When terrorists from the Soldiers of the World Liberation Front take the Hotel Kingdom hostage, Team Warrior is called to assist the city's traditional police force. When this heretofore-unknown organization begins making incredible demands, such as a naked skydive by one of the city's sexiest celebrities, even Rio is suspicious of their motives.

Rio herself makes the naked skydive and infiltrates the terrorist force, and, with the aid of the remainder of Team Warrior, frees the hostages. Unfortunately, the true force behind the bizarre terrorists, the organization in charge of the arcane Virtual Drug, escapes leaving Team Warrior at a loss for explanations.

Maria, a virtual-reality companion program popular in Neo-Tokyo, suddenly disappears. Yugi, one of her biggest fans, is eager to rescue her. Through the efforts of Team Warrior, Maria is rescued, but too few clues remain to properly link Maria's disappearance to the still-mysterious Virtual Drug.

Unbeknownst to Rio and Team Warrior, the organization behind the Virtual Drug begins its assault on police headquarters. Hearing about the assault, Rio rushes back to headquarters where the Virtual Drug makers have unleashed three formidable fighters onto Policetown. Rio's close friend Chisato, an accountant for the police force, is the first to be butchered. In response Rio vows to wreak vengeance on Chisato's killers.

The mysterious syndicate behind the Virtual Drug has unleashed its three killers - Wolf Head, Jackal Head and Dober Head - against the heroes of Policetown. Team Warrior combats the deadly assassins. Though they succeed in neutralizing the attacking force, Team Warrior knows it has not resolved the mystery of the three killers.

Part lap dance, part police drama, part cyberpunk epic, "Burn-Up W" is a schizophrenic piece of animation. However, these disparate components combine to form a slightly tastier dish than an initial look at the ingredients would suggest.

Athletic super-babes have long been used to mixed effect in anime, brimming with overt sexuality that never boils over. Though "Burn-Up W" follows this sometimes-tired trend, the super-babes of Team Warrior are no worse than the best of the characters that inhabit such films.

In addition to the expected over-endowed physiques, the writers of "Burn-Up W" have incorporated appealing foibles into the characters that prove consistently amusing. Maya's heartfelt lust for the power bestowed by a gun is just charming enough to swell the rosters of the NRA. Lilica's computer-savvy geekiness might just be endearing enough to compel a homebody fanboy or two to quest for love in the outside world. And to top it all off, Rio's financial woes add to the endearing mix.

In the end, it's Rio's spendthrift attitude and not some gun battle that provides the most entertaining sequence, when she decides to sell her lacy unmentionables at a fetishist shop in order to pay down her burgeoning debt. This sequence, a potentially awkward look into the seediest side of the of Japanese businessmen's world, turns out to elicit a series of hardy laughs as Rio tries to convince the employee that she is in fact a school girl, and therefore eligible to sell her underwear to the store.

The story reaches the height of levity before it becomes suddenly clear that the comedic build-up is merely a feint. From there, the story takes a startling twist, slamming the audience with police drama gritty violence as the villains behind the Virtual Drug begin their assault on Policetown. The first casualty of the assault is Rio's closest friend Chisato, who recently found her true love. Her sudden death inspires both uncertainty and rage into the heretofore cocky Rio. From there, Rio is faced with an intriguing choice. She can act on her rage and murder the attackers who have killed her friends and rampaged through Policetown, or remain calm and capture the assailants for questioning. As the initial set of episodes ends, it seems that Rio's rage will grow along with the realization that the mystery is far from solved.

The final element in the narrative collage is the peppering of futuristic cyberpunk elements. The story is littered with suggestions of futuristic technology, from the android El Higunte, to the cyber companions known as virtual idols, to the Virtual Drug itself. Even the villains Wolf Head, Jackal Head and Dober Head, who attack Policetown in the third and fourth episodes, hint at the advanced technology of Neo-Tokyo where evil organizations can use science to create super-villains capable of impressive fighting styles. Coupled with an abundance of high-tech weaponry, it is clear that the cyberpunk element is central to "Burn-Up W's" success.

Considered holistically, "Burn-Up W" utilizes plot elements and gimmicks that often play as trite and uninteresting to create something unique. It dishes out laughs and draws interest, never failing to entertain.