The show was set in a future where things have deteriorated quite a bit from all the current issues; the environment is lousy, corporations are more out of control than ever, and a new breed of criminal threatens the peace of the residents of life everywhere. With every solution to these problems came a dozen more problems, making the world a more dangerous place to exist, and to fight the kind of high-powered crook that acted like the world was their playground, the government sets up a new division of crime fighters; the Tank Police!

As a logical extension of the current day situation where the criminals have better firepower than the police, who's to say that in the future, the police won't be allowed to go completely overboard and get assigned to tanks? Okay, as silly as it sounds, the charm of the series is the over-the-top style in which anime legend Masamune Shirow designed the series from his original Manga release in Japan. The characters are juvenile and the situations they get themselves into are bad enough that most citizens would rather let the criminals run free. For every call they answer, the tank police generally tear up several city blocks in the metropolitan area of Newport City. Here's what the DVD cover says as a synopsis:

"Newport City, 2010 - In a desperate attempt to stop the swelling tide of rampant crime and urban terrorism plaguing the city, the government forms a special task force - The Tank Police - with the firepower to combat the high-tech crime syndicates. Squad Leader Leona Ozaki, together with her radically modified tank Bonaparte, battles alongside her fellow officers to bring down the insidious Dai Nippon Gaiken Corporation which threatens to overwhelm the city with a new virtual drug. But with high explosive artillery at her disposal, can Newport City handle the destruction and chaos caused by her own defenders?"

The absurdity continues when the large tanks race through the city streets, often leveling everything in their path. As squad leader Leona soon finds, her aggressive style is well suited to her much smaller tank (aptly named Bonaparte even though she's the one with the Napoleon complex). Her boss, Brenton, is ripped straight out of the pages of a Dirty Harry novel, carrying an old fashioned (although admittedly manly) revolver instead of the wild firepower his underlings carry. Most of us know that large, mustached cops with revolvers are the big he-men that are called in to handle the biggest cases and Brenton is no exception. He runs a tight ship, often fighting with the Chief over policy matters and the damage assessments his charges cause.

As the crew try to fight the latest threat to the city, a designer drug that causes people to hallucinate uncontrollably, as well as some old foes (the Puma Twins) and some run of the mill jerks in need of enlightenment, they manage to knock down all kinds of important landmarks, making their superiors very unhappy (to say the least). In the end, you almost HAVE to go back and watch it all again in order to catch so many of the cultural references of things both related to anime and the world-view of the USA. With tongue firmly in cheek, those who watch this one will either laugh out loud or at least chuckle more than a few times over the course of this nearly three hour set of episodes.

I liked the conceptual themes that address some problems we, as a citizenry, are having right now with our government. As the terrorist threat continues to be the lever by which we are told to obey, overlook the excesses of our leaders, and to expect a bit of collateral damage with every enforcement action. Deep down, many of us probably wonder if the ends justify the means, particularly when the threats are a bit nebulous. On the other hand, the helplessness we feel watching the criminal element get away with far too many transgressions make us wish for a simpler world; one where a "tank police" could be called in to crush the problem once and for all.

The show itself is the entire OVA series rather than a couple episodes as some companies would prefer to sell at a time. That makes it affordable and provides lots of fun for your money. The picture and audio might not have been as perfect as a newer series but with everything going on, you'll be less likely to notice the problems since a roller coaster ride can keep you busy like that. If you're looking for some fun, check out this DVD that I rated as Recommended.

Picture: The picture was presented in the standard 1.33:1 ratio full frame. It looked a lot cleaner than the computer CD format I bought several years back (actually more than that, before the DVD format was out). There were print scratches and other visual flaws, such as grain and some moiré effects at times but I didn't see many compression artifacts and that was a plus since there was so much show on this single DVD.

Sound: The sound was presented with a choice of the original Japanese 2.0 stereo soundtrack, an English equivalent, or a newer 5.1 surround track remastered, all of them in Dolby Digital. The optional English subtitles followed the English track fairly closely but wouldn't rate as "dub-titles" per se. I actually thought the 5.1 track had better special quality but it wasn't able to completely reinvent the wheel. I also liked the Japanese track so you could say the replay value doubled due to the audio tracks.

Extras: The extras on this 6 episode DVD weren't great but that's to be expected. There was a solid character section where you could learn more about each character and the two types of tanks used in the show. There was a poster and the usual trailers and catalog included as well.

Final Thoughts: This was a favorite of mine for a long time. Even though the characters were about as stereotyped as could be, they were funny and never devolved into the "thrown together" status so many others do these days. I just wish there was a follow up series to continue the adventures of Leona, Brenton, and crew. Check it out if you need a laugh about circumstances not too far apart from those that exist today.