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 Copyright© 1994 Hirano Toshihiro Jimusho / KSS Inc.
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—by Michael Poirier Here's the recipe for ICZELION, a formula that is undoubtedly familiar to many anime fans:
There's no getting around it: ICZELION is typical girls-in-armor fare. Aliens are attacking the earth and only a select team of young women have the technology and the tenacity to fight off these marauders. But while ICZELION may be formulaic, it does have some unique saving graces. This squad of heroes owes their super powers to the cute Iczels, nifty little robots who break themselves into smaller protective pieces to team up with their female counterparts. (Naturally, convention dictates that the girls'transformation involves their complete nudity as each component of armor appears on their body and they shamelessly yell: "Power up!") Furthermore, the animation of ICZELION stands up fairly well nearly six
years after its creation. The action scenes are extremely dynamic, with
swiftly alternating camera angles and limited use of repeated motions. The
intricate designs of the Iczels and their foes are remarkable as well,
cleverly alternating between the precious and the horrific.Another interesting touch is that the main character Nagisa is also a
pro-wresting fan, a major source of the early humor in these first two
ICZELION episodes. However, on a negative note, Nagisa is by far the most
reluctant and whiny protagonist I have ever seen in an anime, spending the
vast majority of her on-screen time wailing about her fear and her fate.Perhaps it is due to the pro-wresting connection, and its ever increasing
popularity in America, that ADV Films decided to re-issue a dubbed version
of ICZELION. They released this tape with subtitles a few years back, and
I'm pleased to report that the dub is fairly well done. For one thing, I
found the humor to be much more accessible in this English version. And
while the Nagisa's constant complaining is still very irritating, the voices
of the other girls were compelling and their companion Iczel's voice-overs
were treated to some snazzy electronic modulation. Thankfully, my absolute
favorite parts of ICZELION are still here, namely the awesome sound
effects—the cool ricochets of laser beams, the funky pop of the Iczels
teleporting.Ultimately, I can really only recommend ICZELION to fans of the genre. Like
the taste of a well-known recipe in the hands of a new cook, this anime
celebrates all the cliches and introduces a few intriguing wrinkles.
However, if you don't like the flavor of girls-in-armor, ICZELION might just
make you sick to your 
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