Black Magic M-66

Amazon.com

Masamune Shirow, who later wrote Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell, directed this short (48 minutes) OAV based on his early fanzine story. Tough-as-nails journalist Sybel eavesdrops on a secret military channel and discovers that a helicopter has crashed, releasing two prototype antipersonnel androids. The F6402, which resembles a cross between a Barbie doll and the Terminator cyborgs, has erroneously been sent after Ferris, the inventor's granddaughter. Sybel succeeds where the army fails: she locates Ferris and protects her from the murderous android. The silly story contains numerous plot holes (where does Sybel get the plane she pilots through the city?), and the ending, where the destruction of a skyscraper is falsely described in the press as a "terrorist attack," no longer plays. But viewers looking for fast-paced, violent action will find plenty in Black Magic. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Graphic violence, profanity, brief nudity, tobacco use. --Charles Solomon

Description

Black Magic M-66 is the exciting futuristic adventure of Sybel, a freelance video journalist who becomes involved in a dangerous military fiasco when two top-secret military android assassins, known as M-66 units, are lost. One of the deadly M-66 units escapes with a mission to eliminate Ferris, the granddaughter of its creator. Time is running out as Sybel faces the deadly M-66 android in an epic battle to save Ferris.

Customer Reviews:

A lean mean killing machine!.......2007-01-06

This is a finely tuned entertainment engine that showcases excellent vehicular, 'bot and character designs. The protagonist has a nice normal feel to her: she can't leap fifty feet into the air and she doesn't carry a twelve foot sword--she doesn't even have a sword. She's a photo journalist on the trail of a hot story that just might involve some sort of military screw up. Even the androids, terrifying as they are, are designed with an eye towards making them much more believable than they might otherwise be. They are my favourite animé robots, and I place them amongst such fine company as Gort (The day the earth stood Still), Robbie (Forbidden Planet) and Rotwang's Robot (Metropolis, 1926)

For my Yen, M-66 boasts the best fight scenes of any animé, specifically a nighttime battle between the fearsome female warbots and human military units. That said, the animation quality is on par with other shows from the early to mid 80's such as bubble Gum Crisis and another of my favourites, the Crusher Joe movie. Some may be turned off by the rougher animation quality, but be assured there is an excellent if pared down story from the mind of Masasumé Shirow, the creator Ghost in the Shell and Dominion: Tank Police.

This is the only show that for me actually generated and built honest-to-god suspense during the final, spectacular sequence. Full marks to the killy robo babes modeled after the Dirty Pair's kai and Uri!

It's MaGiC.......2006-03-13

This is a real gem, 50 minutes of pure joy and brain-massage, ahhhh.

In a nutshell, it's Terminator gone animated, with a cutesy cast and some great fights with the killer robots - keep your overblown plots and twists which don't make sense, this is what entertainment is all about.

I don't care if this is a short film to me it's still good. A journalist gets caught up in mess and now shes the one that is protecting the girl.

Black Magic M-66.......2006-03-01

Typical anime. Not bad, not amazing though. I still buy it again if i could go back.

Masamune Shirow's Golden Touch.......2005-09-26

Masamune Shirow scores another home run in Black Magic: M66. This is one of his earlier and sometimes lesser known works, done in collaboration with Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Blood: The Last Vampire). Shirow is probably better known in the U.S. for Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police, and both versions of Appleseed. All of these were Manga before being brought over to the video media, and all of Shirow's titles make you think, with deep reaching social issues that transcend the animated action.

Black Magic: Mario M66 is the story of a journalist who falls into the middle of a top-secret Government experiment with robotic assassins. One robot malfunctions and goes rogue - and sets off to assassinate it's pre-programmed target. In this case, the daughter of the scientist who designed the assassins. Over the next 50 minutes, the journalist must protect the girl and uncover the secret of the assassins.

Black Magic follows Shirow's tradition of creating a strong female lead character who takes charge of the situation and does her best to save the day. Shirow's women usually breach the gender gap as Law Enforcement officers, Government agents, soldiers, and in this case a hard-nosed news woman who won't take no for an answer.

Black Magic is an excellent, if short, example of Japanese Animation. I highly recommend it's addition to your collection.

Combat, androids and great artwork........2005-01-18

In Black Magic, the anime, two military android assassins are lost. This wouldn't be so bad, but for the fact they are still carrying mission information used for testing. Their target is their creator's granddaughter.
Sybel, a freelance reporter, becomes involved in the deadly cat and mouse game between the robots and the military.
Has the voices of Steven Blum and Beau Billingslea as many of the military, along with lots of violence, nudity and strong language.
Not really anything like the manga, but still fun to watch.

DVD:

DVD

DVD