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Anime Reviews Geobreeders

Copyright©1998 Ito Akihiro / Shonen-Gaho-Sha, JVC.




—by Michael Poirier

Three minutes into GEOBREEDERS I realized what I was in for:

A SWAT team has surrounded a nuclear power plant, preparing to deal with a delicate terrorist situation. Suddenly, a van full of giggling young women and their hapless male escort crashes though the police blockade. Seconds later, there's an explosion and the terrorists come racing out, pursued by a giant tank that is covered with cats. Lots and lots of cats with eerily glowing green eyes...  

GEOBREEDERS is goofy, ridiculous stuff and, as such, is thoroughly enjoyable. With plenty of humor and tons of action—not to mention the shameless fan service—this anime is nothing but a good time.
  Based on the manga by Ito Akihiro, GEOBREEDERS follows the adventures of five women, one man and a phantom cat that comprise the Kagura Total Security agency. Each female member of the team is painfully cute and, more often than not, scantily-clad. From the boisterous red-haired Yuka who leads the team, to the wide-eyed and over-emotional computer geek Takami, to the shapely and ruthless accountant Rando, each woman offers her own distinctive charms. Taba is the token male of the group, and much of the slapstick humor comes at his expense. The girls constantly make him handle the worst jobs, and his earnest nature leads him into frequent embarrassing or life-threatening situations.
  And what about those cats? Kagura Total Security has been hired out to stop powerful phantom cats that are plaguing Japan. These spooky felines are electronic ghosts, virtual demons that can control any computer system. (watch out when one gets into a Harrier jump jet!) Worst of all, they are completely invulnerable to normal weapons when they take human form. The only way to stop a phantom cat is to surround it with special talismans attached to handheld computers, then blow the talismans and literally delete the cat. Kagura Total Security is the only outfit that has the talismans—a fact which is good for business, but bad for the kitties.
  As if that ghost/cat-busting premise wasn't enough, toss in the fact that the team has adopted a phantom cat of their own and when she gets kidnapped by a shadowy human gang in cahoots with the felines, all kinds of goofy wackiness and high-octane action ensues.
  The three episodes on this tape offer gun-blazing firefights, jet ski hijinks, a life and death struggle in a department store and even a car chase (well, more of a taxi and nuclear missile carrier chase.) GEOBREEDERS features clean and fluid animation in its action scenes, coupled with a distinct fascination with the female form. The fan service is nearly omnipresent, as the animators seem to have never missed a chance to throw in a bikini or panty shot, whether or not the bullets are flying.
  The dub seems to be fairly well done, and the characterizations did start to grow on me. Especially the more over-the-top characters such as the lazy, chain-smoking driver and the gun-crazy girl who sounded like a younger, blonder and female Joe Pesci. Furthermore, the sound track is very jazzy and light-hearted, creating a nice backdrop to the eye candy happening on screen.
  Let's cut to the chase, if you like cute girls and fast-paced action in an anime that doesn't take itself too seriously, you will enjoy GEOBREEDERS. I'm still chuckling over the completely ludicrous ending. I'll never be able to look at cats or nuclear warheads the same way again.

Product Information

Released in North America by U.S. Manga Corps
VHS, 90 minutes
Dubbed USM_1795, $19.99
Subtitled USM_1796, $24.99
Available April 2000
Where to buy

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