The M.D. Geist animations are thought of as one of the worst anime by people into Japanese animation. However, these are the same people who praise SAILOR MOON. They don’t like M.D. GEIST because it’s overtly violent, somber, and nihilistic. Plus, it has a rock score. There is no comedy relief, like most anime. But these are the reasons why I like M.D. GEIST. The first part of the DVD contains the M.D. Geist Director’s cut. and contains five minutes of never before seen footage. At the end of the Koichi Ohata’s director’s cut, the credits roll then the second part of the DVD, DEATH FORCE begins.

The story takes place far into the future. At the end of the Christian Era, mankind began advancing to the stars, and colonizing deep space. But, the characteristic flames of humanity’s wars were not yet extinguished. On the distant colonized planet Jerra, a new generation of humanity, known as the Nexrum, oppose the rule of the Earth government for all planets. Hoping to contain the Nexrum, Jerra’s regular army wages war and develops a doomsday device if the war effort were to fail. Neither side yields a single step in the planetary struggle, in fact the civilization has been destroyed, but small pockets of humanity still exist. The regular military used a process called bio-cloning to create M.D. Geist, a super soldier whose only purpose is to wage war. He became so dangerous his military creators had to imprison him in space on an orbiting satellite.

Geist mysteriously reappears on the planet Jerra, where ravaging gangs of bandits roam the desolate wastelands. Geist kills the leader of the bandits and assumes his victim’s role as leader of the bandits. Then Geist becomes embroiled in a desert battle between the regular military, led by Colonel Krutes, and the Nexrum forces. Geist aids the overmatched regular military and wins the trust of Colonel Krutes. After the skirmish, Krutes reveals he and his team are on a mission to assault on their own base (called the Brain Palace) which houses a malfunctioning doomsday weapon called Death Force. In several hours, the triggered doomsday device will release armies of killer robots that are programmed to destroy all humankind. Krutes invites Geist to join the mission (big mistake). When Geist (in his bad-ass robot armor) and the Jerran assault team storm the base, Geist’s true intentions towards his allies become known. Should he protect his adopted planet (the people that exiled him), or allow the doomsday device to end mankind?

What I like most about the story is that Ohata unravels the story to make you think that M.D. Geist is the hero, when in actuality he’s the biggest evil to be found. The story does suffer from underdeveloped character development and plot holes, but it’s never boring. The animation is a little dated, but it still is leagues above your average Saturday morning fare. The vehicle, weapon, and robot designs are awesome.

Just in case this premise sounds boring to you, here are some gruesome highlights:

• Using a saber, Geist chops the arms off of the bandit leader.
• Geist disposes of his human opponents by crushing their skulls.
• During a skirmish, a bald desert bandit has his head shredded by gunfire.
• Colonel Krutes disables a Nexrum robot by crushing the face and skull of its human operator.
• Robots shoot and kill fleeing human soldiers who dissolve into mists of blood.
• Geist stops a huge robot by plunging a knife into the skull of its human operator.

The second part of the DVD is the sequel DEATH FORCE. The planet Jerra is now overrun by hordes of vicious killer robots of all shapes and sizes. There are small pockets of humanity left. A conglomeration of humans has gathered at the fortress of M.D. Krauser, whom they perceive as their savior. M.D. Krauser is also an experimental super soldier like Geist, but instead of the homicidal tendencies that Geist possesses, Gauser is a total megalomaniac who wants to be worshipped by those he protects. M.D. Krauser has also formed an alliance with the remaining Nexrum forces. M.D. Krauser is attended to by the innovator of bio-cloning, Dr. Breston. M.D.Krauser informs the doctor that if he didn’t need him to enhance M.D. Krausers abilities, he would eliminate the doctor. When Dr. Breston gets word that Geist may be alive in the wastlands, he devises a plan to lure Geist to Krauser’s fortress. Dr. Breston is Geist’s creator, and he gets his hands on Geist again when Geist falls into his trap and is brought to Krauser’s base. When Geist awakens and begins trashing the place, and begins and the battle begins.

Having mistakenly believe he has disposed of Geist, M.D. Krauser meets with the Nexrum leaders and they forge a plan to eliminate the robotic Death Force. Their plan is to lure the army of robots to the local devastated metropolis and set off a huge atomic bomb, which will destroy the city and the Death Force with it. Unbeknownst to the M.D. Krauser/Nexrum alliance, M.D. Geist learns of their plans and comes up with a plan to counter that of the alliance. Now, the scenario is set for the final battle for the people of Jerra! Guess what, another happy ending (not!).

That’s what I like about this confrontation, there is no hero. Both super soldiers are flawed, just like real life normal people. Also, the film does not favor any side to the regular army/Nexrum forces conflict. Director Ohata’s feelings towards war is evident—neither side is righteous and war hurts everybody. The animation this time around is near flawless (as it was made after the original the animation is higher quality than its predecessor) and although the story line is a little thin, the pacing is rapid-fire and never boring. Standout scenes include vicious little robots that hunt down and devour humans, Geist and Krauser dispatching giant robots, and the climatic battle between the two. The futuristic landscape, robots, and vehicle designs are even better than the first film. Like Penthouse magazine, it’s bonafide eye candy.

SIGHT

The full screen (1.33.1) image is sharp with superior detail. Colors are genuinely bright and appear accurate. Contrast and brightness are good with decent shadow detail. DVD does for Japanese animation what Pam Anderson does for luscious lips. There is no bleeding between colors and no haloing was observed. The blacks are deep and solid. DEATH FORCE looks superior of the two, with it’s sprawling futuristic cityscapes and robotic machines dazzling the eyes. The detail on the tanks, robots, armor, planes, buildings, etc, is intricate and warrants further viewings.

SOUND

The audio was an impressive Dolby Digital Stereo Surround version. I was surprised how much ambiance it had even in conjunction with the English dub. Directionality was minimal and though it was not used as effectively as it could of, the overall ambiance and crispness of the sound field was impressive. The bass was effectively used also. The dubbing was a good job with for once the voice actors sound and tone matching their characters well (for instance no women dubbing little kids). Yoshiaki Ohuchi created the music for both segments which consists of synthesizer rock, and includes some guitar licks which add intensity to the wild action scenes. In other scenes the music sounds like video game music.

FEATURES

No extras, not even a trailer.

CONCLUSION

Don’t expect AKIRA or GHOST IN THE MACHINE, but if you are in the mood for in-your-face primal rage meets future shock then M.D. GEIST may be for you. Fans of anime will be delighted with this disk, all others might want to rent it first. Image has done a nice job with the video and audio, but they still need to work on the menu systems and extras. With the extreme violence and nudity, this one is not for the kiddies.

M.D. GEIST is available at DVDEmpire

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