B L A C K  M A G I C  M A R I O  M 66

One of Masumune Shirow's earlier works - and for those of you who are wondering, yes it's all here ^_^

Big guns, explosions, classic designs and token cute female in skimpy outfit. It's certainly a roadmap for later series such as Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed, and fans of his work will probably have fun spotting the similarities.

The vid is pretty enjoyable, even in the face of the dodgy British dub, where the classic moment has to be the soldier who takes an ice age to say "I respect you for what you done..." Ooh, sends shivers down the spine it does!

The animation is fairly good - a bit limited in places but generally sound. Most Shirow fans will appreciate the accurate representation of his character designs on screen, as well as many of his classic mech designs. 

As a self contained story, it's an excellent piece, with a classic Shirow ending which shows this to be only part of the bigger story he plays out later. As ever, it's the
thought behind the execution of the story which makes it stand out as a Shirow creation.

Black Magic is now available to buy on DVD, coupled with Plastic Little, from MVM.

6/10 - Good tale, well told. Shame about the dub, and it looks a little dated now.

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 For better Shirow:

Take a look at Manga's release of the Ghost in the Shell movie. Featuring cyborgs, guns and top notch animation, this is pure Shirow and fans of his work will lap it up.

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