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Thumbs Up
This show had the warning signs of a bad purchase written all over it. It was something I'd never even heard of, and it was being sold at quite a cheap price, (no it wasn't a bootleg). Plus, I couldn't really seem to find any reviews of it to steer my judgement one way or the other. However, I needed something to add to my shopping cart so I could qualify for that free shipping deal they have at amazon.com, so I decided to bite the bullet and leave the rest to fate. And you know what? I'm very glad I did.
Hyper Police is quite the diamond in the rough. Well, okay maybe it's not quite a diamond, but it's at least an emerald or a ruby. Have you ever read any of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett? Specifically the ones involving the City Watch? Well, if you haven't then you should, and if you have, then picture something similar to the Watch, only set in the future on Earth, and you'd have a pretty good idea of what Hyper Police is all about. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll give you the rundown.
In the future after mankind has come close to destroying itself in some way or another, things have gotten a little strange. Monsters, spirits, demons, and other mythological creatures are now living side by side with what is left of humanity. The story centers on the city of Shinjuku, where crime is quite a problem. In addition to the regular police force, there are various mercenary groups which help to keep the crime rate down.
Enter our hero Natsuki, (a cat girl). They work for a struggling mercenary group called the Police Company. During one rather close call, Natsuki has a run-in with Sakura, a nine-tailed fox who was born with only one tail. It seems Sakura can only gain her full nine tails by stealing power from other entities. She currently has 8, and she's chosen Natsuki as her next target due to an immense power she senses from the cat girl. In an effort to get in close for the kill, Sakura joins the Police Company and ends up as Natsuki's new partner.
Now, Natsuki is a little dense. Not as dense as, say Gourry from Slayers, but naive enough not to figure out that Sakura is secretly trying to kill her. The story through episode 4 follows the members of the Police Company as they chase various bounties, as well as Sakura's repeated attempts to murder Natsuki and get her 9th tail. Other members include Batanen, (a werewolf who has a crush on Natsuki, and used to be her partner), Kando, (a woman with a grudge against most things that aren't human due to the fact that her parents were killed by monsters), and a group of other characters who may come into play later on.
Hyper Police isn't deep by any means, but it's quite funny at times, and the setting should keep things interesting. The animation is pretty good for something made in 1997. The soundtrack nice too, although the opening theme is a bit. . . quirky, with English words thrown in at certain points. ("HYPERTENSION!") The English dubbing is tolerable, although Natsuki's voice can be a bit grating after awhile. All in all, it's quite an underappreciated little gem.
Make no mistake however, Hyper Police was a bargain release in every sense of the word. The DVDs contain absolutely no extras. Image Entertainment didn't even bother to translate the theme songs, the credits, or the title screens for the episodes. (Although they did include 5.1 surround sound encoding for both the English and Japanese tracks, which is a plus). I still haven't been able to find a list of the English cast, (I'm pretty sure the woman who voices Sakura also did the voice of Meryl Stryfe in Trigun as well, that's why I was checking). Things like this are rather annoying, but the show remains enjoyable nonetheless. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of it. So if you're looking for a fun little show that won't set you back too much money, check out Hyper Police. It's one of the best shows you've never heard of.
