Dominion Tank Police (1988) is So Very Weird

redmangoreviews

March 30

Julien Neaves, Editor

Plot: In a dystopian, highly polluted Japanese city a police squadron utilising military-style tanks combat a trio of criminals.

Context: OVA Dominion Tank Police (1988) is the first of three based on the manga Dominion which was written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow; the other two are New Dominion Tank Police (1993) and Tank S.W.A.T. 01 (2006). I had seen a few stills of DTP featuring two sexy-looking cat women (more on them later) and I was intrigued. I went into the OVA expecting an action-packed, cyberpunk anime with the usual 80s-era fan service. But it was nothing like I expected, for better or worse. With a medium SPOILER ALERT let's dive in.

Walk softly and drive a big tank

DTP may have cops driving tanks and enemies packing big guns, but it is less violent Sci Fi adventure and more of a weird, absurdist Sci Fi romp. The Tank Police is populated with some odd, over-the-top characters. Our protagonist Leona is obsessed with her tank "Bonaparte", squad leader Benten is super macho and has zero regard for safety or regulations, and the ineffectual Chief is perpetually exasperated by his squad's shenanigans and excessive property damage.

The cops interrogate suspects with grenades and in dangerous, game show-inspired theatrics. There may be a comment on the militarisation of the police and abuse of power somewhere in there, but everything gets lost in all the antics. It was strange but I did find the craziness moderately amusing.

I'm no cop, but I don't think this is proper police procedure

Then we have our main antagonists, who are all quite colourful. We have Buaku, the gang leader who was a "test dummy" for something called the Greenpeace Crolis project. He is a sympathetic character as the OVA takes time to detail his tragic backstory. At certain points, he feels more like the main character than Leona.

And then we have AnnaPuma and UniPuma, android catgirls created to be love dolls who find independence in a life of crime. The voluptuous image of these two on a video cassette back in the day likely inspired many a hormonal anime fan to pick up the OVA. And while the duo are fun femme fatales, there is a little in the way of fan service other than one of the most random strip tease sequences ever put to screen. The Tank Police also face off against the evil Red Commando group, but they are not all that interesting as bad guys.

Umm, what is happening here?

DTP is a four-part OVA but instead of separate, self-contained tales like in Cyber City Oedo 808 they are interrelated, and all involve Buaku and the catgirl sisters. The stories are all okay, but it would have been cool to see the Tank Police face off against a variety of baddies. I also would have appreciated if the action was turned up a few notches. I was fine with the absurdist humour though, as it did make the viewing experience a memorable one.

Ok, seriously, WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!

DTP has definitely been one of the more interesting stops on my ongoing journey through classic anime. It was not what I expected, and I didn't love everything about it, but it was entertaining enough.

Editor Jules' Score: 6 out of 10

Any fans of DTP? Are the other two OVAs worth checking out? And you can check out more classic anime reviews below:

Julien "Editor Jules" Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like "13 flavours of awesome sauce". Read more.