Ichiro Itano's 1989 OVA Angel Cop is anime at its absolute worst. It's an explotation piece attempting to masquerade as social commentary, rife with over-the-top violence, extreme gore, nationalistic jingoism and, worst of all, antisemitism. The absurd plot makes no sense, the characters are eminently unlikeable, and the animation looks like it was copied directly off a 16mm print. In other words, it sucks. HARD.
So, what could possibly make this unwatchable piece of sh*t "awesome"? The answer can be summarized in two words: THE DUB.
We're going to do a quick thought exercise. I want you to think back on all the dubbed anime you've seen, and pick out the worst one. Think of the dub with horrible voice acting... the one that made you cringe, cry and roll up into a ball on the floor in the fetal position. You got that in your mind?
The Angel Cop dub is WORSE.
Don't take my word for it. Experience a short sample after the break.
This clip is only the tip of the iceberg. When Manga Entertainment decided, for unfathomable reasons, to adapt this anime for English-speaking audiences in 1994, they elected to cram as much profanity as possible into the dialogue in an attempt to make the series more "adult". The result is characters dropping f-bombs in the most inappropriate of places, making it sound like the script was written by an eleven-year-old who just learned a bunch of dirty words and wanted to use them wherever possible. This leads to lines like "Don't look so suprised. I'm your f*cking backup!" and the timeless malediction "F*CK AND PISS!" All this profanity is poorly juxtaposed against the dub's sillier lines, such as "If this is justice, then I'm a banana!" Throw in blatant mispronunciation of Japanese names and stilted acting, and you have Angel Cop's dub in a nutshell.
This makes the series one of the most entertaining of all time, in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. In my opinion, Angel Cop places alongside such past greats as Plan 9 From Outer Space and Battlefield Earth in terms of sheer unintentional hilarity. If you're a fan of ludicrous violence and gore, horrendous voice acting or just bad films in general, you'll enjoy this OVA... just be prepared for it to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
15 comments
nobody can hate on 4kids after this. at least their voice actors can... act.