Dominion Tank Police

Why did this amazing totally mindblowing series only have to last for 2 acts spread over just over 2 hours? Just when it gets better and better and more emotional, they leave the story hanging and we have go refer to the bloody comic. That itself would have just about covered 1-2 more episodes. Is that too much to ask? Its hard to believe that the Japanese were making this in the late 80s while the other parts of the world were making childish nonsense? I think even though Ghost in the Shell is much more popular, the Tank Police are closer to Shirow's heart. The follow on series, Crusher Police or New Dominion Tank police, is no way in the same league.

The anime that got me hooked on anime...

Set in the year 2010 (hey, that's not too far away now!) the Earth is now poison gas wasteland of pollution and violence. Seeing as how crimes are happening ever 30 seconds are so and committed by thieves who have the fire power of third world terrorists, the government of the fictional New Port City form the Tank Police to deal with the problem - cops with tanks! Oh the insanity!

The "heroes" of this series include the new recruit Leona Ozaki, a red haired Japanese woman (yeah I know, they never match their distinctly Japanese names with a Japanese appearance) who has just been drafted into the Tank Police and is quickly partnered with blond, blue eyed nice guy Al. Leona is new at using tanks and unfortunately she destroys the favorite tank of Tank Police Commander Charles Britain (also known as "Brenten"), a big guy who looks like Tom Selleck on steroids and sporting a pair of nifty sunglasses, a big revolver and a bad temper. Britain didn't like having Leona join the Tank Police in the first place and her wrecking his Tiger Special (a giant green monster tank) doesn't exactly endear her to him, nor is he fond of her taking the remains of his giant tank and using it to build a mini-tank that she nicknames Bonaparte and he is soon pushing to have her transferred to child welfare "where the boys are more your size" as he puts it. There's also Specs, the bifocal genius, Bible quoting/God fearing Chaplain, purple MO-hawked Mohican, and the pot bellied Chief, who's right on the edge thanks to the Mayor always yelling at him about the Tank Police antics. Seeing as how the tank cops often destroy half the city while chasing the bad guys and use extreme violence to capture them, they're not very well liked by the people.

The "villains" are a cyborg named Buaku who's got a mysterious past that's connected with a project known as "Green Peace", his gang and his two sexy cat cyborg sidekicks Anna & Uni Puma. In the first installment these guys are being paid to steal urine samples from a hospital treating people who haven't been infected by the poison gas clouds and in the 2nd they're hired to steal a painting that is of a naked Buaku. The story, however, was uncompleted in the anime and was finished up in a cult comic ("Manga") book that's very hard to find.

All sorts of chaos and mayhem ensue in this black comic venture that examines how far people want their police to go in order to catch criminals and what happens when the fine line between good guys and bad guys starts to get blurred. This is the kind of thing that if you were going to make a movie of it, you'd better go get Quentin Tarantino. Uneven in places but still a lot of fun.

Followed by "New Dominion: Tank Police".

I remember owning this 1988-1989 Anime mini-series on VHS tape back in the day. And I remember it fondly, and I watched it quite a lot back then. So needless to say that when I had the opportunity to sit down here in 2023 to watch it again digitally, of course I jumped at the chance to do so.

The storyline in "Dominion", which was released as "Dominion: Tank Police" here in Europe, was and still is a good one. Writer Koichi Mashimo did a good job in constructing an entertaining and enjoyable storyline for the four episodes this mini-series ran for. Now, I haven't read Masamune Shirow's Manga, so I don't know how true writer Koichi Mashimo was to the source material.

I only have had the opportunity to sit through Englished dubbed versions of "Dominion", both back in the late 1980s and again here in 2023. A shame really, because I prefer to watch things in their original language. With that being said, I also have to claim that the English dubbing in "Dominion" actually is good. Many dubbings tend to be cringeworthy and take away a great deal of enjoyment from whatever you're watching, but that was luckily not the case in "Dominion".

The character gallery in "Dominion" is good. I always had a fondness for the criminals in "Dominion"; that being Buaku and the twin catgirl sisters AnnaPuma and UniPuma. They were the comedy element in the series, and it panned out quite well.

The art style and animation in "Dominion" is good. Sure, it definitely shows signs of being from the late 1980s and being of Masamune Shirow's design. But it still holds up today.

If you enjoy Anime, then "Dominion" is well-worth sitting down to watch, especially if you enjoy something that isn't overly serious from start to end.

My rating of "Dominion" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Dominion Tank Police is without a shell of a doubt, one of the most amazing shows ever produced, but not just in the field of animation. While the first part (Acts 1 and 2) mostly consists of action and fun, the second part is more serious and one should not treat the second part in the exact same way as first part. The subtleties are truly out of this world and the characterization is beyond brilliant. You must have an extra degree of intelligence to appreciate the intricacies of the second Part (Acts-3 and 4). I do have some complaints though. In the first part, the Tank Bonaparte quite literally jumps over a tank shell and it did not make any sense at all. One might also question the plausibility of Bonaparte jumping on the wing of Helicopter Gunship even though it was cool. Buaku rules.

Don't have much to say about this other than I think that these movies are underrated in England, they're funny and very well written out etc. I watched my first one a few days ago and I will admit that I'm quite impressed at the story lines and also the characters involved since they are at times stone head stupid and then at others can be REALLY senstive and funny 0=]

Watch this if you like Anime and have a laugh, this movie won't be very good for thought provoking drama or such like, but it is something just to waste the time away....