Voogie's Angel is a three-episode OVA series released as a single DVD by Media Blasters here in the U.S. The story takes place after a violent invasion by aliens, which happen to look like humans. The remaining population of the earth fled to undersea colonies over 100 years ago, but are now being faced with ultimate extinction. So, in that time-tested anime tradition, a female team of cyborg women fight the aliens in a last ditch effort to save humanity.

The series originally began life as a radio drama in Japan, the draw being the use of some of the most popular voice actresses in the country. The show needs to be taken in the same vein. It's basically an anime all-star show for the actresses, which is somewhat unfortunate because there was an opportunity for the show to be more. Some names even casual anime fans might recognize are Aya Hisakawa as Voogie and Kikuko Inoue as Shirori.

As has been the case with several releases, the animation gets progressively worse throughout the series, presumably due to funding drying up. This is particularly sad in this case since the story gets better as it goes on. The colors are nice and there are definitely some fun battle scenes and character designs. Then again, the design and direction (for the first two episodes) were handled by Masami Obari (he of the bouncing women fame - Fatal Fury, Gowcaizer, etc). However, there is nothing exceptional here, other than the occasional outstanding character.

A female team of cyborg women fight aliens in a last ditch effort to save humanity.	The heroines may be scantily clad and voiced with popular seiyuu, but each also has a sad story to tell.

The music is definitely above average for the majority of the show. Certain pieces of BGM seem reminiscent of a 70s action show, but most of the music fits the bill. The opening song is especially catchy, and, as a bonus, there is a different ending song for each episode.

Now for the horrible news. The plot is almost good. Why is that horrible? Easy - if this were a 13 or 26 episode series, it would have had a chance at being great. Even 6 would have been an improvement. The problem is, everything is so compressed and nothing resolved that it feels totally incomplete. The fact that it can be so plainly seen what the original author was trying to accomplish is what keeps this show from getting a lower score.

The speed at which the plot is forced to develop really hurts what could have been the strengths of the show. The women start off being hilarious and somewhat petty before they go into battle. Once they fight, the pathos starts in, but it's not enough time between the two and it all ends up looking jammed together. The final episode looks into each girl's tragic past, and it is phenomenal! You can feel the pain of each. The problem is, it's too soon. 30 minutes before that the main problem was the fact that their ship looks like a flying pig (named StrikeMeyer - but they call him Meyer and you have to think as in Oscar Meyer). There is really too much character and plot development missing.

So, why does it get a "B" overall instead of a "C" or lower? Well, it's one of those shows that, while the whole didn't jell, individual parts were memorable enough that I do want to see them again. The price being $19.99 at major retailers (less if you shop around) sure doesn't hurt. It's definitely a distraction and goes from funny to serious in a flash; you get to see some gorgeous women (and some bishounen), some catchy music, and some exciting fights. You'll even be moved by the last episode. The problem, when you give a moment's reflection, it'll be obvious you only got the shell of what could have been a really good series.

Distributor: Media Blasters
Creator: KSS
Released: 1997

Plot: B-
Character Design: B+
Animation Quality: B-
Music: B+
Overall: B