There ain't no easy way to say this, might as well lay it out on the table. This new take on the cheesy but
fun mid-'80s "Fight! Iczer-One" OAV (read the EX review at
http://www.ex.org/2.2/16-iczer.html) is utter dreck.
It isn't often that such a horrid confluence of trite and cliché plots, annoying characters-from whiny schoolgirls
to effete giggling villains-and canned battle music comes around, but, shazam, "Iczer" saga creator Toshihiro
Hirano delivers it all in spades.
"Sailor Moon" mangaka Naoko Takeuchi conscientiously develops a personality and backdrop for her heroine
before tossing her into the action, so we are pulling for her by the time the whining starts. Hirano took equal
care in establishing Nagisa in the original "Iczer-One," so we empathically connect with the horror she feels as
horrible alien changelings consume her friends and family one by one.
Hirano sadly neglects such care in this newest incarnation of the "Iczer" series, plopping down his newly-updated
Nagisa in the thick of things devoid of context. When she turns crybaby, we have nothing invested in her-she's
merely an annoying savior of the Earth.
But just what makes Nagisa so special, anyway? When she meets Iczels, Hirano infers that the fate of the
planet rests on her shoulders-and indeed in the original story she is Earth's only hope. However, in this
installment, three more-experienced warriors fight to defend Earth, robbing the newbie of any distinction.
Obviously the plot will eventually contrive to elevate Nagisa to greatness, but in these nascent episodes it
isn't clear why the story needs her at all. Iczels even refers to her as "The One." Sheesh, where's Agent
Smith when you need him?
"Iczer-One" had some ominous monsters, short of that weird alien elf lesbian thing going with Big Gold
and her lieutenants. Those Lovecraftian body-snatching worms packed a lot of creepy power, a far sight more
original than the off-the-shelf robeasts Nagisa faces. The brother and sister bad guy team has been done to
death, too. Anyone remember the Doom Tree segment of "Sailor Moon"? It was old then.
Special mention goes to the voyeuristic camera, ever eager to peer down every bosom and up every skirt
with salacious glee. So many Pervo-cam shots haven't noodled their way into scenes since "Agent Aika."
Especially offensive are the traditional transformation scenes in which the girls shed their street clothes
to don their battle armor. Tastefully done in "Sailor Moon," do we really need nipple shots here? Of course,
a woman wrote "Sailor Moon" for little girls, and Hirano apparently wrote "Iczelion" for dirty old men.
"Iczelion's" saving graces, though, are high production quality and Hirano's rock-solid character designs.
Alas, Kenji Kawai, who created the lush and throbbing world music of "Ghost in the Shell," phones in a lackluster
score of over-processed synth battle music. Disappointing. But it's a work of genius next to the storyline.
