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Iria: Zeiram the Animation
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Animation - 7.7 |
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Sound - 6.5 |
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Story - 6.9 |
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Character - 7.4 |
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Value - 7.2 |
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Enjoyment - 7.6 |
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Average - 7.2 |
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Kaj |
(2005-10-18 21:23:20) 2005-10-18 21:22:30 |
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| A good action ova spanning 6 episodes of half hour clips. The weird opening theme was put me off the anime slightly. It sounded like some Sharon Apple song off Macross Plus, weird and in doesn't really fit the feel of the anime at all.
The action, though slightly sluggish at times, is solid overall, and is central to the success of an action anime. The emotional side were a little quirky. The anime doesn't always pull this off well, and I'm sometimes left wondering why the character reacts differently from one episode to the next. Like in the second episode, it seemed like Iria was not very affected by the events that happened in episode 1, and seem to be able to put it behind her so easily, but then in later episodes, she gets all emotional.
It took a couple of episodes to hook me, but became more and more exciting as it went on. The climax was appropriately climatic, although, looking back on it, I could have sworn Zeiram's weak point had been peppered with bullets already in an earlier episode with little or no affect.
Even though this ova didn't age entirely gracefully in the animation and sound departments, it's still succeeds in providing an entertaining 3 hours. Looking at the "actual scores" that I've given in each catergory, I'd say this anime is definitely better than the sum of its parts.
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
3 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| An average sci-fi action OVA from early nineties. Seriously outdated in almost every possible way, Iria offers very little to anime-audiences of the 21st century.
The OVA tells of a young bounty-hunter, Iria, who fights against a seemingly invincible enemy called Zeiram. The six episodes take us to a couple of different planets and introduce a couple of side-characters to assist our heroine, but not much else. The character-designs are original, especially for Iria, who not only looks great, but is also a rather deep protagonist for an action-anime. Too bad there's only very little development on any of the supporting characters, who are very stereotypical to begin with.
The best thing in the series is without a doubt the wide selection of well designed vehicles, weapons and other gadgets. They are far from the typical sci-fi equipment and instead have a nice retro steampunk feel to them. The weird setting is actually far more interesting than the poorly paced story or the lame action-scenes. I must also mention the many unique and oftentimes hilarious names (Dempadan, Tedan Tippedai, etc) that are used for vehicles and such in this imaginative world.
Back in 1994 Iria was probably fresh and exciting, but time has not been kind to it. Despite the unique setting, the story of Iria feels old and boring. The hero must defeat a superior foe to both save the world and settle personal issues. If that is not an anime-cliche, I do not know what is.
The visuals have survived the test of time quite well. The animation was certainly not excellent even in 1994, but the amount of movement and literally dozens of different colors in almost every frame make Iria look better than many of its contemporaries. It's a shame the director did not properly utilize the quality of the animation and thus the numerous action-scenes feel poorly executed.
The general lack of excitement can also be blamed on the lame music. Iria must have one of the weakest soundtracks of all anime: slow-tempo "ambient" synthesizer noises might fit a weird art-movie, but they certainly don't fit an action-series. Barely average voice-acting and sound-effects don't help much.
Overall nothing special, just another average anime. Yet, Iria is worth watching once for those who do not seek anything more than basic entertainment. I watched it twice and sold the DVD away.
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Hallava |
(2006-11-24 17:01:39) 2005-08-06 05:01:06 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Being a science-fiction lover on both literary and anime front, I'd say this is one underrated series, a real classic with an entirely different and imaginative setting. Forget psychic powers, spaceship battles and divine destiny - we give you... an alien.
Iria Zeiram is about a hunter who - with some help - ends up chasing and being chased by an indestructible, creepy, adaptable space monster for personal reasons. If I had to draw an analogy from the cinema, I'd tell you to think of Jason X, but with a better script and a creepier and more powerful monster and much larger setting. Jason X meets the Thing (referring to the Carpenter movie), perhaps. Very thorough and detailed art and choreography, imaginative action sequences. The aliens really were quite creepy and I have to give credit for good characterization and dialogue. The gruesome story had a strong grip which had to be followed to the end.
Thumbs up for making the effort to come up with such a captivating scenario instead of simply editing an existing template. You don't see many shows like this.
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CoachZ |
(2005-05-25 11:18:20) 2005-03-23 12:07:35 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Iria reminded me a lot like Gally from Battle Angel. But she seems to have more of an elegant trait, and had more emotional importance to the story. I really thought the story was not bad, with the brother being highly valued as the story developed. One of the side characters, which was the guy who kept following her was probably a good comic relief. The monsters on it were actually looked good, for an almost above average animation. And the music, mostly from the beginning title, was really trippy in a good way. A not bad sci-fi genre that is worth seeing sometime.
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nauXolo |
(2005-11-10 04:33:57) 2005-03-11 16:38:36 |
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| Average |
4.5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
3 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| A few complaints but on the whole, this is pretty interesting. If only it had been made longer and more recently, the story could have carried it on further.
Opening music really sucks, kind of sounds like some B-sleazy porn video. Other sound effects are really simplified almost to the point of ruining the whole atmosphere of this anime. I usualy don't pay attention to the music and sound effects, but this one is especially bad that it is worth noting down.
Many of the character's actions are kind of unrealistic, makes you think why did so and so happen, not to cause any spoilers. I guess this is due to the few episodes that they didn't have enough time to make a fully developed story.
But I think this is a pretty enjoyable OVA series. Animation is simple but does it job well. The Zeiram are really yucky and creepy though, saying that they don't really have a personality is an understatement. If you are annoyed at all those alien animes, then this is no good for you.
I liked Iria's character a lot, so for me it was worth watching this to the end. But what others think might be controversial with my opinions. I know that if they packaged this in better audio and better video, and extended the series length, it would be much better.
There is a lot of potential in this series, and its main downfall, I think, was that for a science fiction anime to be produced in 1994 where now there are such high audiovisual appeal standards for these types of anime.
Final conclusion: not worth watching because of the shortness and the bad visuals and audio. the story is too cleaved at various parts and the characters have very little room to grow.
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This was the first anime I had ever seen. I guess around 5 or 6 years ago the SCI-FI channel had a Saturday morning anime block. This was played in 2 blocks if I remember. I didn't really become a big anime fan until a couple years ago and although I didn't even remember the name of Iria, one of my friends figured it out from my description. It opened the doors for me as far as anime went. I was drawn to the action and storyline. Now a tad matured anime reviewer I watch it and see the things it lacks. The characters don't develop a hell of alot and neither does the story. What there is though is good.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This is one of my favorite series, but I can see the flaws in it. The characters/actors lack a lot of emotion. I do, however, love the storyline. I think my favorite aspect of all is the world it takes place in; unique building and vehicle designs. If you can get past the sub-par voice acting (probably a bad translation too) you should enjoy this series.
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Ses4ever |
(2004-07-17 16:15:35) 2004-07-17 16:15:05 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| An old school anime with the typical, predictable story. I found myself enjoying every other episode, and really liking bits a pieces of places here and there. The animation was average, but had that nice old school flavor I enjoy, like watching Bubblegum Crisis. The sound was nothing special to me, and the music didnt do it for me. The story was extremely predictable and needed more emotion, especially in the ending. There were some nice enjoyable scenes in this anime, but overall I was disappointed with the lack of emotion that it needed to make me really like it. The second time I see it, I would just enjoy it for the cool action scenes.
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AxioM |
(2004-05-11 15:49:15) 2004-05-11 15:46:22 |
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| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Average in almost every way, Iria seemed like an excuse to make a female protaganist wear tight clothes and wield a gun.
The animation looks alright considering the age of this show, and the sound suits the moods adequately.
There are better shows out there to appease the appetites of those looking for a good sci-fi/action.
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| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| When I originally watched this, it was an original Japanese copy sans subtitles. So all I could rate this series on is what I could see, and what I could see looked exotic and interesting. Friends and I agreed.... There has to be more to this than what we were getting through just the images.
Unfortunately, there was no more. What we were seeing was about as deep as Iria got. And that was disappointing because there _should_ have been so much more to it. You don't create a world like the one in Iria and then leave it dangling without decent plot or purpose. Unfortunately, that is what the producers of Iria did. It isn't surprising we haven't seen a return of Iria in new adventures.
As I said, the character designs are pretty awesome. Iria looks great, as does Bob (when he is alive) and Zeiram is just the most imposing creation.... Unfortunately, characterisation is shallow, as shallow as the plot itself.
An average oav from the early 90's.
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Oujirou |
(2004-02-14 20:07:27) 2004-01-09 02:32:37 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Like a lot of people, I watched this on sci-fi about 8 years ago or so. I just got the dvd recently because I wanted to see it again and I have to say this really is an excellent piece of action anime. The animation is great, the background music and the opening/ending themes are great, and the characters and plot are really good too in my opinion.
After watching this I'm reminded of how glad I am that I got started on shows like Iria, Green Legend Ran, and Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer instead of overrated junk like Evangelion and Trigun. Definitely give this a watch if you can find the dvd, it's a great watch for any fan of anime.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| When I was younger, this was probably the first anime I ever watched. They marathoned the anime on the Scifi channel (back when Scifi ran anime on Saturdays) and I managed to catch the middle-end of the anime. Growing up I was very bored with American animation because it was redundant and it pulled punches. Watching this revealed to me that something bigger and better was out. Therefore I am somewhat biased when I review what really is just your typical animated adaptation of your typical sci-fi adventure.
While much of this anime is nothing special, the characters and world they exist in, as well as their conflicts, draw you in. When I was younger this was all mind blowing, but from above you can understand why.
Ultimate my only standing gripe with this OVA was there was not more. Upon further research I learned the OVA was adapted from a pair of very lame Japanese live action movies. A shame because I always thought more could be done with the main characters.
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| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Iria was a very enjoyable anime to watch. I remember watching this anime about 7 years ago in 1996.
The story was prety interesting and the animation was solid. It was a bit short and I do wish that a new TV series can be spawn from the original OVA.
I think some of you here are a bit spoiled by the quality of animation in Modern Animes. We have to remember that this anime was made 8 years or so ago in the mid 90's. We have to base the animation in that period and not now. =P
Therefore I am going to rate this anime base on that period of time. XD
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De Baer |
(2005-12-08 11:44:57) 2003-06-14 15:37:31 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Ein standardmäßiger Sci-Fi-Action Anime mit dem typischen "Held gegen das allmächtige Alien" Plot. Iria bietet nicht unbedingt eine originelle Storyline und alles ist mehr oder weniger vorhersebahr, auch die Charaktere wirken ziemlich eindimensional, die Action jedoch stimmt und es geht die meisste Zeit ordentlich zur Sache was der Unterhaltung sehr zu Gute kommt. Die Animationen überzeugen nicht gerade, selbst für einen Anime von 94 aber das Charakterdesign war solide. Alles in allem ist Iria ein guter Science-Fiction-Anime der stellenweise ganz spaßig sein kann aber nichts besonderes was man unbedingt gesehen haben müsste.
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Sinai |
(2005-07-13 17:56:25) 2003-01-29 07:03:34 |
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| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| This anime doesn't try to be overly ambitious. It sticks with the tried and true formula of a single symphathetic character versus the world, complete with mecha, big explosions, and rampant devastation. It works pretty well, for the same reason you might watch a Bond flick. Of course a few twists are thrown in, but nothing memorable. The plot is cohesive and the the backstory and sci-fi universe is consistent. A beer and pretzels sort of anime. Iria herself has a very nice graphical character design though, which in those halcyon days of old were enough to distinguish the anime just by itself. The most amusing thing is that it tried to bill itself as revolutionary while being anything but.
Did I mention it had big explosions?
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Iria has long been one of my favorite animes. The characters, locations, weapons, vehicles, and just about everything else are so uniquely designed it's incredible. They really put in the effort to create a truly unique sci-fi universe.
Iria is a young bounty hunter following in the footsteps of her older brother Gren. There's a big corporate cover-up going on and a deadly alien monster named Zeiram on the loose. I don't want to spoil the story so I'll keep the details brief.
The anime revolves around mystery and action. When things start to get too slow, a heavy dose of Iria's fighting abilities come into play. Iria's right up there with Armitage, Faye, and Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell. Between her incredibly designed armor, Bond like gadgets, and fighting style, there's plenty to keep things fresh.
I absolutely love how they designed Iria. The hair, the weapons, the blue and white armor... it's all very cool. If you're not an Iria fan just by watching the opening then we've got different tastes. She has moves that would make Batman jealous and a good sense of humor to boot.
The music is really catchy... I always have the opening theme in my head for days after watching the movie. It's a really great song that truly fits with the style and theme of the animation.
This one's a good family anime. The message is good and the action is sure to keep everyone interested. There's a real brief shower scene in the full sub version though. It's not fan service, but brief nudity none the less.
The story itself is well told and will keep you guessing. There's plenty of twists and turns to keep things moving and interesting. All in all this is a great anime that has been a favorite of mine for many years now. Give it a shot if you like bounty hunters, female fighters, alien monster sci-fi, and/or mysteries.
- Rirath.com
Reviews & Fan Art
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
3 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Bleh. It's good in the way that it's not a chick flick. And Iria don't take dat shit from no-one (if u know what i mean lol). But... the downside is, it kinda lost me @_@. Considering I'm on a 56k... never used to get that much anime (when I first watched the first 4 eps of this), and it turned me off? That HAS to be a bad sign....
-Misha^
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
4 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Iria: Zeiram the Animation... Strange name but it is indeed good. I thought the gagets in this anime were freaking bad as*. The story was awesome too. Very original, it's not like it was copied off of anything. The characters were all really nice, except for that guy who flied on the umbrella :D He was annoying at times heh. I would value this six episode series alot, because it has alot of stuff I really liked. Nice genres that they chose. I enjoyed Iria alot, because of the action and the story. It sort of was like 007 with the gagets :D I didn't really hear much music in that so I rate that pretty bad :( I highly reccomend this for downloading and actually keaping.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Short story with a bounty hunter theme. Its been done before, but is worth seeing for the original sci-fi art work and that tight suit Iria wears.
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