Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 0702727039133 Format: Animated Label: Adv Films Manufacturer: Adv Films Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Adv Films Release Date: 2001-03-20 Running Time: 90 Studio: Adv Films
Customer Rating: Summary: Pure fun! Turn off your "Serious" switch Comment: An anime about girls fighting each other. Based on a Japanese "Ecchi" (look for a SNES emulation) game where the characters lost their clothes. Suprising how two dimensional characters with one-dimensional plots can become a good movie. Like Mortal Kombat, for instance...
So, turn off the "Serious" switch and just enjoy it. A bit of fan service, meaning boobs, sexual references and adult themes, but nothing too pornographic. And all the girls have their own stories and it's fun, even when the dialogue is painfully stupid.
Oh, and if anyone cares, there is a 'sequel' anime series that is full "Hentai" meaning pornographic, but it's a new cast of characters or a re-visualization or some sort. Customer Rating: Summary: This is like those old fighting-game based anime movies of the 90's Comment: After reading some of the reviews of it here I had high hopes for this show and bought the DVD. I like watching good fighting shows with girls fighting, I was hoping this would be one of them. But after watching, this 3-part OAV series (like a movie, essentially) wasn't that great. It was roughly about the quality of the original, old Street Fighter 2 anime movie, or some of the other older anime fighting-game based movies (Fatal Fury, Battle Arena Toshinden, etc). The story proceeds in a similar fashion to those shows, namely being some rigged-up story that doesn't necessarily have to do with the game (I've never played the Variable Geo games but I wonder if the same story dealing with reincarnation and technological body-possession existed in them). Then the various fighters appear one-by-one and fight briefly, then lose and go away never to be seen again. This is the fate of most of those fighting-game anime movies because there are too many fighters in the original game and it is hard to cram them all into a single movie.
After watching, I totally agree with the following earlier review:
"Fatal Flaw: Takes a Silly Concept Seriously, April 3, 2000
I thought 'Variable Geo' sounded like a hoot, so I picked up up. The first ten minutes are the tone I would have expected... but after that, the concept of warrior waitresses is started to be taken seriously not only by the story, but, the episodes assume, by the viewer as well. It's a flaw that turns what could have been a fun romp into a rather excrutiating 80 minutes."
I also thought fighting waitresses sounded hilarious. I was hoping for both good fighting sequences and also a hilarious story revolving around waitressing and funny conversations. But instead, the waitress element pretty much doesn't come into play in the movie at all, the only thing it does is define their clothing as they go around fighting each other in the street. Again, it makes me wonder if the video games are the same way or was some weird insidious crime-organization plot cooked-up just for the movie (as is usually the case for fighting game movies).
There are much better serious girl-fighting animes out there. Metal Fighter Miku is pretty good, still one of my all-time favorite animes after more than 10 years. Natsuki Crisis is another girl-fighting classic, but it was never released in the USA!! I really hope someone eventually remembers to pick this 2-episode OAV series up for domestic release.
Anyway, my ratings for Variable Geo are:
Directing - 2 of 5 stars. The serious tone was a mistake and the show feels kind of cheesy in a bad way. Not terrible though for an anime made 10 years ago.
Story - 2 of 5 stars. Plot was about some weird criminal organization and a bad woman trying to live forever, and stuff. Not about waitresses, boo.
Drawings - 4 of 5 stars. I like Takahiro Kimura's (Godannar) style of people but he didn't draw as good 10 years ago as he does now.
Animation quality - 4 of 5 stars. Excellent but I was expecting more from Takahiro Kimura who usually creates shows with great animation. Fight choreography-wise, Variable Geo is somewhat lacking as well.
Music - 4 of 5 stars. Not bad at all. Not amazing, but still a positive.
Oh yeah, the voices. Watch the sub version, the pink-haired little girl is Pikachu!! Hahaha! And she does sound exactly like Pikachu. I never knew Pikachu could talk, it's very funny. Customer Rating: Summary: Movie Good, Dub Bad. Comment: The anime isn't that bad. The fights are fun, lots of special attacks used. There isn't as much nudity as I would like for a +17 story, and what there is, is pretty much censored.
My main problem with this tape, is that the dubbing, stinks. Even with the volume of my TV as hi as it would go, I could barely understand what they were saying over the sounds of the special effects.
My suggestion, get either the subbed version, or the DVD. That way, you'll at least be able to understand what they're saying. Customer Rating: Summary: Poor Fighting Anime Comment: Variable Geo is a fighting anime mixed with fan service. Waitresses compete in a martial arts tournament in hopes
of earning the title as...(get this)..the "strongest waitress in the world". Yup, you heard it right. Yes it's true, low paid waitresses aspire to beat up other waitresses and be known as the world's strongest. The winner of the competition wins $10 million dollars and a piece of real estate. The losers have to strip off their clothes and bear their shame to the audience.
Yuka, is the main character here and we get to follow her around as she competes in the many boring battles. The action in the fighting sequences are average at best, the martial arts moves
do not look very realistic and were poorly animated. Granted that the series is fantasy based as some of the fighters have powers and can shoot energy beams from their hands or eyes, but the actual physical fighting is weak. The story of course is non-existant. So you might be thinking that at least you'll enjoy the fan service. Let's face it we want to watch anime like this for fan service and you will be disappointed to find out that it is brisk, and far apart. They did NOT include enough topless shots of the female characters and rarely will you see them completely nude! I don't understand why this anime got a "17+" rating when the fan service and violence is very minimal and disappointing. I suggest you watch other fighting anime like "Battle Angel Alita" , "Street Fighter II" and even better "Ikki Tousen" "Fist Of The North Star" and a bunch of others better fighting anime with fan service too. Variable Geo is a rental at best. It is not worth owning.
Customer Rating: Summary: it what I like about anime Comment: I don't know nothing about story in this movie all I can say is the two girls play this game and who ever wins gets $10 million $ a real estate the loser has to strip of her clothes and thats one of the reason why this Variable Geo cought my attention another reason is I saw on amazon it's rated 15 but more for ages 17 & older for it's violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, nudity, profanity, risque humor, alcohol use. Another thing their is a beautiful woman on the dvd fronte cover wering revealing clothes.
