Parasite Dolls - Denkyu.Com
- Denkyu.Com
- Andromeda
- 11/15/04
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Parasite Dolls: DVD Review
In the year 2040, androids, called Boomers are part of society. It's hard to tell the real from the fake. And even though they seem perfect, sometimes Boomers go rogue, and when they do, people start dying. It's up to the Branch, an elite team of police, to keep these androids from causing too much destruction and death. Another thing to worry about though, are those who think that the Boomers are an abomination and should be destroyed.
Lately there have been cases of unexplained rogue Boomers. After the AD Police and Michaelson, from the Branch, chase down and take out a rogue Boomer on the interstate, Michaelson checks out the Boomer when she picks up a signal, a transmission. Does this mean these rogue Boomers are being controlled by something? Ripping the chip from the back of the Boomer's head, she takes it to a Boomer specialist by the name of Bill Myers.
While working on her lead, another member of the Branch, Buzz, is checking out a lead relating to drugs for Boomers. It's suspected that this is what's making the Boomers go rogue. To find out for sure, he needs to get a hold of some of this new drug. Finding out a meeting place for one of the dealers, Buzz and his partner, Kimball, meet up with one, only to find him dead. Luckily, the drug was left behind by whoever killed him, or did these two investigators interrupt what was going on?
A year later.
Boomers aren't made to sexually pleasure humans, but, like everyone knows, computers can be upgraded and modified. Just like with humans, there are Boomer whores and lately there has been a rash of Boomer whores being killed. It's up to Buzz, Kimball and Michaelson to find out who or what's been killing them. Following their leads, they find out that a CEO of Genom Corporation ended up dead after he interacted with one of these specially made Boomers. Is there a connection with Genom and who the police have dubbed as the Boomer Crusher?
Boomers aren't supposed to have dreams, but Eve finds herself dreaming lately. It's something she can't figure out, but now isn't the time, she has a job to do. Eve is a Boomer prostitute who deals with high-class clients at a posh hotel and tonight she has a job. On her way to the hotel, she walks past Michaelson, who's undercover as a prostitute. Eve is kind enough to stop and tell her why the men seem to be avoiding her. Her expression isn't one who wants to fulfill a man's dream.
Becoming a bit curious about what was said to her, MIchaelson follows Eve, only to have Eve tell her that she can't follow her into the hotel because of her clothes. It wasn't until after Eve had went into the hotel that something clicked with Michaelson. Running inside, she's stopped by two bellman who tell her she can't come in here. Becoming upset, Michaelson pulls out her badge and they apologize. Finding out where Eve went, she quickly follows... but something goes terribly wrong once she faces Eve again.
Five years later.
There's an Anti-boomer group bent on getting rid of the boomers. They don't like the recent trend they see, of humans relying on machines way too much. Boomers are being killed and Chief Takahashi disappears. Is he dead, or is he hiding? Is there a connection with the rash of killings? With the chief's disappearance Buzz steps up and takes control while things seem to go terrible wrong.
While following leads, Kimball and Michaelson are attacked by a helicopter while on the interstate. Whoever is flying it seems to be bent on ending their lives at the cost of the lives of innocent bystanders. Buzz finds out that more is going on than he thought, with cover-ups starting long ago. To top it off, someone has decided to destroy the city and he's being blamed for it.
Politicians, cover ups, murders and drugs. These are the things that a good detective story are made of. Parasite Dolls has a good dark feeling too it and is drawn that way. Filled with death and emotions. It brings up the question about whether androids can have emotions or a conscious. Can machines have these? Will we, the human race, one day face this question and be able to answer it? With the way technology is advancing, maybe it's possible.
Those familiar with Bubblegum Crisis and AD Police, will recognize the use of the word Boomers. Having watched AD Police some time ago, I picked up on the familiar word but didn't completely connect it until the name of the police department was said, AD Police. Even though this is set in the same universe as Bubblegum Crisis and seems to be a few more files taken from the AD Police department, it's not the same as those two. Parasite Dolls is more darker than the two and more of a thriller. It also takes place thirteen years after the OAV of AD Police
I enjoyed watching it but at times I felt left hanging with a few small things. In the end though, the little unanswered questions were answered. Of course, if everything were answered right away, it would take the detectiveness out of the whole thing. Trying to figure out the who done it was a bit hard, which is what makes a detective story good. If you figure it out right away, you loose interest in the story.
The action scenes were great. They were a combination of conventional and computer generated animation. I had a hard time picking out what was CG and what wasn't. There's quite a bit of blood, but not an excessive amount which some of these action types seem to have. The nudity that is shown wasn't graphic and was necessary to tell the story. It wasn't just something added to attract people to this movie.
The soundtrack didn't catch my attention too much until the end, but the opening song, Get On The Beat is great. It has that club dance fell to it with great lyrics. For this song, I would by the OST for. The video made for it was great and I really enjoyed watching it.
For those who love action packed movies, I'd suggest getting hold of a copy. Don't let the artwork on the cover fool you about the animation inside. The extras were great. Get On The Beat music video, exclusive promo video shown at the anime fair 2002, original Japanese video promo, production sketches and ADV previews. The packaging includes a mini poster insert and on the back of the cover are the main character profiles. Something I noted about the profiles, is that it says Buzz is 32 and Takahashi is 43. In the anime, someone mentions that they are the same age, 38. I did watch the dub, so maybe the subtitles are different
Posted on Monday, November 15, 2004 (Archive on Wednesday, December 15, 2004)