OVA are the direct-to-video “wild west” of anime; they can range from awesome to unfortunate, as they adhere to zero specific rules. Genocyber leans towards awesome. It’s an ultra-violent, phantasmagorical descent into annihilation in the form of a 5-episode OVA from Bandai. A scientist develops the Mandala, a high-tech, cybernetic engine built to harness vaguely-defined psychic energy “mind shadows” called “vajra” to create a new kind of mechsuit-style weapon, named after the ultimate cosmic weapon of Hindu mythology. This project is convoluted, involves some kind of crime syndicate, and involves a fusion of two psychic sisters and an artificial body. To say it (and its ensuing projects) backfire is an understatement, as the OVA transitions into a post-apocalyptic dystopia in the wake of total global destruction.
Title: Genocyber (1994)
Type: OVA
OVA Type: Series
Episodes: 5
- Total: 70%
- Static Art – 85%
- Animation – 80%
- Audio – 70%
- Integrity – 70%
- Plot – 40%
- Narrative – 65%
- Delight – 85%
- Genres: Mechsuit, Psychic, Post Apocalypse, Ultra-Violence, Dystopia, Cyberpunk, Demonic, Weird Science
- Merits: Cool Concept, Phantasmagoria, Detailed Tech Art
- Flaws: Unfocused, No Time to Explain
The narrative is hard to follow, and if you blink, you’ll miss it. I read a synopsis of the series after watching it, but I clearly missed some of the detail as it was especially hard to follow along with the dynamic between the sisters in the beginning. I got the gist of what was happening, and wanted to know what happened to the main protagonist, Elena, but her character was little more than a few brush-strokes with no personality, and no time to get to know her. Despite that, there was so much bloodshed, weird cybernetic, and demon-asploding action going on that I didn’t feel like I was really missing anything – it’s a thin narrative thread anyway.
The character art is pleasing, if serviceable and basic, but the tech and demonic art is incredible, and the gore visuals are intense. The tech art is highly detailed, encompassing city-scapes, military vessels, banks of computer equipment, and impossibly ornate cybernetic implants. There is a unique kind of pleasure that detailed high-tech anime art provides, and this OVA delivers in spades. The other kinds of art get crushed and overwhelmed when the demonic vajra entities blast their way into the frame. The vajra stuff ranges from demonic mech suits, to writhing tentacle bio-horror, to bone, guts, and organs mutated into unspeakable horrors. It’s all over the place and doesn’t appear to follow any particular rules, but it’s one hell of a spectacle of bone, guts, and destruction.
The gore is explicit; there is more than just blood spray when someone gets their head blown off or chest ripped open, and children are brutally eviscerated. There is a line beyond which lies the “pornography of gore and/or misery,” a land which is a hard NOPE for me, but Genocyber somehow doesn’t cross it. It’s definitely a harsh spectacle and isn’t for everyone. I don’t have a good definition of where that line is – I know it when I feel it, and when I do, nope – I’m out. While Genocyber doesn’t cross that line for me, I might recommend against eating while you watch this one.
It’s interesting to see where Elena / Diana / the Genocyber goes, and how it/they interact with the people they wind up with, but only the first story is really about Elena / Diana / the Genocyber, and the ensuing stories are about the people who brush up against her/them. The last two episodes are also extremely different and follow a couple of lovers in the dystopian post-apocalypse, hundreds of years after the devastation of Earth. As a short what-if snippets I found the series fun to watch, and a wonderful spectacle, but one that doesn’t really go anywhere. The finale is also visually interesting but doesn’t make much sense thematically or, well, at all really.
As an unfocused series with intense visuals and a cool premise, this is a series I would recommend watching for its atmosphere, its great horror art, and its scenes of destruction, and maybe a series I would recommend as a short ride for someone looking for sources of inspiration for similar themes. I don’t think a show or a film has to contain an essay, or needs a clearly defined plot to be worth watching, and Genocyber is a good example of that. If any of this review sounds fun, you’ll probably get a kick out of this show.
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