Darkside Blues (1994)
Directed by Nobuyasu Furukawa and Yoshimichi Furukawa
Written by Mayori Sekijima
Directed by Nobuyasu Furukawa and Yoshimichi Furukawa
Written by Mayori Sekijima
I forgot about this anime for a long time. I remembered it only vaguely and could not find it. When I was looking for recs for you, Guap, I came across it again, thankfully. It's been years since I watched it, so I wasn't sure how my old impression would hold up now that I understand a little more about the technical side of the medium. It does hold up, very well. The animation quality is excellent, and it's a great story. In the future an evil corporation owns most of the Earth, but Kabuki-cho, A.K.A. The Darkside of Tokyo, still remains free. Terrorists try to overthrow the corporation, and getting mixed up in the conflict is a small gang of resistance fighters called Messiah who are lead by a beautiful young woman named Mai. A mysterious stranger from a realm of darkness calls himself Darkside and protects the town of Kabuki-cho.
It's a really beautiful movie with great atmosphere, excellent music, and strong emotional scenes. The characters are deep and interesting. I consider this an essential anime. This anime should not be obscure, but sadly even most of the die hard anime buffs have not heard of it. It's up there in terms of quality with works like Vampire Hunter D and Appleseed.