Sairento mebiusu

"Silent Mobius," a popular Japanese manga by Kia Asamiya, originally published in 1988, dealt with a special all-woman uniformed police squad known as AMP (Attacked Mystification Police) whose job is to combat a plague of demonic entities invading near-future Tokyo (2028 A.D.). The six young women all have some kind of occult or psychic training or background that gives them talents suitable for their job. In 1991, "Silent Mobius" was adapted into a 53-minute movie with a 58-minute sequel produced the following year. Both were released to theaters in Japan, playing on double or triple bills with other short animated features.

The two movies focus primarily on one of the women, young Katsumi Liqueur, whose parents were powerful "mages," one of whom, father Gigelf Liqueur, was supposedly instrumental in releasing the demonic entities--bizarre misshapen asymmetrical creatures who speak in soft male voices. In the movies, the other AMP women meet Katsumi for the first time, gradually learning of her extraordinary innate powers and then trying to recruit her for their mission. Much of the story is told in flashback, with all of Movie 2 simply continuing a flashback begun in Movie 1. Katsumi resists AMP's efforts, for the most part, wanting to live the ordinary life, fearful of her powers and what such powers did to her late parents. (Her mother plays a key role in Movie 1.)

While explosive battles with grotesque demons in contemporary or near-future Tokyo are quite commonplace in anime, the difference here is the overwhelming emphasis on character and emotion. Katsumi's state of mind is front and center in both movies and we experience a steady stream of her dreams, flashbacks and memories. She clearly doesn't welcome her destiny and has to be forced into it by events and forces beyond her control. The all-female cast is dead-serious throughout. Young team member Yuki Saito is a little perkier than the others, but they're all about as no-nonsense as women in anime can get. There's little of the flippancy or endearing frivolousness we get in similar fare like "Bubblegum Crisis" or "Dominion Tank Police."

The futuristic details of Tokyo in the 2020s are clever and imaginative and presented rather subtly, without hitting us over the head with them. The occult details are doled out sparingly, unlike the vaguely similar "Peacock King" series (also reviewed on this site), which was awash in vividly rendered occult lore. There is action here but it takes a back seat to the drama. Since these movies seem to have been made with the manga audience in mind, not a lot is explained. We don't really learn enough about the intriguing demon enemy to make the conflict suspenseful enough. However, for those who like their anime challenging and dramatically compelling, the patience required by these two movies will be rewarded. A TV series based on the manga was released in 1998 with some different designs and the focus on the whole team and is quite good in its own right.