Cyber City Oedo 808
In a not-too-distant future, convicts are imprisoned in penal satellites orbiting around the Earth. Some convicts with 'skills' considered profitable to the general public are offered jobs as special police officers, allowing them to earn time against their sentences. The catch: they have an explosive collar on their neck at all times, which will explode when:
- Tampered with.
- A mission time limit is reached.
- Whenever the warden damn well feels like it.
Three such lucky men: Sengoku, the foulmouthed anti-hero; Merrill "Benten" Yanagawa, the effeminate razor-wire wielding assassin-type; and Gabimaru "Gogul" Rikiya, the imposing, gruff hacker with the cool visor, are put under the watch of Hasegawa, the warden.
Each criminal-turned-almost-unwilling-cop gets his own focus episode throughout the 3-episode OVA series, with plenty of trademark Yoshiaki Kawajiri action and character designs all over the place.
- Anti-Hero - The three protagonists are all anti-heroes by proxy, seeing as how they're all convicts.
- Honestly, however, none of them are actually evil people. Sengoku is kind of an asshole, but when it comes down to it he's a good guy. Gogol is a Gentle Giant in prison for hacking offenses, and Benten is a Warrior Poet.
- Bishonen - Benten. Just... Benten.
- Boxed Crook
- Cluster F-Bomb - The dub. Like most Manga UK dubs, however, it actually works... Mostly because it was hilarious. Thanks to YouTube, one quote from Benten in particular has become a borderline-meme:
Get lost. You wouldn't recognize a goddamn vampire if one jumped up and bit you on the end of your fucking dick. So just get off my back.
- Crapsack World
- Cyberpunk
- Explosive Leash - The collars. Gogul sees one in action when he tracks down a fellow con who went rogue and tried to disarm his collar himself.
- Gorn - Actively subverted through most of the series. The age rating appears to be mainly based on profanity and one scene in episode 2 where a man literally explodes from a railgun shot.
- Hand Cannon: Sengoku's giant magnum revolver. It's got a fingerprint lock so only he can use it.
- Anti-Heroic Albino - Benten
- Love Hurts - Star-Crossed Lovers (Benten and Remy)
- Names to Know in Anime: Hiroya Ishimaru (Sengoku), Banjo Ginga (Gogul), Kaneto Shiozawa (Benten), Emi Shinohara (Remy), Mitsuko Horie (Kyouko), Norio Wakamoto (Hasegawa).
- Pet the Dog - Sengoku seems to have a slight soft spot for Kyouko the cute police girl.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Benten has to deal with a weird one in his focus episode.
- Razor Floss - Benten's primary weapon.
- Robo Speak - Varsus, the cons' handler. He actually uses contractions occasionally, though.
- Scenery Porn - My god! The city is just awesome!!!
- The Slow Walk - Sengoku at the end of the first episode.
- Thrown Out the Airlock - Tried against the Big Bad of Benten's focus episode. It doesn't work. It aggressively doesn't work.
- Villainous Crossdresser - Benten, sort of. While not an outright villain, he's a pretty bad guy. Certainly not a Wholesome Crossdresser, because there is nothing wholesome on this show.
- Your Head Asplode - The end result of the collars.