Series Recommendation: M.D Geist
Don’t you see? He’s an MDS. Everyone feared the Most Dangerous Soldier!
The good-old days where OVAs went absolutely insane with absolutely ridiculous concept and animation, with a touch of that 80s rock music. M.D Geist is a 1986 OVA directed by Koichi Ohata and is one of those OVA that you aren’t allowed to show kids.
M.D Geist follow the Most Dangerous Soldier (M.D.S) named Geist. The M.D.S are enhanced supersoldiers that can level a whole army by themselves with their inhuman prowess and thirst for battle. On an apocalyptic planet called Jerra – where the war has caused most of the population to die out, people either trample on each other to survive in the ruins or join the army and get killed in battles, Geist awakened after years in cryogenic sleep. And his blood for war boils once again.
+ Plot: There’s…not a lot, so you can disregard it. The OVA is roughly 47 minutes and contain much of an apocalyptic, cyberpunk x desertpunk tropey settings. War ruins everywhere, we got bandits with fashion sense from Hokuto no Ken, people using other people to survive, and soldiers that do not know what they’re getting into. Geist – while not expressing or saying much – comes across as, well, a most dangerous soldier – always yearning for battle and bloodshed. To him, the war is just a never-ending game, and he intends to keep it that way.
+ Plot: There’s…not a lot, so you can disregard it. The OVA is roughly 47 minutes and contain much of an apocalyptic, cyberpunk x desertpunk tropey settings. War ruins everywhere, we got bandits with fashion sense from Hokuto no Ken, people using other people to survive, and soldiers that do not know what they’re getting into. Geist – while not expressing or saying much – comes across as, well, a most dangerous soldier – always yearning for battle and bloodshed. To him, the war is just a never-ending game, and he intends to keep it that way.
+ Animation: Well, the OVA title is Geist, not “Geist & Friends”, so anyone other than Geist is getting the neglect treatment. On the other hand, Geist looks absolutely awesome whenever he’s on-screen. All the budget went to him and of course, the enemy he’s facing because you gotta make it balance and engaging. The violence in M.D Geist is pretty brutal, and back then they aren’t afraid to show blood flowing like a freaking river.
+ Mecha Design: There are a few mechs and human-sized robots in M.D Geist, but the man himself don a power armor. An all-black metal armor with gold trimmings give him an aura of royalty, but only when Geist wears it. The color-scheme is quite similar to Dragonar’s Falguen, and the design looks like it came from a Mad Max movie where they decided to cover the whole body instead. Regarding other units, they actually are decent designs except they didn’t survive a lot of minutes. The big bots look like a cross of Madox and Macross’ Destroid, but with very very simple legs. The human-sized bot remind me of Obari-style robot with a cyberpunk Bubblegum Crisis feel. Basically, this is as 80s as you can get.
+ Mecha Design: There are a few mechs and human-sized robots in M.D Geist, but the man himself don a power armor. An all-black metal armor with gold trimmings give him an aura of royalty, but only when Geist wears it. The color-scheme is quite similar to Dragonar’s Falguen, and the design looks like it came from a Mad Max movie where they decided to cover the whole body instead. Regarding other units, they actually are decent designs except they didn’t survive a lot of minutes. The big bots look like a cross of Madox and Macross’ Destroid, but with very very simple legs. The human-sized bot remind me of Obari-style robot with a cyberpunk Bubblegum Crisis feel. Basically, this is as 80s as you can get.
+ Music: Bring in the sax and trombones and all the classical instruments! Oh and don’t forget the Prince of Anisong Hironobu Kageyama. The OSTs featured might not be Metal-ish, but the slow yet energetic melodies really suit the feeling of the series and its character. A man out of time, where the war has already washed through the lands, yet his fire for conflict still burns in his chest. Both the OP “Solder of No Mercy” and ED “Honoo no Violence” are both masterful representation of the “Geist” (Ghost) of war. The lyrics are pretty much about a living relic that shouldn’t be and he will bring forth the wrath accumulated after all these years.
+ Conclusion: Overall, M.D Geist is just an above-average B-OVA where it kept the story simple, the character straightforward and one-dimensional. Using the established tropes of its genre to create conflict make way for some intense and brutal action. If you can, I suggest watching the Director’s Cut since the animation quality is massively improved as well as new footage are included to lead directly to the sequel. If you want some quick & simple American-style apocalyptic violence, M.D Geist is the one to go for.
+ Conclusion: Overall, M.D Geist is just an above-average B-OVA where it kept the story simple, the character straightforward and one-dimensional. Using the established tropes of its genre to create conflict make way for some intense and brutal action. If you can, I suggest watching the Director’s Cut since the animation quality is massively improved as well as new footage are included to lead directly to the sequel. If you want some quick & simple American-style apocalyptic violence, M.D Geist is the one to go for.
