Preface: PANTSU WHY AM I HERE???? you may ask, well allow me to explain

Chances are you have stumbled across this strange anime trying to find other anime like Ghost in the Shell (like I did). I would not exactly say you came to the right place, but your mind is in a good spot.

So, I would like to begin by going over some themes, background and general knowledge before you go into Armitage III.

Information for those seeking to watch: 1. Armitage III is not a Ghost in the Shell ripoff Sure, it came out in the same year, but this came out in February whereas GitS came out near November. The setting for this anime is actually on another planet, and has a similar type of detective work going on. Here is the major difference, GitS is heavily Noir influenced so the plot is mostly focused on the actual crimes that are going on. On the other hand, Armitage III is about one big plot that is connected to the main character, Armitage. I would almost go to say that GitS does not look at cyborgs and robots as a positive influence on humanity, but rather a "they are bad but good" outlook. Armitage on the other hand, starts off with a similar conception, but towards the end the main characters believe robots are the only hope for the human race. The only similarities are a plot focused on a female main character, laden philosophy, and a plot about human transcendence.

1. This is quite an old film, and shows it's age

I'll admit, the animation is definitely showing it's age. While there is not any CGI, the animators made up for this by cutting small bits out. While some may critique this as being bad, like for example a character going somewhere and the animators don't show how they got there. I think this was much more common then, than now. It's not so much a plot issue, but the creators need to get some more time for the larger plot elements.

1. It's freakin Chiaki J Konaka!

The man, the myth, the legend behind some of our favourite cult classics, THE Chiaki J Konaka. Funnily enough, this is actually Chiaki's first animated work. If you do not know who he is, his famous works include Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, Digimon Tamers, Hell Girl, and Ghost Hounds (which I wrote a review for and you should totally check that out). He did the script on this, and while I have to admit it's amateurish compared to his other works. But, the ideas in Armitage are AMAZING. Robots on another planet in the middle of a civil war, and it's about a guy from earth meeting a cool detective lady and they do cool shit! It's a pretty fun film, and action packed too.

i wish they were lol Past this point is spoilers

Let's get to scoring!

Plot 9/10: I talked about the plot earlier, but most of my points for the plot are going to come from that, these ideas are amazing but I think that the general directing of this anime was quite poorly done. Great animation, great plot, and great ideas but some things don't add up, confusing issues that are not explained etc etc. I would say the issues Armitage III faced were definitely directing issues, this anime seemed as if the director had to make a lot of financial decisions to get it where it is. For example, the last episode is so rushed, and it's kind of funny but think about it. The sequel for this anime did not even come out until 8 years later...in 2002. The creators definitely did not know they would get another season, and had to end it as best as they could. And I, believe that they did extremely well for a niche anime with great ideas behind it. THEY ALSO INCLUDED ROMANCE, which definitely did not have to happen, but yeah robots can get pregnant in this timeline and my man Ross got the last one. That scene at the end is really funny, I posted a few pictures of it at the bottom.

Characters 10/10: Okay we got a hot main character, with TONS of character development and is really, really well written. Armitage and Ross make an awesome detective combo, and god that ending made me cry I had no idea this anime would take a romance turn. I think a lot of thought went into the characters, especially the antagonist (who becomes a good guy?!??!?!) who was basically just a joker copy lmfao. I genuinely think the characters are the strongest part of the anime. Ross is a literal chad. Every character was well developed by the end.

Music 9/10: CYBERPUNK MUSIC. Okay for real banging tracks, definitely as good as some of the GitS tracks.

Animation 8/10: It's an old anime yep. It's bound to have mistakes, especially with those weird circle eyes that remind me of Sailor Moon. Animation definitely gives me like Evangelion, and Now and Then Here and There vibes. This anime was also really trippy, some crazy stunning visual plays.