Megazone 23 40th Anniversary Rewatch Series Discussion

**Rewatch Host (sub)**

I typed more than usual in my episode threads so I'll just incorporate those by reference as my final comments.

In short, I always liked the first one the most. It doesn't tell a full story of a hero defeating evil, but it tells A STORY about a nice-but-dumb kid who gets the dumb beat out of him. Along with that I got some great JPOP, a fantastic sci-fi twist, and a not-particularly-interesting robot.

The second one dumped almost the entire cast to tell a different story, and takes a big hit. Much of that new story is taken up by action sequences involving motorbikes and the aforementioned robot. The highlight is, and always will be, the cinematic destruction of Megazone. On rewatch, I can appreciate TRASH as the good-hearted rebels they were intended to be and not just obnoxious biker punks.

The third one dumped the entire cast to tell yet another different story. On rewatch, I see that it could have been a decent 90s cyberpunk OVA if it hadn't tried to be a Megazone sequel. It's also striking that the rehashing of Shogo and his rebellion in the form of Eiji isn't laziness, but that this possibly a re-adaptation of Omega City 23. They probably should have just done that and called it that, artistically. But Megazone fans wouldn't have purchased it on reflex if they had.

In the Key the Metal Idol rewatch, I talked a lot about KETH, and I posted a screenshot of one night's schedule of Bay Area TV, to show the anime they were showing that night. AND THE ROBOTECH MOVIE WAS ON CHANNEL 44 THAT NIGHT AND I MISSED IT.

[](#kyonfacepalm)


I'd like to thank everybody for showing up, and sticking it out even if the show tacked in directions that weren't to your liking. And a big rewelcome to /u/theescapeguy whose stitches and collages have been absent from my rewatches for far too long!

[](#hugbear)

edit:

oh, some excepts from the Omega City pitch document:

> Sci-fi mecha action has gained overwhelming popularity among the youths.
However, the mecha in leading roles have come to be dominated by real robots, which has recently been
causing many viewers to lose interest. The cause of this is their mecha silhouettes becoming routine.
In featuring an incredibly everyday motorcycle as the mecha’s base form and having it transform, this work
has a high degree of originality.

> In sci-fi anime, protagonists have a tendency to be some kind of special expert, or a soldier caught in an
interstellar war. This work’s protagonists are the kind of young adults you could find anywhere who will feel like youths the same age as the viewers.

> No matter how bad the situation gets, these youthful characters will stand up to injustice while keeping their
modest dreams alive. Their courage will be welcomed by young viewers as a romance lost to the modern
age.

> If there is anything inconvenient about the commoners’ life, it is only that they can’t easily get in and out of
the city. They need passports to enter and exit the city, and with a restriction on the number of people even
allowed to enter, some have been made to wait for years.
It’s an easy city for people to live in as long as they don’t try to leave.
Most people don’t know what it’s like a single footstep outside the city.

**Where are they now**

Here is a list of OVAs made after Megazone 23 through 1995 (according to MAL). It seems to be dominated by AIC and Studio Pierrot (I got tired of looking at more studios and filling in MAL's blind spots). It's unsurprising that the first thing ARTMIC did after making their hugely successful compilation movie is to make a compilation concert for from MOSPEADA. Notable franchises are Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and Iczer-1 for AIC and ARTMIC, and Kimagure Orange Road and Jessie for Pierrot. Tenchi Muyo was a big money-maker for AIC. ARTMIC mostly collaborated on AIC projects, but Genocyber and Casshern were all theirs.

Pierrot was already making OVAs before Megazone (they made Dallos and Cream Lemon) but AIC immediately got into the game.

1991 was the end of the bubble, and new OVA productions dropped off severely after that; Key the Metal Idol notable trying to buck the trend (MS 08th Team would follow in 1996). ARTMIC was liquidated in 1997, and its assets were purchased by AIC.

1996-97 was also the start of late-night anime. Shows previously more suited for the OVA format could now be shown after midnight, on a TV production budget.

Start Date| Eps | Name | AIC | ARTMIC | Pierrot
----|----|----|-----|----|----
1985 | 3| Area 88 | | | *
1985 | 1 | Cosmo Police Justy | | | *
1985 | 1 | Fire Tripper | | | *
1985 | 1 | Genesis Climber Mospeada: Love, Live, Alive | | * |
1985 | 1 | Kimagure Orange Road Shounen Jump Special | | | *
1985 | 1 | Nils no Fushigi na Tabi | | | *
1985 | 3 | Tatakea! Iczer-1 | * | |
 | | | | |
1986 | 2| Bari Bari Densetsu | | | *
1986 | 1 | Cosmos Pink Shock | * | |
1986 | 1 | Call Me Tonight | * |
1886 | 1 | Gall Force: Eternal Story | * | * |
1986 | 1 | Go Go Toraemon | | | *
1986 | 1 | Mahou no Star Magical Emi: Semishigure | | | *
1986 | 1 | Outlanders | * | |
1986 | 2 | Reyon Densetsu Flair | * | |
1986 | 1 | The Supergal | | | *
1986 | 1 | Wanna-Be's | * | * |
 | | | | |
1987 | 1 | Gakuen Tokusou Hikaruonv | * | |
1987 | 1 | Gall Force 2: Destruction | * | * |
1987 | 1 | Black magic M-66 | * | |
1987 | 1 | Daimajuu Gekitou: Hageni no Oni | * | |
1987 | 8 | Bubblegum Crisis | * | * |
1987 | 3 | Haja Taisei Dangaiou | * | * |
1987 | 1 | Katte ni Shirokuma | * | * |
1987 | 1 | Kimagure Orange Road Tanabata Special | | | *
1987 | 3 | Maryuu Senki | * | |
1987 | 1 | Majokko Club Yoningumi | | | *
1987 | 1 | Pants no Ana | * | |
1987 | 3 | Salamander | | | *
1987 | 1 | Lily C.A.T. | | | *
1987 | 1 | Laughing Target | | | *
1987 | 1 | Metal Skin Pani MADOX-01 | * | * |
 | | | | |
1988 | 1 | Dragon's Heaven | * | * |
1988 | 1 | Gall Force 3: Stardust War | * | * |
1988 | 1 | Harbor Light Monogatari: Fasion Lala yori | | | *
1988 | 3 | Kujakouou | * | |
1988 | 4 | Kyuketsuhime Miyu | * | |
1988 | 1 | Ten Little Gall Force | * | * |
1988 | 1 | Ryuu Seiki | * | |
1988 | 4 | Project Zeorymer | * | * |
 | | | | |
1989 | 1 | Baoh Raihousha | | | *
1989 | 1 | Be-Boy Kidnappn Idol | * | |
1989 | 1 | Beat Shot!! | * | |
1989 | 2 | Explorer Woman Ray | * | |
1989 | 12 | Hi-Speed Jecy | | | *
1989 | 8 | Kimagure Orage Road | | | *
1989 | 1 | Legend of Lemnear: Kyoukuguro no Tsubasa Vakisas | * | |
1989 | 3 | Gall Force: Chikuu Shou | * | * |
1989 | 1 | Rhea Gall Force | * | * |
1989 | 1 | Riding Bean | * | * |
1989 | 1 | Seijuuki Cyguard | * | |
 | | | | |
1990 | 3 | AD Police | * | * |
1990 | 2 | Sol Bianca | * | |
1990 | 1 | Ryukunohara Labrynth: Sparkling Phantom | * | |
1990 | 6 | The Hakkenden | * | * |
 | | | | |
1991 | 4 | Abashiri Ikka | | | *
1991 | 6 | Bouken! Iczer 3 | * | * |
1991 | 3 | Bubblegum Crash | | * |
1991 | 1 | Burn up! | * | |
1991 | 3 | Detonator Orgun | * | * |
1991 | 4 | Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show | | | *
1991 | 2 | Gall Force: New Era | * | * |
1991 | 1 | Gekkou no Pierce | | | *
1991 | 6 | Koko wa Greenwood | | | *
1991 | 2 | Kyofu SHinbun | | | *
1991 | 4 | Majuu Senshi Luna Varga | * | |
1991 | 5 | Miracle Psychicer Seizan | | | *
1991 | 1 | Neko Neko Fantasia | * |
1991 | 4 | Shakotan Boogie | | | *
1991 | 4 | Yumemakura Baku Twilight Gekijou | | | *
 | | | | |
1992 | 2 | Green Legend Ran | * | |
1992 | 2 | Ai no Kkusabi | * | |
1992 | 6 | Bastard!! Ankoko no Hakaishin | * | |
1992 | 6 | Eien no FIlena | | | *
1992 | 6 | Macross II: Lovers Again | * | |
1992 | 3 | Sousei Kishi Gaiarth | * | * |
1992 | 1 | Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu | * | |
1992 | 2 | Ruri-iro Princess | | | *
1992 | 6 | Tenchi Myuou! Ryououki | * |
1992 | 1 | Scramble Wars | | * |
 | | | | |
1993 | 4 | Casshern: Robot Hunter | | * |
1993 | 5 | Aa! Meami-Sama | * | |
1993 | 7 | Kishin Heidan | * | |
1993 | 6 | Moldiver | * | |
1993 | 1 | Secret of Moldiver: Hmitsu Daihyakka | * | |
1993 | 1 | Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki: Omatsuri Zenjitsu no Your! | * | |
 | | | | |
1994 | 5 | Genocyber | | * |
1994 | 15 | Key the Metal Idol | | | *
1994 | 2 | Moldiver Ex | * | |
1994 | 1 | Tenchi Muyou! Galaxy Police Mihoshi Space Adventure | * | |
1994 | 2 | Tanjou: Debut | | | *

**Final Discussion (first timer)**

Before I go into my final discussion, I need to take a detour that I avoided during movie I and II: ranting about how utterly nonsensical the decision to have the spaceship be *Tokyo in Space* is, because a lot of my frustrations with the first half of Megazone comes from that choice.

**Tokyo in Space**

So, you have built a spaceship, but want your astronauts to think they are living in Tokyo, during the 1980s. What do you need?

Let’s start with the easy parts: Far future technology, namely gravitation creators. The spaceship is not rotating, so you need to create the needed gravity via technology. This technology is not just futuretech, but farfuturetech. Right now, it is more conceivable to build Dyson spheres than artificial gravity. Most filmed Scifi shows assume gravity generation, because filming zero grav scenes on Earth is so hard. Anime does not have that excuse, but most scifi anime still assume artificial gravity, because its creators are lazy and don’t want to think about zero grav (shoutout to the original MSG, which is one of the few exceptions).

Then, you need to produce everything that Tokyo in the 1980s consumes: Cars, concrete, 400 different types of French cheese, everything. And you decided that the inhabitants think that they are in Tokyo, not France, so almost all of this production is must be fully automatized. Your spaceship is essentially one gigantic factory with a tiny living module attached.

Oh, and production does not stop with dead things. What is some inhabitant of your SpaceTokyo wants to buy a dog? A cat? An exotic fish for his aquarium? All of these need to be produced, too. So, next to your gigantic space factory, you have to have set of a gigantic space ecospheres, to produce all of the living things that the SpaceTokyo inhabitants might want to procure. Also fully automated.

But now, on to the hard part: What about the inhabitants themselves? It is fine as long as they stay in the city, but what if they leave it? We learn in the OVA that people who go on a holiday are brainwashed into believing they went to a different country. But people don’t just leave Tokyo to go on holidays, they also move to different cities within Japan. They visit relatives. Many will work inside Tokyo and commute daily. All of these need to be brainwashed, too. So you need gigantic brainwashing facilities to process a substantial share of the population, every day. And people must not realize what is going on, so you need automated entry into the brainwashing system on every possible venue you can leave Tokyo from. At every street, every train. What do you even do about aircraft? Hopefully, your airport is on the outside of the brainwashing barrier, not the inside, otherwise you need to process flying aircraft…

But people not just leave Tokyo, they also interact with people outside of Tokyo in other ways. They write letters, they watch TV, they talk to people on the phone. So, your system needs to produce all these letters, movies, and fake thousands of phone calls. And do so consistently, otherwise people will catch on (or you brainwash every inhabitant after every phone call … more brainwashing). Every now and then, some fake personality you made up for your inhabitant’s phone calls will have to visit Tokyo, otherwise they would catch on that nobody ever comes to Tokyo. You have to have a “reserve bank” of bodies that jump into those roles when needed. Maybe some cold storage of human bodies that are brainwashed into place once it happens? Remember, you need a fitting body for every made-up phone caller that may visit Tokyo, so add another spaceship part with forced human bodies. There is another complication: At one point, the inhabitants of SpaceTokyo were real Earthlings. So, at some time, you need to brainwash **all of them** to let them forget they boarded a spaceship.

*So, much brainwashing. Some of you complained about Shogo being taken over by the computer in III. I agree that this is a tired trope that robs characters of agency, but in I and II, basically the entire city is repeatedly brainwashed.*

**Megazone 23 overall**

Megazone is a wild mix: 4 episodes, 3 art styles, 2 MCs. And more individual plot ideas that all those numbers together. There are lots of things to enjoy, but what we never get is one complete package. The first installment has the best vibes, but the worst plot. The second episode feels most like a movie, but one that consists purely of set piece action. And three and four finally give us a consistent setting, but the characters are a weak copy of the first episode. I think there are many good individual pieces, but not enough to elevate this in the crowded field of 1980s scifi OVA. Bubblegum Crisis did it better (and has better songs).

Finally, I really got prove that I don’t care about the actual animation in anime yesterday. I did not even notice these missing in-between frames everybody complained about.

Score (since I am forced to give a single one for the entire series on MAL): 5/10

> The original virtual idol: thoughts on Eve and the virtual idols who came after? And modern real-time generative AI?

In a way, they are all copying from Blade Runner. I don't hate them, but I also don't understand why some people love them.

> A secret generation ship sci-fi story. You may have been in a previous rewatch <name redacted> with me about a secret generation ship. How does Megazone 23 compare to that and other secret (or not-so-secret) generation ship stories (not just anime)?

See my rant above.

> What can you tie back to Megazone 23 from later series, OVA and otherwise?

The Tokyo vibes show up in many later series, but I have no idea whether Megazone invented those, or whether there is a TV series precursor.

> Do you think Megazone would have been successful as a TV series, and we'd still be talking about it alongside Macross?

Yes and yes. It would have been successful and it could have been a great series. Macross shows how much better these deep scifi plots work with time to develop them (to say nothing of the love triangles).

**First Timer**

Seeing as my thoughts on each part ended up varying pretty drastically lol, I don't have much to say here that I hadn't already said in far more detail in those respective threads. On the whole, with standard form OVAs (That is to say, not Key [](#mug9)), what I generally look for and expect is more of a novel and unconventional experience rather than any particularly strong storytelling. That can come in the form of something that's more extreme than normal standards, some incredible production that can't be normally seen, or, in the case of part 1 here, a fantastically atmospheric and vibrant snapshot into a different time with a little mix of the others!

In that way, I very much stand by liking part 1 a lot, and I'll almost definitely rewatch it in the future! What can I say, man, it really hit all my sensibilities at once. Honestly, I even liked how overly ambitious and snappy it was; it still felt like it had stronger ideas and themes in there than any other part, at least. But mostly [Vibes](#morecomfy) Part 2 I appreciate as a creative work in exactly that "Let's see how far we can push things" OVA way I mentioned above, and do find enjoyable, but otherwise, can't say it's really for me. Part 3 just felt really sterile for lack of a better term, and while it's got passable storytelling, that's really not what I'm here for, obviously. Maybe if it stuck to being its own thing, but tying back to the other parts kind of forced it to rely on a competent at best story without a style I particularly care for, at which point I'd rather watch something that's actually good and without sci-fi writing tropes I personally really dislike lol.

All together, this was still a rather enjoyable experience, and I am happy I watched Megazone! Including part 3, even if only for the stylistic and genre evolution being pretty interesting. Certainly for the historical value as well, being the first successful OVA and spawning the market and whatnot.

At the very least, I can say this was entirely worth simply for the greatness that is the Tokimatsuri Eve songs! Some of them have been on repeat daily for the last three weeks!

[](#listen)[](#listen)[](#listen)

~~Maybe all it takes is a very pronounced city pop OST to make me like something...~~

I already rated all the parts separately, but since MAL is annoying and won't separate the entries, I'll give the whole package a cool [6/10](#papithumbsup) a good time all in all, but certainly jumps between highs and lows.

And of course, big thanks to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting!

[](#hugbear)

> The original virtual idol: thoughts on Eve and the virtual idols who came after?

I think my thoughts on Eve are pretty clear lol. And in general, the virtual idol concept is pretty fun, even I've never been particularly invested in one.

> And modern real-time generative AI?

[](#surefam)

> What can you tie back to Megazone 23 from later series, OVA and otherwise?

I think I've gone through the Matrix connections (~~They definitely watched this lol~~), but otherwise, tracing influence always feels really hard for me unless it's in the moment

> Do you think Megazone would have been successful as a TV series, and we'd still be talking about it alongside Macross?

I wouldn't know about Macross, but generally speaking, *maybe*? Really depends on the execution, because Part 1 does have some interesting building blocks, and maybe with normal pacing, the story actually works and makes sense. But I don't know, it feels like a lot of this really is defined by its specific, unique circumstances, y'know?

[](#hardthink)

Megazone 23 timeline/background from the B-Club Megazone 23 Special, pgs. 69-77, by Yumeno Ley

Copyright 1990 by Bandai, Idol, Artmic, AIC, and Victor

This translation 1991 by Michael House

Page 69:

**A.D. 2337:**

The population of the Solar System was hovering at roughly 14,000,000,000, due to numerous accidents, wars, and famines. 1,900,000,000 of them inhabited Mars and its satellites, and announced that they had been under the control of the Government of the Terran Federation, but they were establishing the Free Government of Mars, along with an independent planetary state.
Mars maintained an environment barely capable of supporting life,
thanks to terraforming, but on that inferior world, people again underwent a change in their DNA levels. A new human race was born, and those who lived on Mars were called
"Dezalg" by those on Earth.

Page 70:

On Earth, the rate of babies born with birth defects reached 70%, and people had no alternative but to wear gas masks when going outside, due to destruction of the environment, tainted atmosphere, and the collapse of the ecosystem. Lifeforms on the verge of extinction were preserved in glass coldsleep capsules, not knowing when they would awaken. "For the sake of the reclamation of Earth, it is imperative that we remove mankind from the planet for a time." In **2331**, the Terran Federation Government voted to execute the "Earth Reclamation Project" advocated by Dr. Heinkel. A project that would take 500 years began here.

Ferdinand F. Heinkel:

* B. 2270 in Germany. Professor, Federation University of Engineering.
* Doctor of Physics and Engineering. Special Research: Astrophysics, Quantum Mechanics, Radiation, Planetary Chemistry, Terrestrial Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and others.

Page 71:

The ADAM SYSTEM:

* Construction Period: **2335-2353**
* Originally a mining base on Luna. Reconstructed from what was said to be 40% of the volume of the Moon. A weapon for total protection against, and destruction of, anything coming within a 400,000 km radius of Earth. It also supervised the Earth Reclamation Project from 380,000 km away.

Page 72:

The "MEGAZONE" Cityships:

These were stellar Zepplins. Construction began in **2335**. In **2345**, Megazone 1 was completed, after which further Megazones were built four at a time. They left Earth in search of habitable worlds, carrying all Earth citizens, at the same time the Adam System went into operation. Each was 140 km in length, carrying 13,000,000 people. The "cities" inside the ships differed from Megazone to Megazone, but each was based on the most peaceful times in specific places on Earth.

MEGAZONE 1 (BIG APPLE):

This city was built in imitation of New York City in the 1950's.

Page 73:

Each Megazone's city was controlled by the Eve Program inside a
supercomputer called Bahamut, which imparted a 500-year repose to the citizens through skillful manipulation of information and mind control. If, in stellar flight, the Bahamut of a given Megazone decided that there were no habitable worlds on that Megazone's course, it was programmed to return to Earth as a last resort. In order to prevent the citizens from repeating the same mistakes on Earth at that time, they would have to undergo training by the Eve Program.

EVE PROGRAM:

This program was constructed by Dr. Heinkel, architect of the Adam System and the Megazones. The image it produced was copied from Tokimatsuri Eve, Dr. Heinkel's assistant. For the citizens to flee Bahamut's control, they would have to undo seven protections, and Tokimatsuri Eve's DNA pattern was incorporated by Heinkel into the keyword for those protections.

MEGAZONE 33 (EDEN CITY):

This was the 33rd Cityship, introducing a new antigravity system. But as a consequence of the war that took place during its construction, it was rebuilt into a link of the Earth Reclamation Project, without waiting for its launching date.

Page 74:

The New Generation War:
In **2347**, Dezalg declared war on the Terran Federation Government. Fighting spread throughout the entire Solar System. In **2348**, a missile attack from Dezalg struck Earth. 3,400,000,000 people were killed.

Page 75:

The Battle of the Claudia Sea, **2349**:

* Baseline 39.1 degrees, 1349 minutes, 670,000 km.
* A Dezalg battle fleet struck the Megazone construction plant. During the battle, Megazone Nos. 13, 14, 15, and 16 were captured.

In **2353**, Dr. Ferdinand F. Heinkel was assassinated at the Clavius Assembly Site, on the Moon (this is thought to have been a political conspiracy on the part of the Terran Federation Government). In the same year, a weapon capable of destroying a planet from within was developed. Mars would collapse in two years due to use of this weapon.

Page 76:

GARLAND SMS-18E:

By **2353**, a lot of Machine Soldiers were developed, and distinguished themselves on the front lines. The SMS-18E, the last Garland, introduced the Cybersystem. One prototype was built, but was unable to participate in actual combat. It was housed 500 meters beneath Eden City. On the occasion of Dr. Heinkel's assassination, Tokimatsuri Eve personally stayed on Earth in order to witness the Earth Reclamation Project, giving herself up to one-man cold sleep.

Page 77:

In **2355**, with the Adam System's activation, the 24 Megazones of the Terran Federation and the four Megazones of the Dezalg set off into the far reaches of what was up-to-then unexplored space. In **2356**, the Terran Federation Fleet engaged in battle with the Dezalg Fleet near the orbit of Neptune, and a total of five Megazones, from both sides, were crippled. The Dezalg Fleet went far off course. In **2363**, navigation of Megazone 22 became impossible, as a result of the previous battle. In **2489**, the Dezalg Fleet met an alien civilization.


* * *


In **2855**, Megazone 23 returned to Earth.

END.

**Mega~~late~~on-time First-Timer, subbed**

This series was… something alright. Granted, I had to binge through the entire thing in two sittings (I watched Part I by itself, then Part II & III pretty much back-to-back) instead of one per week, but I still just don’t really know how to feel about it.

[](#psyduck)

At least the music was good? And Parts I & II were coherent enough for me to have fun with. I gave it a 7 overall since I liked those two parts enough.

Thanks for hosting, u/JustAnswerAQuestion!

**First-Timer**

This was definitely on the top end of Bubble-Era OVAs, which is notable.

Yea, I've got nothing else. I'll repeat my answer from one of the questions yesterday, which is that if I didn't know better, I could easily believe that all three parts of Megazone 23 were intended to be separate pieces of media that just shared staff. It wasn't exactly disjointed, but the changing character designs were rather baffling.

Many thanks to our host /u/JustAnswerAQuestion!

**First timer**

Well, that was weird.

I'm not sure I can call Megazone23 a good anime. But it's damn fascinating. Starting with the story of its production, its legacy, and how it helped kick off the OVA boom, and ending with just the story we got.

Honestly, I wish all three OVAs were treated as separate entities on sites like Myanimelist, because I think each part deserves its own rating. But if I had to rate them as a whole, it would literally be in order of release.

The first part is the best. It's the most ambitious, eventful, and developed. Yes, because of this, the plot is just WEIRD, but for me, that's what adds to its charm. It's almost like an amateur work created by otaku who tried to cram everything they like about anime into it (...oh, hey, Anno worked on it). And, to be honest, I even like the slightly pessimistic ending. If you imagine for a second that there was no sequel, it would be a pretty bold conclusion.

But we do have a sequel, and it's a little worse than the first film. As I said, most of the plot development has been pushed into the background in favor of a big, flashy confrontation. Still, there are some funny moments and impressive animation. And overall, this film seems to work on the vibes.

And then there was the third OVA. It's... well, whatever. I'm not surprised that the reboot, which is apparently in the works, seems to be ignoring this movie.

Thank [JustAnswerAQuestion](https://www.reddit.com/user/JustAnswerAQuestion/) for hosting this rewatch. I guess know i should wait for the rewatch for the FLAG.

**First Time Complete - Megazone 23:**

Sorry, it feels bad being a debby downer on someone else's Rewatch, but I didn't like Megazone 23 that much. It didn't really capture me more than just being kinda neat at the best of times, but then when it dipped, it dipped really hard from that.

[](#nyanpasu)

The 3 highest praises for it were its vibes, music, and visuals. With asterisks involved because the vibes were only in the first half of Part I (and a little bit of Part III episode 1). The rest of the anime didn't really carry the vibes. Music and visuals are also not the areas I really cared for the most. It's nice when it's nice, but it can't carry the anime for me. Besides those 3, I really don't have many things I liked about this anime.

The order I would rank the parts; First half of Part I > Part III episode 1 > Part III episode 2 > the second half of Part I >>> Part II.

And only the first halves of Part I and III were times I wasn't bored watching this anime. Despite those parts being fine/good enough in isolation, I will say I did definitively dislike this anime. I would definitely not buy this anime on laserdisc.

Still, I appreciated the opportunity to watch more anime. Even disliking an anime is a learning experience to witness something I wouldn't have before. Thanks for hosting!

[](#konhug)

*The Chocolate Panic Picture Show* at least *sounds* interesting.

QOTD:

* Eve may have been the first virtual idol, but she's embryonic as a representative of that concept.
Modern generative AI exploits an ability to find patterns in the soup of stuff and is good at playing Clever Hans, but isn't any more self-aware as a toaster.

* Cheese indeed.
* The ideas it presents do make for the outline of an interesting series, whether they'd have been able to execute it coherently and pull in good ratings is an exercise in hypotheticals. Selling toys is a big question mark; Takatoku had by now died as a side effect of *Orguss*, *Transformers* were certainly selling *in America* but the Garland is a different beast.

*A Mecha Fan’s Final Thoughts on Megazone 23 (Total Series):*

And here we are, at the end of watching Megazone 23 as a whole! It’s been a hell of a rewatch journey. It’s probably fair to say that it’s been an uneven one, but it’s also been a fun one. Well, definitely fun for me overall, despite the rather “meh” note that Part III left us on. But let’s get into specifics, shall we?

I think above all else, Megazone 23 is a series of vibes. On average, it’s not afraid to get gritty with things, and loves to set up an atmosphere that gets the audience to soak in the mood as we make a clear and speedy clip through the plot. Fantastic tracks like Senakagoshi ni Sentimental or Himitsu Kudasai play over montages of the living and the death of a comfortable life, for example. Lonely Sunset is the perfect cap to new life arriving on a rejuvenated Earth. And even beyond the music, we have great looks to go along with it too (in the first two parts), with how vibrant Part I looks or how detailed and realistic a lot of Part II is as well. These are ingredients to create *the vibe*. The vibe is the key to making Megazone 23 work. We have a fine example of this with Part III. Part III doesn’t have the vibe, and overall just feels like a rather average and dull copy of its own series, to get downright blunt with it. That’s why in spite of all the issues that other watchers found with the series (which are valid), I can’t bring myself to dislike Megazone 23. The power of the vibe can go far.

Aside from that broad, all-permeating thing, there’s just plain cool stuff to enjoy too. For one, I really do respect the level of detail and design aesthetics at play here. So much of Parts I and II felt like big flexes to show off the animators’ talents. Stuff like the transformations of the Hargans and Garlands, the designs of the Megazones from the outside, or even stuff like the attack of the Dezalg on the FX-101 are all to prove that the OVA format can be used to present hard as fuck visuals in really neat ways. It’s no wonder why they helped to set the standard for other OVAs to come that way.

Of course, this isn’t to glaze over all of the series’ faults. The plots move at quick paces and only occasionally have enough room for some character development, there’s some woefully unfinished or low-detail animation in spots, and Part III is overall a pretty unnecessary epilogue. And I know that Part III is catching a lot of flak from me, but I don’t think people would disagree that it’s a rather weak entry. Unfortunately, it does bring down the average quite a bit, at least for me. But with all that said, I think we’re left with something pretty solid overall regardless.

And on that note, it’s time to use my normal mecha-based rewatch rating scale! I hereby give Megazone 23 as a whole the rating of: **Hargan**. Those are the motorcycles that have to specifically attach to separate parts to turn into Maneuver Slaves, if you need a reminder. I think it’s a pretty fitting ranking compared to the Garland. They are things that need separate parts to activate and look really cool, otherwise they’re just kinda standard, either as motorcycles or as anime entries.

Oh yeah, and before I sign off, here’s [a link to an old Watch This! thread I made for Megazone 23 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/LmlTqp1gQw). It might be interesting to check out, knowing what we all feel now after this rewatch.

Anyways, thank you to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting this rewatch, and to all of you for coming along for the ride! This is a rewatch I’ve been hoping would happen for a while, so I’m glad all of you got to hang around and talk about a series that I’m enthused about. Until the next rewatch I’m in though, I’ll see you all later! And happy holidays to all of you!

###Firstzone 23

Honestly, I don’t have any more meaningful things to say. Most of everything got covered in my reactions, so I’ll just summarise my thoughts.

Megazone 23 is honestly a really fun time. It’s the sort of thing I can enjoy because I can poke fun at literally everything and watch the fire get out of control. Below it all is a surprisingly well thought out story that every once in a while shines through a bit.

I probably won’t rewatch this one, but I don’t regret getting in.

> The original virtual idol: thoughts on Eve and the virtual idols who came after? And modern real-time generative AI?

Really fitting portrayal, actually. I mean, outside of EVE being a chronical self-sacrifice for dumbasses. While there does not exist any AI that can be claimed to have conscience or awareness (yet), the use of the tech for nefarious purposes is sadly very real. As good as machine learning can be for areas like medicinal research, space exploration or robotics, the main and consistently prevalent use (by a long goddamn shot) is coming from fraudsters, scammers and pyramid schemers.

I don’t see this changing, the opposite actually: Companies and society will find ways to weasel it in to replace genuine work and connection with something they can use to extract value with. It is quite similar to how EVE as a character was portrayed.

> What can you tie back to Megazone 23 from later series, OVA and otherwise?

Goooooore and SEGGS.

> Favorite parts of the series? Unfavorite parts of the series?

Yes and yes.

But seriously, the few points where they had character arcs and stakes were really good as well as the fights.

> Do you think Megazone would have been successful as a TV series, and we'd still be talking about it alongside Macross?

I can imagine it being on the 0100 slot in the night on a daytime kids channel. That was dangerous territory and a very fitting spot for an OVA-style series like this. Our kids channel had a short moment in time where at 3am you could find either depressed bread, South Park reruns or legit full-nudity strip clips, iirc.

I would have 100% stayed up if it showed something like Megazone 23!

[](#megadeathparty)

And with that, thank you for hosting this! I did enjoy the rewatch a whole lot and as we discovered once more, reading other people's reactions might just well be the best part of the entire thing.

See you in the next one!

### First time watcher, subs

If I didn't showed up in the discussion threads, then there might be reasons behind it: started Part I a bit late (and so does for the discussions), then I watched it together with Part II. One week later, I did it with both parts of Part III as well. I did not appeared there because I was tired and some other things. Okay, I say my opinions of it right here, right now.

Part I and II feels very coherent, as it is about some secret conspiracy, fake real life, never-ending wars, biker gangs, super technology and a mission which culminates in the return to Earth which can be performed by a chosen one, a Messiah of some sort (or 7G Operator as they called). So that is why I treat the two both as one, which was somewhat good if I didn't understand and comprehend all things.

Part III feels somewhat disconnected, even if it's a sequel set in many centuries later. It is about a new protagonist who is about to finish everything what was started. Some normal life which gone awry in a short time due to recent events, revive some thing from the past, waging war against a corrupt central power, freedom fighter hackers, stopping some evil scheming. And why making Shogo the ultimate evil character there calling himself as the Bishop Won Dai? It was kinda mid.

The music, I mean the EVE songs were really fantastic and top-tier though. The Garlands as futuristic bikes turning into mechas, or EVE as virtual idol are cool concepts. And yes, there are lots of Biblical references here with deep meaning, just like with Evangelion, plus Bahamut.

Overall, it was a somewhat strange and confusing but interesting wild ride. This is a 7/10 from me, but that is for the music.

u/JustAnswerAQuestion, it was a good rewatch, with an interesting pick, just like many times before. And I do believe FLAG and Area 88 will be also interesting as well.

### First Timer, no more

_I'm sorry I'm late I forgot to set an alarm to post!_

## Megazone 23

_An Emblematic 80's OVA_

Megazone is certainly an interesting OVA from a historical perspective. The fact that there were years between the episodes and a big change in staff each time meant each entry felt unique. It's definitely not the only anime this has happened to, but because of how early it released it makes it ripe for discussion. Something I noticed in the comment threads was that there's not really a consensus on which entry was the best/worst (though there are factions). And I appreciate it can serve those different groups.

As for me, I think I end up as an originalist. Part 1, with it's problems, left the biggest impression on me and was the most entertaining. I certainly acknowledge Part 2 and 3 had better animation and visuals (at times) but I had the strongest narrative connection to Part 1. Shogo and Yui felt like the most relatable protagonists there which helped keep me engaged.

Something I also appreciated learning about is how many iconic staff members I like ended up working on parts of this project: Ichirou Itano on action animation, Shirou Sagisu on music, Yasuomi Umetsu character designs, and Kouji Morimoto animation to name a few. The thing which has kept me deeply interested in anime all these years is seeing the connections between projects and how each member of staff's touch can be felt on a truly excellent production.

I think the last thing I wanted to mention was genre. Cyberpunk is something which had permeated media today. We have a wealth of excellent works which are firmly Cyberpunk, as well as an ever deepening ocean of media which take elements of the sub-genre as influence. But at the time, particularly the mid to late 80s, we did not have much of that (Gibson's Neuromancer released in '84!). It's really inspiring to see a bunch of passionate artists taking the broader sci-fi genre at the time and refining the elements into a bold vision of the future. No matter my complaints about the OVAs themselves, I'm glad Megazone 23 exists.

### My Favourite Shots, Scenes and Stitches

* Part 1: [Aerobics](https://files.catbox.moe/tyxsg9.mp4)
* Part 1: [Wistful](https://imgur.com/GCWHxIz)
* Part 1: [Itano Circus](https://files.catbox.moe/kjat71.mp4)
* Part 2: [Punks vs Cops](https://files.catbox.moe/blbrnx.mp4)
* Part 2: [Eve](https://imgur.com/e4uVa7M)
* Part 2: [Paris Syndrome](https://imgur.com/54uEQJA)
* Part 3: [Eject](https://files.catbox.moe/1azg1c.mp4)
* Part 3: [Proto-Progknife](https://files.catbox.moe/7und54.mp4)
* Part 3: [A New Day](https://imgur.com/YZNXOf7)

And with that we conclude the Megazone 23 rewatch. Special thanks to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting. I really appreciated the research you did into the staff for each post. It really gave context into the discussion to understand the circumstances around the production. And of course thank you to all the other people who joined in the comment discussions and especially anyone who replied to my posts. I am always grateful to know you are out there reading my thoughts!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you all. I hope to join in more rewatches next year, so feel free to always ping me if any of you are planning to host.

And as always, [Take Care of Yourself](https://imgur.com/Ns7OsQc).

**First-Timer**

It’s hard to talk about Megazone 23 in its totality because the three parts of Megazone 23 all feel so different from each other tonally, aesthetically, and even in regards to plot/characters. They also vary quite a bit in quality. Because of that, I’m going to talk about each individually.

Part I is just peak vibes all throughout. The 80s aesthetic and the omnipresent city pop soundtrack combine to create an incredibly immersive atmosphere. It sucked me in the most out of all the Parts and nothing in the sequels ever quite hit the same fantastic atmosphere of Part I. The story also threw me for a loop multiple times. I loved what a wild experience it was seeing the plot unfold as twist after twist got revealed. It went in a far different direction from what I could have ever anticipated and that was a large part of the fun of watching Part I. Even though it doesn’t really have an ending and stopped at a cliffhanger, it was still a great OVA and I was left eager for more.

Part II has nowhere near the same vibes, but it does make up for it in other ways. There’s no longer any real mystery as to what’s going on, so this is nowhere near the wild ride of Part I. Instead, Part II feels like a great payoff to Part I. We actually get to see Shogo grow as a character and we get to see the resolution to everything that Part I set up. I was very satisfied by the conclusion that Part II gave us. I thought it was a great way to end the story and the character arcs. The vibes and aesthetic never quite matched Part I, though. I really do miss the city pop soundtrack from Part I because we never got the same vibe of city pop being an omnipresent soundtrack for everything afterwards.

Part III is definitely the weakest of the Parts. It is rather bland and doesn’t really bring anything worthwhile to the table. It doesn’t build on the story or themes in any compelling way. It doesn’t even look or sound particularly good, with a lot of subpar animation. I think Megazone 23 could have ended at Part 2 and that would have been just fine.

So, with that all said, I think it makes the most sense to grade each Part individually rather than as a whole.

**Part I: 8/10**

**Part II: 7/10**

**Part III: 4/10**

Thank you to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting this rewatch and for everyone who participated. I hope to see you all in future rewatches.

Questions:

1. Yeah that's literally AI. Actually kinda similar to the AI of today just much more advanced.
2. Wasn't part of that rewatch but [game] >!Thirteen Sentinels!< also had something similar. At least that had a more coherent ending. And considering that game that's saying a lot.
3. Uh...
4. Liked the battles in part 2. Didn't like part 3. Pretty much in its entirety.
5. Watched sub not dub so N/A.
6. God no. I've talked about it just about enough already.

Should I watch? If so how good is the dub?