Megazone 23
Entry updated 28 April 2025. Tagged: Film.
Japanese Original Video Animation (1985-1986; vt Omega Zone 23; vt Megazone Two-Three). Artland, Artmic. Created by Noboru Ishiguro. Directed by Noboru Ishiguro (part one) and Ichiro Itano (part two). Written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama. Voice cast include Maria Kawamura, Masato Kubota, Kumi Miyasato, Kaneto Shiozawa, Mina Tominaga and Kazuki Yao. Two 80 minute episodes, the first titled Megazone 23, the second Megazone 23: Tell Me the Secret. Colour.
In mid-1980s Tokyo, MacDonald's worker Shogo Yahagi (Kubota [part I]/Yao [part II]) is given the opportunity to ride the prototype Garland motorcycle by a friend who is a test driver for the company that designed it; the friend appears unaware it is intended to be a Weapon and can transform into a Mecha. The displeased company react violently, killing the friend and searching for Shogo, who – when not evading their attentions – is becoming romantically involved with dancer Yui Takanaka (Kawamura). However, whilst shaking off a pursuing motorcycle cop, he finds himself descending in a secret vehicle lift: the doors open and he looks out over a vast Underground City; though most of it appears contemporary, there is a huge futuristic edifice in the centre. Shogo is now attacked by another mecha: their fighting damages a wall which they both tumble through, to find themselves adrift in space – the wall is a Spaceship hull. Shogo realizes he has not been living on Earth (see Conceptual Breakthrough). Rescuing the other mecha's pilot he demands an explanation; named B.D. (Shiozawa) they tell him "a monstrous Computer" named Bahamut rules the spaceship and manipulates most of the population into believing they live in the Tokyo of five centuries ago. The military are working to disable Bahamut, housed in the edifice Shogo saw earlier – there is also an army base there; furthermore, the approach of another spaceship has been detected: it is considered hostile, so Tokyo's weapons industry is being stimulated – thus the production of the Garland.
Shogo returns to the surface, to learn the popular singer Eve Tokimatsuri (Miyasato) is an AI generated by Bahamut – her songs and celebrity status are used to guide the populace (see Media Landscape): she now appears on the Garland's screen, to explain that when humanity made the Earth uninhabitable (see Disaster) they built spaceships named Megazones – this one being numbered 23 – intended to colonize new planets (see Generation Starships, Colonization of Other Worlds), but then further conflict arose. Meanwhile B.D. heads a coup that overthrows his generals and the government, then works to prepare the population for war. One of Yui's friends, Tomomi Murashita (Tominaga), has been making an amateur movie which includes scenes with Shogo and the motorbike: she is murdered by B.D.'s men and the film confiscated. Enraged, and realizing who is responsible, Shogo rides the Garland into the underground army base to confront B.D.; he is wearing his own mecha suit and the first OVA ends with their fight and Shogo's defeat: though he escapes the Garland is confiscated.
The second OVA opens with authorities reviewing their military Technology: it is impressive but they acknowledge their opponents' – who are called the Dezalg (and seem to be humans from another Megazone) – is more advanced. A later space battle confirms this: the cables within the defenders spaceships erupt from walls and machinery, gorily decapitating the crews (see Horror in SF). A fake Eve created by the military is attempting to prepare her audience for war, whilst B.D. is trying to hunt down the remnant of the original Eve that has avoided deletion. As for Shogo, he has been framed for the murder of Tomomi, and – along with Yui – has teamed up with a biker gang, the Suicide Squad. B.D. uses the Garland to lure Shogo and his friends into a trap, but the Suicide Squad came prepared and they escape with the motorbike, albeit with a tracker attached. Eve contacts Shogo via the Garland, telling him how to restore Bahamut's autonomy: so he and the Suicide Squad make their way to the edifice, battling the military en route. The Dezalg now attack Megazone 23.
Bahamut is restored, taking Shogo and the mortally wounded Yui within its walls. Here Eve talks with Shogo, asking what being an adult means to him: he replies he despises them as selfish and egotistical – adults should be like the ones he saw in movies and on television as a child (see Heroes). Eve says he should try to be like them, then initiates the ADAM program, which will decide whether humanity is fit to return to Earth (the plan to colonize other worlds seems to have been dropped): Eve's questioning was a test in preparation for this. ADAM is the Moon's defence system (the Moon is apparently one giant weapon) and it makes its decision, destroying Megazone 23. However, Eve manages to send Shogo, the cured Yui and the surviving members of the Suicide Squad down to an Edenic Earth.
In the second OVA we learn the 1980s was used for Megazones 23's culture because it was the most peaceful era in history, whilst people intending to visit other countries were given Memory Edits that implanted false memories. However, there are other unanswered questions – such as, why is there an empty underground city? Some of this is due to the production history, as the first OVA is compiled from episodes produced for a planned tv series which was scrapped, the shorter run time meaning much had to be left out. There are puzzling aspects to the second OVA though – restoring Bahamut happens with remarkably little fuss, whilst most of the Suicide Squad appear to be killed during the final attack, yet turn up at the end merely injured.
Viewed today the story appears a little Clichéd, but Megazone 23 helped found those clichés: it is a historically important example of Anime Paranoia. The first OVA is a little flat – the big reveal lacks the kick it should have – but the animation noticeably improves in the sequel, making it much more engaging; though this might be explained by the change in director, its predecessor had been a financial success, so the budget was likely bigger. However, the change in style can be confusing – for example, B.D. is unrecognizable: there is also a more blood, Sex and Fan Service.
The above film is usually referred to as Megazone 23 Parts I and II; there was also a Megazone 23 Part III (1989), comprising two further 50-minute OVAs (titled M23: Return of Eve and M23: Freedom Day, which were released together in the USA, confusingly, as Megazone 23): this seems to have been in response to the international success of Akira (1988) and the producers realizing they too had a franchise about a teenager on a motorbike. Set several centuries after the events of its predecessors, it features Eve but none of the other characters, with new directors and writer. Furthermore, Megazone 23 part I had earlier been released as Robotech: The Movie (1986), re-edited and the plot changed, to make it part of the Robotech television series (see Super Dimensional Fortress Macross). [SP]
links
- Internet Movie Database – Part I
- Internet Movie Database – Part II
- Internet Movie Database – Part II
- Internet Movie Database – Robotech: The Movie
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