A.D. Police Files

A.D. Police Files

United Kingdom DVD cover from Manga UK
Genre Cyberpunk, Detective fiction, Horror
Original video animation
Directed by Takamasa Ikegami (File 1)
Hidehito Ueda (File 2)
Akira Nishimori (File 3)
Written by Noboru Aikawa[1]
Music by Kaoru Mizutani[1]
Studio AIC
Licensed by
Released May 25, 1990 November 22, 1990
Runtime 26 minutes per episode
Episodes 3

A.D. Police Files is a three-part original video animation produced by Artmic and AIC. The story is set five years before the events of Bubblegum Crisis. It showcases three early cases of A.D. Police: Dead End City and features Leon McNichol's origin.

Episodes

File Title Release date [2]
1 "The Phantom Woman"
"Maboroshi no Onna" (幻の女) 
1990-05-25
2 "The Ripper"
"Za Rippaa" (ザ·リッパー) 
1990-08-24
3 "The Man Who Bites His Tongue"
"Shita o Kamu Otoko" (舌を噛む男) 
1990-11-22

Episode Summaries

The Phantom Woman is an introductory episode in the beginning arc of AD Police showing us a rogue boomer that cannot be taken down by normal police and the assistance of the AD Police are called in to help. After killing a few of the advanced police the squad commander orders the boomer to be killed by firing squad, destroying the storefront the boomer worked at in the process. Later it is theorized that one of the AD Police members killed was part of a larger scam but to correct that two AD Police offers agree to help prove it incorrect. After getting new leads that set them on the right path to follow, their visited a hacker who is able to provide them with a list of possible users that have illegally been recycling old boomer parts. The two follow the next lead that helps them to learn the original boomer was part of an underground sex boomer business that unfortunately one of the police officers has stumbled into the heart of and was attacked by one of these such boomers. A fight insures with the lead female detective who delivers the finishing blow via pistol to the rogue boomers head thus concluding the episode.

After a gruesome murder on the subway in an area called Paradise Loop, AD Police steps in to help find the killer when the normal police don't seem up to the task. A total of six prostitute are found to all have been murdered on this subway line and its suspected the work is done by a boomer. Two officers of the normal police are cast in this episode to help find the killer and bring it to justice. While the victims all share the same stabbing to the abdomen, they died however from massive cardiac arrest or shock. While one of the normal officers is at the organ bank to replace her eye with a cybernetic replacement because of discomfort she notices an argument from another of the clients, Caroline Evers, a billionaire and business tycoon. After bumping into her, she has a hunch Caroline is somehow connected to the murders. It also comes to light that Ms. Evers had almost her entire lower body converted into cybernetic parts. Later the younger of the officers investigates an abandoned part of Paradise Loop herself and runs into Ms. Evers of all people. When it is unveiled Caroline is “The Ripper” she explains that long ago she had been competing for CEO of her current company, however a man got the job because he concocted a bogus chart that compared her menstrual cycles to her productivity. To alleviate the concerns of the companies board of directors she has most all of her female organs replaces with cybernetic ones. After this move they no longer had any reason to keep her from becoming CEO and in time the same man came to work under her and they fell in love, later to be wed. She then discovered he has begun to cheat on her and when asked why, his response was “real women are better after all” referring to the operation that had many of her sexual organs replaced. After finishing her confession, Ms. Evers moves to kill the officer but the AD Police break through the walls and open fire thus saving her. It is revealed that should more than 70% of the human body become cybernetic you're treated as a “boomeroid” and thus can be killed with the same prejudice as a boomer, as such the order comes in to kill Caroline Evers, not to arrest her. The episode concludes with the officer agreeing to throw away some of her humanity for the surgery.

This episode stars Billy Fanword, Captain of the AD Police Spacial Mobile Squad. After sustaining massive injures due to a rogue boomer and almost dying his only remaining viable organs (brain and tongue) are transplanted into an experimental battle cyborg body. To help remind him he was once human he is seen at times biting his tongue. During the course of the episode Billy slowly loses touch with his humanity if not by a selfish and overly prideful doctor that helped to “make him” then by continuously taking ever higher does of drug DA-27 injected into his tongue to give him greater sensations that he’s all but lost. It is also theorized that he acts like a tank with a human brain; smart & intelligent but with no fear of pain or death. He loses his humanity, impacting his performance in the field. His ex Jeena progressively tries to get him to remember his human side to no avail. After finding out the prideful doctors plan to let him die in the line of duty to rid herself of his poor performance he helps himself to massive doses of DA-27 that finally do him in. Going on a massive rampage, he kills the doctor and many of his AD Police comrades, viewing it as more like a dream than reality. Jeena is finally able to stop him with a large anti-tank gun after he pleads to her to shoot his tongue to give him pain, the only thing he has left to feel. We are left seeing his burial on the top of a high rise and Jenna reminiscing his past.

DVD Extras

The English region released DVD contains several bonus features outside of the three episodes.

A collection of short music videos can be found in the bonus area including:

Mega-Tokyo Mix (feat. “Heartbreaker, What a Fool I Am, Rockin’ the Beat”) Love Me Tonight, I Need Your Love, I’m Every Girl

The Phantom Woman, The Ripper, Original Manga Trailer (Marketing video)

Bubblegum Crisis, Urusei Yatsura, You’re Under Arrest, Macross, Riding Bean, Otaku No Video, Crusher Joke, The Dagger of Kamui,

A small connection of concept art, manga, cell animation and screen caps.

The lyrics to the music videos with whom they are performed by and created by.

Reception

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies describes The Phantom Woman as the video "definitely not for the faint hearted", noting that the "design is good and the atmosphere well maintained, but it's Aikawa's script that will stick in your mind".[1] She also praised The Man Who Bites His Tongue as a "stylish, dark retelling of Robocop".[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 McCarthy, Helen. 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide. — Harper Design, 2009. — P. 33. — 528 p. — ISBN 978-0061474507
  2. http://www.anime-int.com/works/adpolice/ova/story.html
  3. McCarthy, Helen. 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide. — Harper Design, 2009. — P. 34. — 528 p. — ISBN 978-0061474507

External links