| Armitage III | |
| アミテージ ザ サード (Amitēji za Sādo) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Action, Cyberpunk, Science fiction, Mecha, Romance |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Hiroyuki Ochi |
| Produced by | Hiroaki Inoue Kazuaki Morijiri Yasuo Hasegawa |
| Written by | Chiaki J. Konaka |
| Music by | Akira Kawase Hiroyuki Morinaga Hiroyuki Namba |
| Studio | AIC, Pioneer L.D.C. |
| Licensed by | Funimation Entertainment |
| Released | February 25, 1995 – November 25, 1995 |
| Runtime | 50 minutes (ep. 1) 30 minutes (ep. 2–4) |
| Episodes | 4 |
| Anime film | |
| Armitage III: Poly-Matrix | |
| Directed by | Takuya Sato |
| Produced by | Hiroaki Inoue Kazuaki Morijiri Yasuo Hasegawa |
| Written by | Chiaki J. Konaka |
| Music by | Hiroyuki Namba |
| Studio | AIC |
| Licensed by | Funimation Entertainment |
| Released | 1997 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Armitage: Dual-Matrix | |
| Directed by | Katsuhito Akiyama Makoto Bessho Takuya Nonaka |
| Produced by | Hideki Goto Hiroe Tsukamoto Hisao Fuke Kohei Kawase Satoru Yoshida Yasuo Hasegawa |
| Music by | Julian Mack |
| Studio | Pioneer L.D.C. |
| Licensed by | Funimation Entertainment |
| Released | March 22, 2002 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
Armitage III (アミテージ・ザ・サード Amitēji za Sādo) is a 1995 cyberpunk anime series centred around Naomi Armitage, a highly advanced "Type-III" android.
The series began with the four-part original video animation Armitage III and spawned two movies. The first film is a shortened version of the OVA entitled Armitage III: Poly-Matrix (アミテージ・ザ・サード POLY-MATRIX), redubbed in English and it is presented like a remake. The second movie, Armitage: Dual-Matrix (アミテージ・ザ・サード DUAL-MATRIX) is a sequel set some years after the original story.
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In 2046, the overpopulation of Earth has led to the colonization of Mars—with the aid of the "first type" androids, men were able to begin terraforming the unfriendly environment of Mars and build the city Saint Lowell. Seventy years after the start of colonization, the city is completed and inhabited by great numbers of people and "Second type" robots, much improved versions of the "First types". Ross Syllibus, a middle-aged policeman from Chicago, flies to Saint Lowell using a space shuttle. Syllibus asked to be transferred to the Martian Police Department to escape from his past and haunting memories of his beloved one being killed by a robot. At the Saint Lowell's space port he is to meet his new partner—a young woman named Naomi Armitage.
On the same shuttle as Syllibus travels Kelly McCannon—"the last country singer in the Universe". As the shuttle nears the terminal, a mysterious man is seen entering the cargo section; soon after this, the intruder is noticed and the alarms go off.
Later, as Ross gets off the shuttle, he witnesses a disturbing scene at the airport. He bumps into the mysterious man with a big suitcase and two guards. Soon after that, Armitage orders the men to stop and get their hands up. Puzzled, Ross notices a few drops of blood spilling from the mysterious man's suitcase. The two robot guards are killed by Armitage and the mysterious man is wounded, but flees. However, he leaves his suitcase behind—inside of which is the dead body of Kelly McCannon. To everybody's surprise and horror, McCannon turns out to be a robot: a new, never-seen-before "Third type" android that is superficially identical to humans.
Later, the mysterious man hacks into the public television system and replays the security camera footage. The tape shows the man killing Kelly McCannon and reveals the fact of her being a robot to the entire city. The mysterious man, René D'anclaude, reveals that the Third types have been among the regular people for a long time and nobody can tell them apart from humans. He also reveals a list of Thirds—and it turns out that a lot of well-known people are actually robots. Riots begin in the city as people start to capture and burn all the Thirds they can find. Meanwhile, René D'anclaude proceeds with his extermination of the Thirds. The two main characters start their investigation and eventually find out, that the victims are women.
One of the dying victims sends out a message with the list of Thirds to save them from being slaughtered. Armitage receives it and pursues D'anclaude. Armitage is eventually revealed to be a third and goes into hiding as the police hunt for her. Ross seeks her out as she enlists the help of a male third named Julian Moore. D'anclaude then attacks them and is revealed to be a second.
While the police drop the case with D'anclaude's supposed capture, Armitage and Julian search a databank for information on her origins. Armitage eventually defeats D'anclaude, but is too late to stop Julian from being killed. She and Ross break into the hospital D'anclaude was recovering in, branding themselves as criminals after the rescue.
Armitage and Ross later go off in search of her "father", Dr. Asakura, only to learn he had lost his mind, as explained by a gentler, reprogrammed version of D'anclaude, living with delusions of creating "Fourths". His line of assassinroids were used by the government to kill Thirds so that there will be fewer birth rates on Mars, meaning the planet will have to ally with Earth, which they just did, to receive immigrants. During their time at Asakura's facility, Ross and Armitage fall in love. The next day, after Asakura deactivates Armitage so he can install angelical wings and particle cannons on her chassis, the military kills Asakura and Armitage and Ross eventually finish off the military. Months later, Ross returns to Mars, using false IDs, however Armitage throws hers away after Ross Sylibus' arrival. Ross learns that he is going to be a father.
Set some years after the original plot, this film follows Naomi Armitage as she investigates a military attack on robotics plant on Earth.
It had been several years since the events of the previous OVA. Naomi Armitage and Ross Sylibus, now living under assumed identities, are living in St. Lowell on Mars, along with their daughter Yoko. Ross now works for a company seeking to restore oceans to Mars by using ice asteroids. However, a new effort to restore the Third project prompts Naomi to travel to Earth to figure out what is happening. Meanwhile, Ross saves a facility from a group of terrorists and is declared a Martian hero.
When Armitage arrives on Earth, she confronts Colonel Strings, hero of the First Error, which was a suppression of a robot uprising, which in reality, was to cover up the existence of the Thirds. But then he is shot by agents of a Earth Robotronics Corporation. Its vice president, Demetrio Mardini, asks Armitage to give the data on how Thirds can conceive so humanity can create a race of beings who exist to serve. She refuses so he resorts to force and unleashes a robot that scrambles her eyes. She manages to use her telepresence abilities to hack into its system and overload it. She then escapes but is damaged and is found by a repairer third named Mouse, who prides himself on his skill and frequently brags that he's a "genius". However, Mouse is also an informant to Demetrio and presents the data he found on Armitage; but he only got the recent data and Demetrio wants the conception data. Mouse claims that he did not know about the conception data, and also that if it existed it would be with what he gave him; but Demetrio refuses to believe either of these and tries to brutally force it with two clones of Armitage, who severely injure Mouse. He does not get anything and throws Mouse in the trash. Mouse swears revenge.
Back on Mars, prime minister Fredrick O'Hara sends Ross to Earth to represent the planet in the support of robot rights, promising amnesty from the charges against them. However, Demetrio's agents captured Yoko while Ross was away from the hotel, and is threatened that he will not see Yoko again if he votes for the Rights Bill,. With a little reluctance, Ross remains neutral on the bill. Demetrio's agents, however, reveal that they were planning on killing Ross from the start, contrary to their deal. After a car chase, Armitage is able to save him at the very last moment. Together, they vow to rescue their daughter.
They storm Demetrio's compound; Armitage deals with Demetrio while Ross saves Yoko. The same robot Armitage encountered earlier had been upgraded to withstand her telepresence attack. Meanwhile, Ross manages to locate Yoko in a freezer. Elsewhere, Demetrio demands the secret in exchange for forgetting the damages they committed against him and his company. Armitage lures him closer, presumably to tell him what he wants to know; but she ends up kicking him in the crotch and telling him that Third conception is not simply data, it is about true love. With that she escapes again, forcing Demetrio to unleash the clones on her. She manages to evade the two and meets up with Ross and Yoko. Yoko is overjoyed to see her mother but recoils when she sees Armitage's metal shoulder that was scraped off by the clones. Just then, they attack. While Armitage holds them off, Ross and Yoko make their way to an unused space elevator. It is here that Yoko shows that she has a photographic memory, leading them to the space elevator whose location she determined from a map she saw minutes beforehand (Ross comments that she is "quite the little genius"). Soon, Armitage flees to Mouse, who repairs the damage and gives her a program that will allow her to go beyond her limited fighting abilities. He tells her that the password is "Heaven's Door"; but that if she exceeds more than her internal battery can handle, she will "be knocking at the Pearly Gates for real". She also has him do her one more favour: broadcast the footage of the Third massacre attempts all over Earth and Mars (upon seeing it himself, Mouse comments, "I think it's inhuman, and I'm a robot!"). This compels Demetrio to command the clones to prevent the family from leaving. After both clones are beaten, Demetrio tries having the elevator's defenses fired on their shuttle only to be killed by the last remaining clone, who is at the time controlled by what was left of Julian Moore in Poly-Matrix. Without Demetrio's authorization, the turrets do nothing. A hologram of Julian Moore then appears, wishing the family goodbye. The movie ends with the family enjoying a day at the beach on Mars, on Naomi's birthday.
In a post-credits scene, Mouse salvages one of the Armitage clones for himself.