the unwilling human heroine, runs around in the expected miniskirt and drops even that when she is helping Iczer-One pilot the Iczer-Robo. (The narcissism in this film is rampant.) Even the puny Earthling warships are pretty cool, even though they look like they were bought at a GODZILLA props auction. They make even better explosions.
That is where we find the problem. There is a fairly long scene where the humans launch their pride and joy, the F III. Both the Fuji-1 and the Fuji-2 war machines have been handily dispatched by the invading Cthuwulf forces, so this looks like humanity's last hope. As this gigantic and powerful ship slips from its moorings, a great big "thing" shoots straight towards it. The captain has time to command, "Fire the particle cannon!" but it is too late. The ship is blown to bits in an impressive bang. We do not even get to see what the particle cannon looks like. Kind of pointless.
And that is pretty much how the whole show is. It is pretty, but why bother? Why should Iczer-One need a naked schoolgirl to fight off her mother's demons? It is all a little goofy, and the story goes nowhere, literally. There's a bad ending a la DALLAS, one of those "We fixed it so everything is back to normal." bits.
So, this fairly good looking show has nothing else going for it. The action is not the best, the mecha are unremarkable, the violence is understated (no VIOLENCE JACK here), the story is not emotionally involving (definitely not a MAISON IKKOKU), and even the nudity is restrained (GOLDEN BOY it is not). They should have waited for a better script.
This is eye candy, but the kind of candy found at the bottom of grandmothers' purses. Considering this is just a release of volumes one and two on one tape, there is nothing new here. So if you are into the whole Iczer trip, you already know what to expect. If not, your time is probably better spent elsewhere.

Original Story by Aran Rei
Screenplay, Character Design, and Direction by Hirano Toshihiro
Original Japanese Version Copyright © 1987, 1992 Kubo Shoten / AIC
English Subtitle Version Copyright © 1996 U.S. Renditions / Books Nippan
USR-031 $14.98
100 minute VHS