- Title: Appleseed
- IMDB: link
Deunan Knute, the main character of Appleseed, has had a less-than-normal life. As a legendary female soldier, and survivor of the Third World War, you could say she is something close to badass. She is the main reason that I enjoyed this anime, not for the twist, or the CG animation, but for the hardcore female badass. Usually with anime there is the alpha male and the weakling little girl who screams, cries and flashes her panties. Now, not all are like that, Noir is about two badass girls, Aeon Flux has another badass lady, but for some reason I could never get through Noir’s entire series box. As for Aeon Flux, I just could not stand the dreadful artwork, sorry to say, but it sucks.
Back to Appleseed, Deunan Knute is in the midst of a fight with some unknown figures when a group of white-armored soldiers jumps in and start firing at them. While trying to escape the attack, she is shot with a tranquilizer. When she wakes up, she realizes she is attached to a bunch of cords leading to a scanning device. She leaps up and grabs the0 woman monitoring her, taking her hostage, and asking for answers. The only thing to calm her down was the voice of her ex-lover and comrade Briareous, who is now a cyborg. Briareous was injured in combat and the only way to save him was to turn him into a cyborg. You learn that the last time he saw Deunan as a human was as he walked away into the sunset telling her to stay behind. After Deunan calms down, she learns she is in Olympus, a Utopian society with a population of half human and half Bioroids. Bioroids, created by Dr. Gilliam and Deunan’s father Carl, are genetically engineered clones, who lack feelings and reproduction capabilities. Prime Minister Athena, General Edward Uranus III, the head of the Olympus Regular Army and the Council of Elders, seven old men who are hooked up to anti-gravity chairs with life support make up the government for Olympus. But, even with those three factions, the city is observed by an artificial intelligence named Gaia, which is housed in a building called Tartarus.
Deunan, being the legendary female badass she is, is integrated into the ESWAT organization, where she also befriends a Bioroid named Hitomi. Deunan’s father, Carl, used his DNA for the creation of the first generation of Bioroids. Bioroids’ lack of reproduction, as I mentioned before, makes their life span much shorter than that of humans, so facilities were built to lengthen their life with regular tune-ups. A data file named Appleseed holds the key to extending the life of each Bioroid indefinitely, and after the terrorist attacks on the life extension facilities, by humans fearing a Bioroid take over, the data appeared to be lost. The only way to fully develop the Utopian society was to have the Appleseed data, and the only way to get that was to uncover and remember.
I will not say that this is my favorite anime, but it will go on my top 10 to recommend. Obviously, I did not delve into the entire story, or you would have no need to watch the film, so go out and watch it already! Joking aside, I do love the visuals, the idea of a Utopian society, hell even the Bioroids sound like a pretty neat idea. I know I made this sound like a woman empowerment anime, but it is not, it’s not even close to G.I. Jane.