Big Wars

Publisher
Kiseki
Director
Tatsumi Yamashita
Production
Magic Bus, Tokuma Shoten
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
75 mins
Year
1993

Bigwars VHS

By John Huxley
27th Apr 04

Great title. I just had to buy an anime called 'Bigwars'. Thankfully the title is no indicator for the quality of the film. Bigwars is set during 'the dawn of the 21st century', whenever that might be. Earth has colonised Mars with limited success, although it seems the human race is not particularly welcome on the red planet. An alien race known only as the Gods has been watching our progress and has deemed it necessary to eliminate us by force. The Gods view us as a parasite inhabiting the body of another victim, and they are here to act as the cure. Obviously no human is going to take this lying down, so war has been raging for many years over the surface of Mars. Hey, maybe it's a big war?

Things start out pretty mundane, with our hero Captain Akuh discovering that his girlfriend has been subverted - a kind of deadly disease that leaves it victims under the control of the Gods. The first sign of subversion is nymphomania, although Akuh predictably doesn't exactly complain at this point. He's more worried when she starts to threaten his own life, and unfortunately he has no choice but to eliminate her. He doesn't have to hang around feeling sorry for himself too long, as the Gods have initiated an attack on the city and Captain Akuh is called into duty. He pilots a massive sea/land ship called the Aoba. It is the Aoba's mission to infiltrate the God's ultimate weapon and control ship, Hell. Can Akuh succeed where so many others have failed?

The answer is inevitable, but the action and plot twists were enough to keep me watching until the end. The animation holds up well during the battle scenes (which usually consist of air and ground battles, with the odd fist fight for good measure) but predictably falls to it's knees when asked to produce the more adventurous techniques like rotation and scaling. The design isn't awe inspiring but neither is it totally dull. I liked the suits they wear to infiltrate the enemy ship 'Hell'; very Alien. Comparing this to another anime isn't easy. Gundam shares some similarity in the overall theme, but the action and characters have nothing in common. And that's where Bigwars falls down. The characters, especially Captain Akuh, are a little boring. Most of them really aren't expanded beyond a simple introduction, and some of them even seem to get in the way. Despite this, Bigwars is interesting enough to warrant at least one viewing, although I'd be weary about spending any cash on it, unless you really want some warfare related action. I which case, this anime is ample.

-- John Huxley 27th Apr 04

Big Wars Images