Pantsu! (Agent Aika: Anime Legends (DVD))

Member Name: berlioz II

Product:	Agent Aika: Anime Legends (DVD)
Date:	13/06/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun and entertaining fan service anime for the greater appreciation of panties

Disadvantages: Not much plot to it, but then again that's not really the point here to start

I'm not sure whether the phenomenon of fan service has ever reached such large proportions in animation anywhere else than it has in Japan. Being the multifaceted and sometimes quite surreal country, Japan has one of the largest animation industries in the world, and by this token there really is no limit to what subject matters are also dealt with in an animated form for the consumption of all the otaku. And certainly one of those unique aspects is the hentai and ecchi subgenres that are often associated quite prominently with Japanese anime, most likely because nowhere else has it been taken to the same levels of productivity. And as per the many fetishes that the population enjoys, so can you pretty much find almost any of these represented in anime somewhere. The concept of fan service is a topic that can divide people up, and is by definition meant to be superficial and usually bearing no particular importance to the story itself. This usually manifests in the titillating glimpses of girls' panties and other underwear, or general brief nudity that is done just for the heck of it. Admittedly there's not as much fan service provided for women in the form of gorgeous hunks in little clothing as there is about cute girls, but then again a large majority of these types of series are usually aimed toward the male consumer anyway (exceptions withstanding). In their most extreme manifestations there are the shows that generally are entirely built on simply providing fan service, the objective being in not really bothering as much with the plot itself than in figuring out in how many ways to insert fan service from episode to episode. In the best of instances this can make for a fun little devious distraction; at its worst, it can be immature and hollow, mind-numbing garbage. To this last example can be added one of the most famous staples of this subgenre of anime: the action/adventure series Agent AIKa.

Agent AIKa was a direct to video release back in 1997 as produced by Studio Fantasia, and consists of two sets of OVA series totalling seven episodes. The plots on their own are as expected rather on the thin side. The first four episodes deals with a mad scientist planning on using a substance called "Lagu" to eradicate Earth from the plague of humanity by resetting the world's ecosystem gone up to kazoom due to human interference, and then repopulating the planet with his own genes by using his army of hot women as propagators. Standing in the way of this plan, however, is the salvager Aika Sumeragi, and her companions, the mouthy, glasses-wearing pain-it-the-ass Rion Aida, and Aika's competitor/ladies' man Gust Turbulence (jeez what a name). The second half of the series consists of a further three episodes produced after the original run's success, and follows up from the first one's storyline, this time dealing with the remnants of the Delmo organisation wanting revenge on Aika, putting forth a group of mini-bosses in various ways to defeat the stalwart salvager in a fairly episodic manner. This really is pretty much all the plot has to offer, all of it generally being dealt within a couple of explanation scenes, and a large part of the series rather focuses on brutal fight scenes, showing as much panties as humanly possible, and just having fun with these most gratuitous aspects of fan service.

However, regardless of the very clear intentions the series has, this is not to say it is outrightly bad or anything. In fact, as long as you know what you are getting into here, Agent AIKa is actually an extremely entertaining series. Most certainly one can say that the fan service is extremely excessive, but it is usually executed in a lot more of an interesting fashion than in many of its brethren, and it is quite clear that the animators were having a boatload of fun in being inventive with this stuff. The characters themselves are fairly stock characters, but they're put through a bit of a loop that makes them seem quite unique at the same time. Aika herself is the consummate superwoman, who fights effortlessly and looks good in just about anything (or nothing). What makes her a bit more of a standout is her backstory of being a test subject as a child, and how she wields a special bustier called "ultranate" that brings out an alternate personality from Aika (more down to business than happy and friendly), strips off her clothing, wraps around her body like a scanty armour, and from where four tentacle-things shoot out to lash out at opponents. Aika doesn't particularly want to use it unless she has to, but it does come out quite often and makes the whole thing a bit more interesting. By comparison, the other female lead of Rion is pretty much the anti-thesis of sexuality in the series: a whiny little girl with an attitude, comparatively smaller breasts, and who always seems to end up in trouble. Her part is usually played rather more for jokes than for much anything else, but she does get her action moments every now and again.

The other cast is on itself rather a large one, but don't figure in the story quite as exclusively as the main two girls. Gust as a ladies' man, with some serious hots for Aika, makes for an adequate comic relief with his antics of being a rather callous guy with the way he conducts business and is generally one of those cocky types that you can't help but like. The sassy A-Class spy Meypia Alyxemetalia as a government espionage undercover spy provides some further fun with her self-important air and easy irritability, particularly when combined with the company of Rion she runs across during her snooping around. Rion's father, who saved Aika once, is a bit more of a serious boss type, reluctant to do stuff with a military orientation, but also takes action if the necessity really arises. On the bad guy side, the main big ones are an odd bunch in themselves, with Rudolf Hargen as the utopia-yearning scientist being an effeminate, lipstick-wearing, long-haired, and very soft-spoken aristocrat who seems obsessed in gathering as many women around him as possible, even making passes on Aika and Rion when the chance presents itself. And if that's not enough, he also dabbles in an incestuous relationship with his younger sister Neena, who likewise is a complete nut job with an unstable mind and a severe dislike toward Aika, whom she sees as a competitor to her brother's affections. And then there are the large host of Hargen's women (the Delmogeny), the top brass of whom grow in the second series into the main opposition, with Hargen's second-in-command (who by the way is a lesbian) taking lead in putting forth the more tough "Golden Delmos" of Bianca (uses a retractable sleeve-blade), Rie (a very young girl specialised in collecting data), Sania (shoots around with a grenade pistol), and Tonia (uses sharp, metal claws on both hands). And then finally there's also the rookie boy Michikusa Shuntaro in the second series who talks to a plushie, is very oblivious, likes to steal clothes from unconscious Delmos, and who always gets pummelled brutally by Rion for irritating her.

So the cast itself is rather a colourful lot, even with their roots being pulled from rather standard archetypes, and certainly these bring a lot of variety to the proceedings, helping to keep things fresh throughout the series' run. What is of a particularly nice note is the little details that are sprinkled in the series, the world as it stands in that time, and the little individual points that make that world itself a lot more deep and believable. This manifests itself rather well in the realm of Hargen's battleship/submarine/spaceship where his tightly-clad female staff are given a bit more operational depth than just having a bunch of generic girls running around with no real purpose. As in a military establishment, all the girls wear different colour uniforms that denotes their ranks and particular purposes. The Black Delmos are the lowest in rank and are solely used for hand-to-hand combat; the Pink Delmos handle the heavy artillery and do maintenance work; the Blue Delmos are like a general infantry group and engage in close combat with rifles and other weapons; and the White Delmos are in the command chain directly under Hargen; and, of course, the Golden Delmos in the second series are meant for special operations. This gives a great feeling of more thought to the whole organisation that could have just as easily been handled by not bothering with separating the girls from being anything other than an anonymous bunch of henchwomen. And it's occasionally also a fun little diversion to show these cute baddies as basically being just normal people, doing their jobs, chitchatting about what girls usually talk about, caring for one another, and just trying to do their best... which isn't usually worth much, but at least they try.

But in the end, this is a series that is still all about the action, and there's plenty of it. A majority of these battle scenes usually deals with Aika pummelling girls in the face, or elsewhere on their bodies, the results being usually that the KO'd girls end up lying down in various enticing positions, and their skirts always fly way up... which certainly is not a hard accomplishment. In fact, if there is one thing you get to see a LOT are panties. Panties, panties, panties, panties. Wonderful, white cotton pantsu. That's right. There's a panty shot about every 20 seconds on average, and this is only helped when there seems to be a rule that girls are not allowed to wear trousers or skirts that reach anywhere as near far down as their thighs. Plus the camera positioning is usually so low that it's impossible to escape from seeing them. And even when we are higher up, the skirts usually handle the discrepancy in being so short as to make glimpses inevitable... or then the girls just bend over slightly, or climb higher, or a gust of wind comes around, or they get punched out... This is really as pure as a fan service anime can get. There is also some full-frontal nudity, but this is kept to a minimum, and it is the panties that dominate the screen. Not to mention there is something interestingly sexy in seeing a bunch of cute model-class girls being kicked around by a stronger woman... or even by somebody on their own side like Neena. Yet, despite the action sometimes being quite brutal in execution, it is a remarkable thing that practically nobody ever dies during the seven episodes. There's only really a handful of characters who buy the farm, with the majority just ending up unconscious with cute expressions on their faces, and which gives the series a considerably cleaner and less grim feeling, a true requirement if you want to get enjoyment out of this sort of deal... unless death gives you some sick satisfaction or something...

The animation quality is really top-notch: fluid, detailed, fast-paced, and anatomically sumptuous. Studio Fantasia has really gone down the route of offering a series that, despite the very shallow plot, looks absolutely gorgeous and just makes focusing on the main point a lot more satisfying. The voice acting is on the side of very good, but not really mind-altering. Rei Sakuma makes a fine Aika, while Hiroko Konishi's Rion could be a bit more spirited. Juurouta Kosugi as Gust is perfect as the lecherous alpha male, Sakiko Tamagawa's Maypia is suitably over-the-top, Atsuko Tanaka brings a decidedly sultry style to Neena, and Kaneto Shiozawa makes for a very smooth-sounding Rudolf Hargen. And the Delmo women acquit themselves quite well, too, particularly Ikue Ohtani as the playfully young Rie, while Yuko Nagashima's White Leader nicely balances the tough commander with a tone betraying a lot of caring toward the people in her charge. However, the English dub of this series is by comparison a total nightmare. The actors lack spontaneity and seem to just recite the lines, while the generally undetailed soundscape makes the whole thing fall flat on its face. It clearly shows that the budget wasn't too big to hold many actors in it as the fight scenes in particular are completely lacking audio. The SFX and music mix is there, but the various grunts and expressions of pain in the Delmos when smacked around, past maybe a faint, barely audible "umph", is all you get. You don't even get the battle cries for crying out loud! That is certainly a dub that deflates the experience considerably, and should be avoided. There's also a German dub that I've heard, but unlike the English one, this is on par with the Japanese version, and perhaps even betters it, with the actors surprisingly giving a really spirited account. Even the various extra voice effects sound even more convincing with the Germans putting their all in it that at times it makes oneself almost feel the pain when a girl gets socked in the face. Now that's rare. So if possible, listen to the series in Japanese or German, but only as a last source in English.

So, Agent AIKa is a series that most likely will only really appeal to men, and even there you have to be susceptible of tolerating the over-saturation of fan service you'll be confronted with. However, unlike something as inept and dumb as say Ikki Tousen, AIKa is actually a very entertaining little piece. The fact that it only consists of seven, half-hour episodes is just a fitting length to this sort of series without making it feel like it's over-stayed its welcome. It is clearly made very tongue in cheek and as long as you just take it as a piece of fun entertainment, you'll most likely garner the most enjoyment out of it (unless you find underwear offensive somehow). And who knows, maybe even women can find something to like here, as this can be seen as a very feminist piece of action at the same time considering that 90% of the characters in this series are female, so there's lots of equal opportunity girl power going on here. The DVD releases are a bit hard to come by. There is a Region 1 release with the English and Japanese dubs (and English subtitles), while on Region 2 it only exists as a German exclusive release, with both Japanese and German dubs, but with only German subtitles. This is somewhat unfortunate if one doesn't have a multi-regional player, or if one doesn't know German too well, but there are always ways to get past this through other channels (wink wink). Here's just hoping that a more all-encompassing release will one day see the light on disc, but even so, Agent AIKa is certainly a series that is on the better side of fan service anime, and certainly is better than its spiritual follower Najica Blitz Tactics, released by the same studio in 2001. There's also a 10th anniversary prequel "Aika K-16" made, and a short live-action effort, but nothing beats the original Agent AIKa.

Just out of curiosity, though. When you draw hot girls and panties all day long at work, what exactly do you do at home to get your kicks from? Watch Championship-level chess, nyoro~n?

© berlioz, 2009

Summary: Can cause uncontrollable erections on male viewers for prolonged periods of time.