Anime is a form of art.It's meant to be enjoyed for more than just its story alone. Otherwise, we'd all be reading books instead.
Some of the most popular anime movies reinforce this idea, such as Ninja Scroll, Redline, and Akira. Unfortunately, some anime fall into the abyss of obscurity only to be revisited by those who can't appreciate its charm.
Ai City has a pretty bad story, but I still enjoyed its visuals. As you can see, the anime is basically a fever dream where its story makes as much sense as its visuals. For example, why is this naked guy in a fishbowl on top of a giant body? Sure, there's an explanation, but if you're expecting it to make sense, you're missing the point.
In addition to its bizarre character designs, its color palette was equally intriguing. Instead of painting everything the correct color, they chose a cool color palette with highlights of their opposing colors, even if it's not consistent throughout the movie. The story is set in a world where a powerful organization consisting of super-powered humans kidnap and perform experiments on innocent people.
One of these test subjects was Kei, a former police officer, kidnapped and rejected after maxing out his psychic limit at level 5. Unfortunately, his girlfriend, Ai, was also abducted and never survived. Oddly enough, they chose to clone Ai for testing purposes but could never realize the full extent of their plan after Kei rescued her.
So now, Kei becomes the guardian of his girlfriend's clone, who's a child, thinking he's her father. The entirety of the plot focuses on Kei's battles against this organization, attempting to reclaim their science experiment.
If things aren't strange enough, these psychic individuals have digital numbers indicating their power levels on their forehead. It makes me wonder which anime or manga was the first to measure powers, considering the AI City manga predates the original Dragon Ball.
Just like with all of the subsequent anime that measure power levels, this system is immediately broken as level 5 Kei's numbers climb to infinity, where he tears a hole in the fabric of reality. It doesn't make sense, but it sure was fun, and I found myself enjoying the movie consistently from beginning to end.
Because of these extraordinary abilities, there's no limit on what they can do. As a result, the second half transitions from the mind-warping insanity to grotesque monsters and transformations that fans of Akira or Genocyber would enjoy.
Unfortunately, I tried to read its manga, but I couldn't find it anywhere. It's probably not translated either, not that it would matter. As you can see, its art is incredibly detailed for 1986, and it's just as trippy as the anime.
Is It Worth to Watch?
It piques my interest in the work of Miyoko Kobayashi, its color designer. Overall, Ai City is an under-appreciated and misunderstood anime that I think is worth checking out if you keep an open mind and appreciate its art and insanity. I give it a 7/10. I should also note that it's an early point in many skilled creators' careers, as you can see here.
If you decide to check out Ai City, and tell me what you think.
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