AKA: N/A

Genre: Sci-fi action comedy

Length: OAV, 6 episodes, 25 minutes each

Distributor: VHS and R1 DVD from Pioneer / Geneon out of print.

Content Rating: PG (non-sexual nudity, some violence)

Related Series: N/A

Also Recommended: Battle Athletes Victory, Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman

Notes: There is also a Moldiver manga by Itou Shinpei (Hyper Dolls), which ran in Shounen Captain.

Rating:

Moldiver

Synopsis

In near-future Tokyo, relics of the past, such as racecars and space shuttles, are worth more than their weight in gold, and the android team Machinegal and its human leader venture out boldly to steal and collect these for themselves. However, a new superhero appears in the skies of Tokyo. Of course, when schoolgirl Mirai figures out her brother Hiromi's the man behind the suit, she does a little tinkering so that she too can become a superhero, but there's a little side-effect that she hadn't intended to cause. Now the powersuit randomly changes between two forms- tall, muscular superhero Captain Tokyo, and cute girl Moldiver, no matter who is inside the powersuit. Not to mention whenever the Mol Unit's time limit expires, the suit disappears, leaving its wearer ... naked. Throw in the wild card of their *other* brother, Nozomu, who may just be the smartest technologist of them all ...

Review

This send-up of the powersuit genre is actually pretty funny in spots, and though it's not the greatest thing out there, it's still worth a see. Moldiver has cute character designs, some pretty funny in-jokes (yes, the Machine Gals are based upon the creator's favorite actresses), and entertaining action sequences. Mirai herself is hilarious, using the Mol Unit for some pretty unorthodox uses (like getting to a date on time). The whole idea of the powersuit is more than a bit silly, with really fuzzy theoretical science backing the whole thing, but it's intentionally silly. In fact, a lot of this series is intentionally silly, with a lot of collateral damage to boot. (And an idol singer concert at Cape Kennedy? That's a strange venue...)

As far as the antagonists (the Machinegals and the Professor, who isn't what he appears to be), they're more comedic than villainous, and really, their leader has a bigger ego than a sense of actual "badness". That doesn't mean any serious action occurs in this series - in fact, the final 2 OAVs are surprisingly violent, and there is the risk of the guy Mirai has fallen in love with dying while launching the first human mission into deep space. The final 2 OAVs are pretty serious, contrasting with the rather light-hearted feel of the first four installments.

Animation is pretty decent, and acting is well-done, exciting without being excessively frenetic. The soundtrack is pretty decent, if not persistently catchy, and, again, Moldiver's sense of parody is very well-entrenched.

Really, Moldiver isn't -too- exceptional, though it's plenty entertaining. Don't expect insights on the meaning of life from this one...but do expect to have fun in nice little half-hour bite-size chunks.

Too lightweight for a higher rating, but not a complete waste of time. — Carlos/Giancarla Ross

Recommended Audience: Well, there's the nudity that I mentioned earlier, but it's purely non-sexual in nature, as this show is aimed at younger children (grade-school). There is a bit of violence near the end, but they ARE androids, so it's not so bad. Children with parental supervision wouldenjoy this, as would a goodly number of adults who want something a little lighter than Evangelion.