Ask John: Where Are All The Action Series?

Question:
My friend and I have both been buying Trigun and Evangelion but unfortunately both are coming to an end. We can’t seem to find a good series that follows the tradition of both series. We want a series with lots of action and a great story. Please give us some suggestions. We have been into anime for several years, but it seems that only a couple of movies have been worth buying. Why does it take so long for a Ninja Scroll or a Ghost in the Shell quality movie to come out?

Answer:
It did seem as though pure action spectacle anime went on hiatus from about 1989 until fairly recently, but there have been occasional signs of life in the genre, especially within the past few years. The two most easily available titles that come to mind are Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. A few other noteworthy suggestions include the first season of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Kenpu Denki Berserk, Gatekeepers, Devilman Lady, the Nadesico movie, the Aika OAV series, Blue Submarine No. 6, Spriggan, Blood and Blue Gender. Aika is currently available in America under the title Agent Aika. Blue Submarine is also available in America on VHS and DVD. AD Vision will be bringing Spriggan and Orphen to America possibly sometime this year, and Devilman Lady and the Nadesico movie eventually. Manga will be releasing Blood: The Last Vampire in July; and Funimation will be bringing an uncut version of Blue Gender to America as well. An American release for Berserk, unfortunately, seems uncertain right now, and Gatekeepers hasn’t yet been announced for American release, although I won’t be surprised if it is announced by someone before too much longer.

Orphen is a swords and sorcery fantasy adventure that should appeal to fans of Slayers and Trigun looking for something with a little less slapstick and a bit more bite. Spriggan is a pure non-stop, testosterone driven escapist action film filled with explosions, automatic rifles and psychic powers. Blue Gender is the closest anime adaptation of Starship Troopers next to the actual Starship Troopers anime OAV series from the mid 1980s. The Nadesico movie features some of the best mecha combat since the fourth Gundam movie: Char’s Counterattack. Blood: The Last Vampire is an exhilarating thrill ride of horror, as is Devilman Lady.

Furthermore, there are a number of excellent recent and current action oriented anime TV series available in Japan, many of which I do anticipate making the trip to America. Inuyasha captures the spirit of the light and fun action anime of the 1980s such as City Hunter, Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis, with 21st century animation quality. The stunning Noir takes cues from French action films like Leon (The Professional, albeit not really a French film) and La Femme Nikita in its action filled presentation of a pair of female assassins; Hakaima Sadamitsu recalls Guyver and sentai heroes in its story of a high school thug pressed into battling invading aliens; and both Zone of the Enders and Gene Shaft feature mature space action and mecha aplenty.

It may seem as though good action anime are difficult to find, but as long as there are fans to watch it, there will always be mindless escapist action filled anime.