"Black Magic M66" (Anime)

[pkristen]

1 Episode Anime OVA. Originally reviewed December 29, 2001

Summary
Freelance report Sybel uncovers a military fiasco in the making as a pair of combat androids M66s are accidentally let loose in the countryside. The bigger problem is that the robots have the test versions of their program, which lists the assassination target of their inventor’s teenage granddaughter.

Review
Even though this piece has the credit of being done by the same creators of “Ghost in the Shell” and “Blood, The Last Vampire”, I honestly had no interest in it until I found out that the lead character of Sybel was done by a favorite voice actress Yoshiko Sakakibara (Sylia from Classic BGC.) And then I saw that Sybel was cute and on the butch side, so I thought “What the hell!”

It definitely shows its age of being created in the late eighties, but even with that, it’s extremely worthwhile anime, showing that strong story-telling and characterization (with surprising doses of humor) can make up for dated animation style. A must watch if you enjoy the kind of stories where innocent people are being chased by a seemingly impossible to stop killing machine. (Yes, there’s definitely the feeling of “Aliens” Ripley-ness throughout the show. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing.)

Lesbian Analysis
There’s not much really given that there’s only three significant female characters: Sybel, Ferris (inventor’s granddaughter), and Nakamura, a commanding soldier. Subtexters can have a field day with this one but I’m trying to analyze what I think is honestly there.

Sybel: Freelance reporter who goes to heroic limits to save Ferris from being slaughtered by a killing machine.
# Early in the story, it’s revealed that she separated again from her husband. She cites her preference for her work over marriage to a “boring guy.”
# Male reporter comrade assumes that she’s motivated to do the story for a boy with green eyes that she mentions as a contact in a t.v. station. Sybel does not negate nor support this assumption.
# I’d give her “honorary lesbian” status in that she “probably isn’t but should be.” Meanwhile, you can make whatever biased assumptions you want about her and take your enjoyment from there.

Ferris: Teenage and hip-conscious girl who’s unfortunately sent on the run for her life.

Nothing particular about her one way or the other, but probably generically straight given that she doesn’t seem to show any daringness in her personality make-up.

Nakamura: A commending soldier who’s part of the military effort to stop this machine from completing its gruesome task.

She’s on duty for the entire anime. That’s no time to talk about romance and relationships!