Cyber City Oedo 808

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is a 1990 Japanese cyberpunk original video animation series created by Madhouse and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Set in the year 2808 in the city of Oedo (Tokyo), it tells the story of three criminals who are enlisted into fighting crime in exchange for reducing their sentences to the point where they are able to earn their freedom. The three criminals are the black-haired maverick Sengoku Shunsuke, the mohawk-doning hacker Gogul, and the androgynous bishōnen Benten.

The UK release of the OVA includes a completely new score by Rory McFarlane. The series has received mostly positive reviews and later attained a cult following.

Plot

To combat computerized crime more effectively, the Cyber Police unit of the future Japanese city of Oedo has restarted the feudal practice of hōmen (放免), employing hardened criminals―with a history of high-tech offenses and other crimes, such as murder―as officers themselves.

Three such criminals are Sengoku, Gogul, and Benten, who are serving their 300-or-more year sentences in an orbital penitentiary. For duty served, each criminal will receive a reduction in their prison time. Desperate to get away from the boredom and monotony of jail life, they agree to the deal. They answer to police chief Juso Hasegawa, who keeps them in check with explosive collars that they wear around their necks. Hasegawa has the ability to blow their collars remotely, and they will also explode if they fail to complete their missions within an allocated time period. Each one is also armed with a jitte (the traditional weapon and symbol of authority of the ancient Edo Police), although they also have access to more powerful weaponry.

Episode list

#	Title	English titles	Original release date

Cast

Character	Japanese	English (Manga UK/CPM, 1994)
Shunsuke Sengoku	Hiroya Ishimaru	Bruce Martin
Gabimaru "Gogl" Rikiya	Tesshō Genda	Seán Barrett
Merrill "Benten" Yanagawa	Kaneto Shiozawa	Daniel Flynn
Juzo Hasegawa	Norio Wakamoto	Bob Sherman
Kyōko "Okyo" Jōnouchi	Mitsuko Horie	Julia Braams
Varsus	Kyousei Tsukui	Nigel Greaves
Dave Kurokawa (Episode 1)	Takeshi Aono	Marc Smith
Mishiba (Episode 2)	Osamu Saka
Sarah (Episode 2)	Yoshiko Sakakibara	Tamsin Hollo
Kazuo Shiroyama (Episode 2)	Banjō Ginga	Eric Flynn
Remi Masuda (Episode 3)	Emi Shinohara	Teresa Gallagher
Shūzō Saionji (Episode 3)	Unshō Ishizuka	Marc Smith
Kelley Takakura (Episode 3)	Ako Mayama	Lorelei King

Related media

Novels

Cyber City Oedo 808 Volume 1, Rebellious Lone Wolf (Beowulf) (電脳都市OEDO808〈1〉反逆の孤狼(ベオウルフ), first published in December 1990.

Cyber City Oedo 808 Volume 2, Magnificent Fallen Angel (Lucifer) (電脳都市OEDO 808〈2〉華麗なる堕天使(ルシファー), first published in March 1991.

Cyber City Oedo 808 Volume 3, Warrior of the Evil Eye (Hercules of the Evil Eye) (電脳都市OEDO 808〈3〉魔眼の闘士(まがんのヘラクレス), first published in July 1991.

Written by Template:Ill and illustrated by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (with the exception of Volume 1, which features illustrations by Template:Ill), the novels were published only in Japan and are currently out of print.

Video game

is a graphic adventure game released on March 15, 1991, for the PC-Engine CD-ROM² by Nippon Computer System exclusively in Japan. The storyline is completely original and not an adaptation of any episode.

Music

The original British and Australian VHS release (released in 1994, and televised on Channel 4 in 1995) features a more rock-centric 23 track score composed by Rory McFarlane not present on the US or Japanese versions. McFarlane's score combined metal, electronica and ambient styles. It has been out of print for years and, as such, is very rare to find on CD, but it is known to be available on the internet. The UK soundtrack has a considerably different tone than the original (more pop-like) Japanese score. Due to Manga Entertainment UK losing the rights to the Cyber City series this edition of the score was unavailable on western DVD releases and remained available only on the old VHS versions from the mid nineties until Anime Limited released the movie on Blu-ray in the UK with the UK Dub and Soundtrack CD included in the release.

Reception

Critical reception of Cyber City Oedo 808 has been generally positive, and has received a cult following over the years.

Jonathan H. Kantor of Looper.com ranked it as one of the "12 Best Cyberpunk Anime Movies", regarding it to have "elevated the genre through gripping storytelling and exceptionally well-written characters." Hemanth Kissoon of Filmulation.com reviewed the series in 2007, saying that the series "was released 17 years ago, yet still stands up as a gripping take on Japan’s potential future."

Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews gave the series a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, with his only criticism being very little character development. He states that the series “rounds off a nicely paced trilogy of stories starring an intriguing cast of different characters and set in a gray, leaden metropolis. It goes from action-filled to conspiringly suspenseful and ends with a legendary battle ballet culminating in a beautiful and melancholy ending.”

External links

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