After Ukyo Retsu, a brilliant surgeon, removes a cancerous tumor from an older woman, he comes in contact with an idol bearing her resemblance. When he touches the idol, he gains extraordinary powers and learns of a demonic invasion. To prevent it, he travels 5000 years back in time to prevent the demon massacre of the Jomon people, humankind's ancestors. To slay them and rescue his girl Fuyuko, Ukyo must use his newfound powers, for if he fails, mankind is doomed!

Psychic Wars is probably one of the worst anime films I've ever seen. While watching it, I kept thinking it had to be a remnant of the cheesy 80s anime, but when I looked it up on www.imdb.com, I was surprised to find it was only four years old. Psychic Wars is cliché, tedious, and uninteresting, due to an almost complete lack of character development and some very boring and uninspired action scenes.

Video:
Psychic Wars is presented in 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer contains a few lines, some specks, and almost constant edge enhancement. There is also some rather distracting color bleeding when Ukyo first arrives in the past. With that exception, colors are mostly bright, with accurate flesh tones, and decent blacks.

Audio:
Psychic Wars is presented in English and Japanese 2.0 Stereo and English 5.1 Surround. The 5.1 track features better definition and increased directionality, though the rear surrounds are seldom used for the exception of ambient effects. The 2.0 tracks, in comparison, seem a bit muted and the action scenes have less "punch." Dialogue in all three is crisp and clean with no distortion that I detected. Optional English subtitles are included.

Extras:
The extras focus on promoting other Manga Video releases, and include Manga Video Previews, the Manga DVD Catalogue, Merchandising and Catalogue Info, weblinks, and a trailer for Blood: The Last Vampire.

Summary:
Psychic Wars is at the bottom of the barrel in terms of anime films, and is something only the diehard fans of the genre should even consider viewing. Others looking for an anime fix should instead consider viewing some gems of the genre, such as Cowboy Bebop, Perfect Blue, Castle of Cagliostro, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Visions of Escaflowne, and Gasaraki.