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


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by Michael Poirier
Three minutes into GEOBREEDERS I realized what I was in for:
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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... |
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GEOBREEDERS is goofy, ridiculous stuff and, as such, is thoroughly
enjoyable. With plenty of humor and tons of actionnot to mention the
shameless fan servicethis 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
talismansa 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.



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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